Colm O'Connor: Religion classes are an issue of human rights, not school management

Thousands of schools deny the religious rights of parents and students on a daily basis

Treatment of students ‘opted out’ of faith-formation classes is 'visceral and visible' discrimination.

For more than a decade, the issue of religion in schools has been reduced to the debate around school ownership and management.

This framing has served to cloud the fact that thousands of Irish schools are denying the religious rights of parents and students on a daily basis. In this, the State has been acquiescent. 88% of primary schools are state-funded, but Catholic-run.