Rwanda acts to counter religious discrimination in schools

The government of Rwanda took a step toward eliminating religious discrimination in schools by issuing an order that mandates respect for the religious beliefs of students.

This is welcome news to students whose conscience does not allow them to participate in certain school activities.

In Rwanda, most schools are government subsidised but administered by religious organizations. Enrollment is open to the public, so students who attend these schools may belong to various religions.

However, some school authorities have rigidly enforced religious or patriotic activities or required payment of church taxes. They have punished students whose religious beliefs do not allow them to comply.

A government minister in charge of primary and secondary education characterised the prevailing attitude among some school administrators this way: “Our students are not allowed to worship in a way that contradicts our beliefs.”

But government officials stepped in to correct the problem with an executive order containing new regulations intended to eliminate religious discrimination in schools. Article 12 of the government’s Order No. 290/03, published in the Official Gazette on December 14, 2015, states that each school shall respect the freedom of worship of the students and allow them to pray in accordance with their faith if their religion or church is legally accepted and if doing so does not interfere with teaching and learning at the school.

The post Rwanda acts to counter religious discrimination in schools appeared first on Punch Newspapers.

from Punch Newspapers http://ift.tt/1XiDrpq