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Education and Skills Bill

I share my noble friend’s discontent with these amendments. I do so, in part, as a former teacher. I am picturing the extreme difficulty of having a class of children, all roughly the same age, and determining that some of them need not come to school assembly and others might. First, that would be an extraordinarily difficult choice to make. Secondly, it would be extraordinarily difficult to know how to communicate it, particularly to those who were denied the luxury of opting out, as they would see it. Thirdly, the ability to opt out would clearly be regarded as a terrific prize; those who opted out would therefore be setting the norm for the rest, so that opt-out would eventually become what everybody did as soon as they were able. This must be thought through a great deal more. At the moment, however, I cannot give it any sympathy. I recognise that Article 12.1 of the UNCRC says that the views of children should be given weight according to the age and maturity. That does not mean, however, that the weight should be such that the normal procedure of the school should be changed in this way. As to the noble Baroness’s little expedition into the future of religious education, it deserves much closer study but is not a suitable matter for incorporation into this legislation.