Pupils with non-religious background can be ignored in Finnish comprehensive schools

"Put your fingers in your ears", said the teacher

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By Milla Bouquerel and Hannele Tulonen
     
      Hanna, a mother from the Tampere region, has spent the past year campaigning on behalf of her eldest child's right to be taught in school without having to face religion in the classroom.
      "The easiest thing would be to belong to some religious community. Nobody asks the Muslims, for example, why they follow the faith they do", says Hanna, who is not a member of any church.
      When her daughter Henrika, 6, was enrolled in pre-school a year ago, Hanna immediately brought up the subject of schooling without a religious component of any kind.
      "The teacher looked at me and asked if I was really so rigid on the issue."
     
It was suggested to Hanna that the child might wait in the corridor for the duration of the morning opening words arranged by the local congregation. These are organised once or twice a month.
      Hanna feels that the school was making something of a mockery of their rights. A space for Henrika was found when the local school board director had a word with the head teacher.
      However, when the school underwent renovations, the problem resurfaced. At home, Henrika told her mother that the teacher had told her to put her fingers in her ears while the morning assembly address was going on.
      "I called the teacher, who promised that a set of headphones or earplugs would be made available for the child."
      In the end, Henrika was able to sit in the school nurse's waiting room, where the loudspeakers carrying the address could not be heard.
     
An amendment to the Finnish Freedom of Religion Act that entered into force in 2004 states that the teaching of religion in Finnish comprehensive schools must not be confessional. In practice it means that today the Finnish schools have to provide the instruction of the pupils’ own religion.
      One goal of the Evangelical Lutheran education is to offer the pupil material to build his or her individual philosophy of values and world view.
     
”The task of the school is not to educate new members or supporters for the Church”, says Counsellor of Education Pekka Iivonen from the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE).
      However, it is true that religious devotion, praying, or singing traditional hymns are all part of religious education and have to be studied as well.
      ”While the municipality is responsible for the assessment of instruction, the parents or guardians of pupils are entitled to send feedback, evaluating the standard of the school’s educational work”, notes Iivonen.
     
In practice, it has sometimes been difficult to defend the pupil’s right not to take part in any form of religious education. The schools have simply not been prepared for a situation in which a pupil does not want to hear for example religious morning openings through loudspeakers, as in the case of Hanna and Henrika above.
      ”Today such situations are rare”, believes Counsellor of Education Irmeli Halinen, the head of the unit responsible for basic education at FNBE.
      On the other hand, the school has to arrange some other events to substitute for religious morning openings and celebrations.
      However, Counsellor of Education Antti Vanne claims that he has heard more complaints from those pupils who would like to practice their religion, for example by saying grace before meals. In general it is not done in Finnish comprehensive schools.
     
In Vanne’s view the problem has also been somewhat exaggerated. Some parents are ready to complain if their children take part in Easter egg painting at school, regarding it as the practice of religion.
      However, the school has to arrange suitable premises for those pupils who are free from an obligation to take part in religious worship that lasts for at least one hour. Such premises could be found for example in the school library.
     
Today about 90 per cent of Finnish congregations have contacts with schools, says Dean Markku Holma, who handles the issues relating to schools within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. A typical mode of cooperation between the school and the congregation is a morning opening, with a short address to the pupils.
      Holma believes that outside the Greater Helsinki area it is very seldom that pupils ask for permission not to attend religious events.
      ”Even many immigrant parents consider that it is good for their children to be present at religious occasions, as it helps them to adapt into Finnish society”, Holma notes.
      In some cases, teachers have taken a cautious line and removed Muslim or Hindu children from religious service attendance lists, only to find that the parents would give permission for the children to attend.
      ”More than 90 per cent of the Finnish pupils belong to the Lutheran Church, even if one of the parents has cut his or her ties with the Church”, reports Holma.
     
”The positive freedom of religion at school means that a pupil is free to practice religion, but nobody is forced to do so”, Holma concludes.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 3.3.2008


Links:
  Finnish National Board of Education

HANNELE TULONEN AND MILLA BOUQUEREL / Helsingin Sanomat
hannele.tulonen@hs.fi, milla.bouquerel@hs.fi