Proposal relating to Involvement of Public School Principals in Organizing Lessons of Homeland Studies
On April 12, 2021, the Public Defender addressed the Minister of Education and Science with a proposal regarding the appropriate response and future prevention of the introduction of religious indoctrination and proselytism in public schools as part of a subject called "Homeland Studies".
A thorough examination of the circumstances of the case by the Public Defender made it clear that the involvement of public schools in organizing the subject of "Homeland Studies" and mobilizing schoolchildren to attend the relevant lessons does not comply with the legal principle of separating public schools from secular education and religious affiliation. In addition, the discriminatory content of the lessons is contrary to the basic human rights and freedoms and is inconsistent with the national goals of general education and the goals set out in the national curriculum.