Education Act 1944

Section 29.

FIFTH SCHEDULE PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING AND BRINGING INTO OPERATION AN AGREED SYLLABUS OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

1 For the purpose of preparing any syllabus of religious instruction to be adopted by a local education authority, the authority shall cause to be convened a conference constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule.

2 For the purpose of constituting such a conference as aforesaid, the local education authority shall appoint constituent bodies (hereinafter referred to as " committees ") consisting of persons representing respectively—

(a) such religious denominations as, in the opinion of the authority, ought, having regard to the circumstances of the area, to be represented;

(b) except in the case of an area in Wales or Monmouthshire, the Church of England;

(c) such associations representing teachers as, in the opinion of the authority, ought, having regard to the circumstances of the area, to be represented ; and

(d) the authority:

Provided that where a committee is appointed consisting of persons representing the Church of England, the committee of persons appointed to represent other religious denominations shall not include persons appointed to represent that Church.

3 Before appointing a person to represent any denomination or associations as a member of any such committee, a local education authority shall take all reasonable steps to assure themselves that he is representative thereof, but no proceedings under this Schedule shall be invalidated on the ground that a member of such a committee did not represent the denomination or associations which he was appointed to represent unless it is shown that the local education authority failed to take such steps as aforesaid.

4 A person so appointed may resign his membership of any such committee or may be withdrawn therefrom by the local education authority if in the opinion of the authority he ceases to be representative of the religious denomination or associations which he was appointed to represent, or of the authority, as the case may be; and where a vacancy occurs among the persons so appointed the authority shall fill the vacancy in like manner as they made the original appointment.

5 The conference shall consist of the committees aforesaid and it shall be the duty of the conference to seek unanimous agreement upon a syllabus of religious instruction to be recommended for adoption by the local education authority.

6 Where the local education authority propose to adopt more than one syllabus of religious instruction for use in schools maintained by them, the authority shall inform the conference as to the schools in which, or in the case of a syllabus intended to be used for certain pupils only, the class or description of pupils for which, the syllabus to be prepared by the conference is to be used.

7 Any sub-committees appointed by the conference shall include at least one member of each of the committees constituting the conference.

8 Upon any question to be decided by the conference or by any sub-committee thereof one vote only shall be given for each of the committees constituting the conference.

9 If the conference unanimously recommend any syllabus of religious instruction, the authority may adopt it for use in the schools for which, or for the class or description of pupils for which, it was prepared.

10 If the authority report to the Minister that the conference are unable to reach unanimous agreement as aforesaid, or if it appears to the Minister that an authority have failed to adopt any syllabus unanimously recommended to them by the conference, the Minister shall appoint to prepare a syllabus of religious instruction a body of persons having experience in religious instruction which shall, so far as is practicable, be of the like representative character as is required by paragraph 2 of this Schedule in the case of a conference.

11 The body of persons so appointed :—

(a) shall give to the authority, the conference, and every committee constituting the conference, an opportunity of making representations to it, but, save as aforesaid, may conduct the proceedings in such manner as it thinks fit;

(b) shall, after considering any such representations made to it, prepare a syllabus of religious instruction ;

(c) shall transmit a copy of the said syllabus to the authority and to the Minister,

and as from such date as the Minister may direct, the syllabus so prepared shall be deemed to be the agreed syllabus adopted for use in the schools for which, or for the class or description of pupils for which, it was prepared until a further syllabus is prepared for use in those schools, or for pupils of that class or description, in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule.

12 Whenever a local education authority are of opinion (whether upon representations made to them or otherwise) that any agreed syllabus for the time being adopted by them ought to be reconsidered, the authority shall cause to be convened for that purpose a conference constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule. If the conference convened for the reconsideration of any syllabus unanimously recommend that the existing syllabus should continue to be the agreed syllabus or that a new syllabus should be adopted in substitution therefor, the authority may give effect to the recommendation of the conference, but if the authority report to the Minister that the conference are unable to reach unanimous agreement, or if it appears to the Minister that the authority have failed to give effect to the unanimous recommendation of the conference, the Minister shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 10 of this Schedule, and paragraph 11 thereof shall apply accordingly.