Minister defends children’s right to music education

Finnish Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz says children should not be excluded from music or religious education at their parents’ request, warning that doing so could undermine pupils’ rights. He made the comments in an interview with Yle.

Adlercreutz said schools should consider the needs and sensitivities of different groups, but pupils also have a right to receive the education set out in the curriculum. Excluding parts of a subject could create problems for a pupil’s legal protections, he said.

He said singing the traditional Finnish spring hymn Suvivirsi is an expression of cultural history, not religious practice. The music curriculum includes performing and creating music, he added, making it difficult for a pupil excluded from those activities to complete the subject.

Adlercreutz also called for changes to religious and life-stance education. He said young people’s understanding of different religions should be strengthened, but the current system, with as many as 15 different religious or life-stance subjects, fragments everyday school life.

He said a significant share of teachers of minority religions are not formally qualified. He also raised concerns about teaching that takes place outside schools, where authorities have limited oversight.