[Northern Ireland] Teaching unions call for employment law change

The Northern Ireland Executive is under new pressure to address inequalities in the teaching profession by repealing fair employment laws which continue to discriminate on religious grounds, Belfast Telegraph reports.

Current legislation allows for an exemption in relation to equality of opportunity and fair participation in employment for members of the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. This means it is not unlawful to discriminate against someone in a school recruitment process on the basis of their religious belief.

A Catholic teacher could therefore legally lose a job to a Protestant teacher and vice-versa, depending on the denomination of the school they are applying to. Equally, schools can decide to appoint a new teacher depending on which church they attend within a denomination or whether they regularly attend Mass.

On October 26, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Conference in Belfast reportedly heard calls from the NASUWT teachers’ union for a change to the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1988 to remove the exemption.

Dr Patrick Roach - NASUWT General Secretary - said there was a widely held belief that no teacher should be subject to the legislation.

“Discrimination is damaging to children’s education and to the wellbeing and careers of teachers,” he said.

“This legislation is compromising efforts to tackle prejudice and hatred and conflicts with the goal of social inclusion which schools should be working to nurture and promote.

“No teacher should be denied the opportunity to teach or to lead schools on the basis of their religious belief.”

Justin McCamphill - NASUWT’s national official for Northern Ireland - said the exemption is outdated and needs to be removed.

“We are calling on the First and Deputy First Minister to remove this and ensure that every teacher has equality of opportunity and is able to apply for work in any school regardless of their religion or perceived community background,” he said.

“Teachers should not have to wait any longer for the same employment rights as every other worker.

“Removing the teacher exemption is necessary to tackle endemic nepotism and lack of diversity in the teaching profession.”

There was unanimous support for a motion in the Assembly calling for an end to this religious discrimination, earlier this year.

Source: Belfast Telegraph

(Quotes via original reporting)

The Northern Ireland Executive is under new pressure to address inequalities in the teaching profession by repealing fair employment laws which continue to discriminate on religious grounds, Belfast Telegraph reports.

Current legislation allows for an exemption in relation to equality of opportunity and fair participation in employment for members of the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. This means it is not unlawful to discriminate against someone in a school recruitment process on the basis of their religious belief.

A Catholic teacher could therefore legally lose a job to a Protestant teacher and vice-versa, depending on the denomination of the school they are applying to. Equally, schools can decide to appoint a new teacher depending on which church they attend within a denomination or whether they regularly attend Mass.

On October 26, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Conference in Belfast reportedly heard calls from the NASUWT teachers’ union for a change to the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1988 to remove the exemption.

Dr Patrick Roach - NASUWT General Secretary - said there was a widely held belief that no teacher should be subject to the legislation.

“Discrimination is damaging to children’s education and to the wellbeing and careers of teachers,” he said.

“This legislation is compromising efforts to tackle prejudice and hatred and conflicts with the goal of social inclusion which schools should be working to nurture and promote.

“No teacher should be denied the opportunity to teach or to lead schools on the basis of their religious belief.”

Justin McCamphill - NASUWT’s national official for Northern Ireland - said the exemption is outdated and needs to be removed.

“We are calling on the First and Deputy First Minister to remove this and ensure that every teacher has equality of opportunity and is able to apply for work in any school regardless of their religion or perceived community background,” he said.

“Teachers should not have to wait any longer for the same employment rights as every other worker.

“Removing the teacher exemption is necessary to tackle endemic nepotism and lack of diversity in the teaching profession.”

There was unanimous support for a motion in the Assembly calling for an end to this religious discrimination, earlier this year.

Source: Belfast Telegraph

(Quotes via original reporting)