The redrafted religious education syllabus, representing the first attempt to teach religion as an exam subject in secondary schools this century, has a strong emphasis on morality and moral decisionmaking.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is currently preparing the final syllabuses for both the Junior and Leaving Certificate after a last round of consultation with the churches and the education partners. The final version should be ready in a few months.
The way will be cleared for the introduction of religion as an exam subject by the Education Act's repeal of the 1878 legislation which banned teaching it for that purpose.
In its penultimate version, the new syllabus contains few specific references to Catholicism but significant elements on both Christianity and non-Christian religions. The introduction says: "In Ireland, Christianity is part of our rich cultural heritage and has played a significant role in shaping our vision of ourselves, our world and our relationship with others.
"However, effective functioning in an increasingly complex culture demands that individuals have . . . an appreciation of the richness of the major religious traditions encountered not just in Ireland, but in Europe and in the wider global context. Increasingly, modern culture also calls for engagement with the secular response to human experience."
One significant change from the first draft syllabus circulated two years ago is a strong emphasis on moral decision-making. Thus at Leaving Certificate the course consists of three parts: the first of these, "The Search for Meaning and Values", will be taken by all students; the second part will allow students to choose two options out of three from the "origins and contemporary expressions" of Christianity, world religions and moral decision-making.
In the third part students can choose one from six options: women, religion and Christianity; justice and peace; worship, prayer and ritual; the Bible; religion in Ireland and religion and science. However in its final redraft the NCCA course committee intends to emphasise the ethical/moral and spiritual dimensions in all these subjects.
The aims of the Leaving Cert section on moral decision-making are "to examine some understandings of `morality' and the implication of these understandings for personal decision making; to identify the elements and context of a moral decision; to introduce and examine the Christian moral vision and the moral vision of other major world religions; to explore the relationship between morality and law."
Students are expected to "understand that a moral person can be such independent of religious belief or affiliation" and to learn "to engage in the process of conscience development".
Other significant changes from the first draft are a reworking of the section on the Bible, which was seen as both too historical and too difficult, particularly for "ordinary" level students; a rewriting of the section on religion in Ireland to include more about Northern Ireland; and more on contemporary Christianity as opposed to its history. NCCA sources say the final syllabus will also rework the section on women and religion to make it more inclusive.