The court says it's unlawful on several grounds - firstly, it's not conveyed in an "objective, critical and pluralistic manner" but focuses uncritically on the Christian doctrine; secondly, it doesn't include religions other than Christianity; thirdly, pupils are stigmatised if they decide to opt out of religious teaching.
This is quite a bombshell for Northern Ireland schools, which will have to radically change the way they teach religion. Of course schools should cover a range of religions and not treat Christianity as the only religion worth studying.
The legal action was taken by a father and his daughter who attended a Belfast primary school. She was being taught that Christianity was an absolute truth.
The school defends its religious teaching, saying it's "Bible-based" and follows the core religious syllabus for religion.
I had a look at the core religious syllabus (all 38 pages of it) which says pupils should develop an awareness of the key Christian teachings. Nowhere does it mention any other religions.
I'm astonished that such an obviously biased syllabus wasn't updated decades ago.
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