Tags: Alberta Education, Catholic education, human rights, School Act, school boards
The Edmonton Journal recently ran an editorial by Paula Simons about Bill 44, the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, 2009. The editorial claims "Catholic schools threatened if Bill 44 opting-out rule enforced." I have sent the Journal the following letter in response, but it has yet to be printed.
Normally I appreciate Paula Simon's writing even when I disagree with her viewpoint. While I am sure it was not Simons' intent to create controversy where none exists, her June 27th column on Section 11.1 of the amended Alberta Human Rights Act does exactly that. It postulates a risk to Catholic education that does not exist.
The wording of Simons' piece would make it appear that the right to ask for exemption from religious instruction is something new. It isn't. The right of parents to request that their child be exempted from religious instruction has existed in the School Act for quite some time. What has changed with Section 11.1 is the parental notification requirement.
The recently issued Guide to Education makes it clear that a Catholic board (any faith based board or alternative program) may satisfy the requirement to give notice of religious instruction by providing a clear statement on registration forms that indicates to parents that they are enrolling their child in a school where religious instruction takes place and that religion permeates the school program.
I have always trusted in the ability of Albertans to make informed, reasonable decisions about the education of their children. So I find it difficult to believe that someone would register their child in a Catholic school and then expect their child to be exempted from the kind of religious instruction which is the very reason for the school to exist in the first place.
In addition, there is nothing in the School Act or the Alberta Human Rights Act that precludes a Catholic board or the board of any other faith based school or program from making religious instruction a prerequisite for admission into a Catholic school or faith based school or program. The bottom line here is if parents do not want their children to be exposed to religious instruction, they should not enroll them in a faith-based school.
By providing explicit notice on the registration form, a board makes a very clear statement to parents: if your child attends this school, the expectation is that the child will participate in classes involving religion.
