Law comes into force to end religious discrimination in teaching workforce
THE teaching profession in Northern Ireland will no longer be able to discriminate on religious grounds when a new law comes into force this week.
Until now teachers had been exempt from fair employment legislation, meaning a teacher could be employed by a school based on religion.
It’s been over two years since the Fair Employment (School Teachers) Bill was passed at Stormont.
On May 12 the law finally comes into operation, meaning it will finally be unlawful to discriminate against teachers in respect of all aspects of the employment, including recruitment and selection for promotion.
The move has been widely welcomed by the profession, bringing it into line with the rest of society, with teaching union NASUWT saying it’s a day to celebrate.
“The practical effect of this is that until now it was not unlawful to discriminate against someone in an appointment process on the basis of their religious belief,” said Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary.
“Teachers should always have had the same legal protection as other workers.
“Discrimination is damaging to children’s education and to the wellbeing and careers of teachers. Removing the exemption will support efforts to tackle prejudice and hatred and will help schools to nurture and promote social inclusion.
“No teacher should be denied the opportunity to teach, or to lead schools, based on their religious belief.”
The union’s national official in Northern Ireland, Justin Mccamphill, added: “The NASUWT have been campaigning for the removal of the exemption to the Fair Employment and Treatment Order for many years.
“Tomorrow, we will celebrate that teachers are no longer second-class citizens in Northern Ireland and will have the same protections in law as all other employees.
“Employers have had two years to get their houses in order as regards the employment of teachers,” he said.
“The NASUWT will be paying close attention to the long-standing practice of bringing teachers in without interview by misusing the NISTR register and the chronic level of nepotism in teacher appointments.”
Dr Matt Milliken, who has led research projects at Ulster University’s School of Education, said the new law will be a welcome progression for the profession.
“The Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 outlawed discrimination on the grounds of religious belief and political opinion in a number of settings.
“Article 71 of the order, however, specifically exempts schoolteachers from employment protection under the legislation, in effect allowing boards of governors to discriminate between candidates on the basis of their faith and community identity.
“The exception also meant there was no requirement to monitor the community composition of the workforce.
“There were no official records of the community profile of teachers employed in controlled schools, non-denominational voluntary grammars, integrated schools, Irish medium schools, Catholic-maintained schools and voluntary grammar schools managed under the auspices of the Catholic authorities.
“This will have a significant impact on addressing this major, unequal treatment of teachers, compared to other areas of work in Northern Ireland, and ensure society values equality of opportunity and that we want our children to be educated by the best teacher — not just the best available teacher of a particular faith.”