Religious education and freedom of religion and belief C (27.11.2001)

Controversy about a visa ban for a Russian priest - (07.09.2001)

Statement presented by the Estonian delegation to the International Consultative Conference on School Education in Relation to Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination

(Madrid, 23-25 November 2001)

Excerpt

HRWF (27.11.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the re-establishment of the independence of the Republic of Estonia in 1991 it has been possible for pupils in state schools to get religious education under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. The subject religion is optional subject for the pupils but the schools have to find resources for the classes if there are at least 15 pupils from the same age group. The religious education in public schools has been ecumenical and non-denominational, however, it is more or less based on the Protestant tradition due to the historical background of Estonia. During the school-year 2000/2001 the religious education was provided by 41 public schools out of 687, and approximately 10% of the pupils attended to these classes.

The denominational religious education is given by the churches and other religious associations in the Sunday schools. According to the Law on Private Schools (1993, 1998), religious communities have the right to establish their own schools. Today there exist two such schools in Estonia C the Roman Catholic Primary School and the Primary School of the Word of Life Congregation, both in Tartu.

In the year 2000 a new syllabus for the religious education in public schools was proposed to replace the syllabus from 1997. The non-Christian religious traditions in Estonia opposed the new syllabus for the religious education in public schools. According to this new proposal, the religious education would have become from voluntary to compulsory in its nature. However, as the syllabus C which was proposed by the Union of Teachers of Religion C was Christian centered, it was seen as problematic when adopted for example in the School of Estonian Jewish Community. Also the representatives of other non-Christian traditions in Estonia like the local indigenous religious traditions, as well as local Buddhists, Muslims and other non-Christians pointed to the possibility that if this syllabus would be realized it would be unconstitutional. To make it short C the proposal was withdrawn from the Syllabus Committee for Religious Education, as also the members of the Committee were not satisfied with the proposed syllabus.

Today, the question of the nature of religious education in Estonia should be is still relevant. If it is a voluntary subject for the pupils, and eventually for their parents, then the Protestant Lutheran orientation of the subject is eventually tolerated. However, as the subject religion is made a compulsory subject C without an alternative subject to it C the issue of the content of the syllabus becomes more important, as constitutional issues become involved.

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Controversy about a visa ban for a Russian priest

Keston Institute (06.09.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (07.09.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - The Estonian consulate in Moscow has refused to grant a visa to a Moscow-based Russian Orthodox priest, but an official of Estonia's Moscow embassy has denied to Keston News Service claims by some Orthodox that there is a policy of refusing visas to Russian Orthodox clergy.

However, the official declined to say why the priest had been refused a visa to attend the consecration of a new Orthodox church in Estonia. A Moscow Patriarchate spokesman pointed out that Estonian visas are difficult to obtain for Russian citizens in general.

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