Experts slam Spanish government for intrusion into education

Madrid, Spain, Jan 25, 2010 / 21:11 pm

The coalition, “Spain Educates in Freedom” has demanded that Spain’s socialist government remove the “so-called educational aspects” from the country's new abortion law, saying they violate the right of parents to choose the kind of formation they want for their children.

The coalition recently released a statement claiming that the “supposed educational development” in the law “constitutes another step forward” for the “ideological and cultural project” the Spanish government is attempting to carry out. This project was undertaken with many legislated requirements, one of which is the “Education for the Citizenry” courses currently mandated in Spain’s schools. This course, the coalition states, violates “the right of parents to have their children receive the religious and moral formation that conforms to their own convictions.”

The statement also said the government has the duty to be “ideologically neutral.” It noted that the right of parents to choose the kind of moral formation they want for their children is “protected by the Constitution and by numerous international texts and treaties.”

Parents have said that “sexual education is an intimately personal matter” which carries moral implications and must therefore be free of government intrusion.

The coalition asserted that the new abortion law and its intrusion into this topic must be rejected because basic education on human sexuality is already part of the school curriculum. Therefore, there is no need to introduce so-called sexual and reproductive health education into the current school environment.

“If such teaching is introduced into the curriculum,” the coalition warned, “we will act using every legitimate means within our reach to defend the rights and freedoms that belong to us, simply by virtue of being parents, without excluding recourse to appropriate legal action and to conscientious objection.”