Government education reform does not recognize fundamental rights, bishops warn

Madrid, Spain, Oct 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm

In a strong statement the bishops of southern Spain have expressed their “pastoral concern for the educational problems” that the country is facing, and they denounced “the lack of recognition of fundamental rights related to education” in the government’s educational reform program which has been sent for consideration to the Spanish parliament.

In their statement, the bishops denounced any attempt to diminish the right of parents to make decisions about their children’s education, emphasizing that the State cannot assume the responsibility proper to parents nor deprive them of their authority to determine the kind of education their children receive.  Likewise, they said it was “unacceptable” that the reform package does not sufficiently guarantee the inclusion of religion in school curricula.

The bishops also slammed the proposed reform for not granting religion teachers the status of employees at schools, calling the idea “degrading.”

They expressed their support for legitimate action that promotes “the defense of fundamental rights in the area of education” and they united their voices to those of the entire Bishops’ Conference of Spain in calling for a stable educational system that would lead to an improvement in the quality of education.