Minister of Education and President of the People’s Party of Swedes in Finland Anders Adlercreutz launched this initiative last year, and the Ministry’s working group gave a positive opinion a few days ago.
For decades, Finnish primary and secondary schools have taught the religious education of the majority religion, Lutheran Christianity, but also for other religions and ethics if at least three students in the municipality request it. Thus, Catholic, Orthodox, Islamic, Jewish and a number of other religious studies are taught in public schools. There is even a religious school for members of the Krishna religion, attended by 479 students.
Helsinki introduces the reform in August 2027.
If Adlercreutz’s initiative is accepted, all the aforementioned and different non-religious worldviews would be taught in one common educational subject. Helsinki is already a step ahead in this respect and city schools will start teaching the unique subject as early as August 2027.
According to Adlercreutz, the current situation, in which children from different religious communities and those attending ethics classes are separated, has led to numerous practical problems. Schedules are difficult to coordinate, and children are grouped by religious affiliation, although there is a need to develop understanding of other religions. In joint classes, students would gain an insight into their own faith, but also into the beliefs and worldviews of other students.
“What prevents us from organizing a common curriculum, in which Lutherans, Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus and Jews, to name just a few religions, learn from each other? In a fragmented reality, it is difficult to be sure that the current teaching is at the right level,” said Adlercreutz.
Demographic reality is changing the school
The working group pointed to the fact that the number of children of immigrant origin has increased sharply in recent decades. One problem that causes additional costs is the increasing need to teach minority religions. It is a legal obligation, which is not always easy to fulfill. Finnish media reports that it has already happened that Islamic religious studies are taught by ethnic Finnish teachers.
Arto Kallioniemi, professor of visual arts at the University of Helsinki and member of the working group, says that the current model does not reflect reality: “People are going to church less and less, the population has become more diverse, and the understanding of one’s own faith has become more fluid.”
Kallioniemi finds it strange that children discuss life values in the classroom divided into religious groups. Even though the current teaching of religious education is mostly not confessional catechesis, i.e. the goal is not to lead children towards religion, Kallioniemi points out that the proposed common subject should prepare for a more diverse and multicultural society and dialogue between people.
Official statistics show that in 2024, in Finnish primary schools, 429,290 students attended Evangelical-Lutheran religious education, 74,632 studied ethics, and 21,066 students studied Islamic religious education. In fourth place is Orthodox religious education with 11,795 students.
(Vijesti.ba)
