The UAAR campaign favoring the official adoption of textbooks catering alternative activities to the teaching of catholic religion continues, as a letter has been sent to 5,403 principals.
During the 2023/24 academic year, less than one primary school out of ten adopted the specific textbook for the alternative activities to the teaching of catholic religion program (AA).
The aforementioned conclusion can be drawn based on an analysis conducted by UAAR reliant on data provided by the Ministry of Education and Merit. Therefore, the UAAR has sent a letter via Pec to 5,403 school administrators – as well as communicated it for information to regional and provincial school offices – emphasizing the fact that in order to guarantee parity of educational dignity, it is imperative to include textbooks tailored to AA.
It is of uttermost importance to include textbooks tailored to AA particularly within primary schools, where textbooks are provided free of charge to families, and various specialized publishers provide volumes catering the school program for the entirety of the five years.
The letter that was sent to school administrators stems from UAAR’s campaign titled ‘books for those who have the right to have them’, which saw its inception in February 2024. Within such a campaign, UAAR invites school committees to adopt AA textbooks, as it is the school’s duty to guarantee textbooks devoid of diocesan influence and approval. Thanks to such a campaign, the UAAR was able to donate to primary schools over 1,300 copies of AA textbooks.
«The UAAR – states secretary Roberto Grendene – took the initiative of contacting schools. It is of uttermost importance and urgence that the school committees second the adoption of textbooks catering AA for all classes of primary schools. By doing so, parity of educational dignity can be ensured. There are no valid excuses anymore: at least three specialized publishers have published volumes covering AA programs for all five years of primary school. The fact that on the one hand, some schools have students devoid of appropriate textbooks, whereas on the other there are schools whose students that have received the textbooks at the start of the year and free of charge, must never happen again. Moreover, thanks to UAAR’s commitment, an increasing number of families choose for their children not to partake in catholic religious instruction within public schools».
UAAR’s campaign titled ‘Books for those who have the right to have them’
The letter sent to school administrators
Press Release