Religion professors confirm the damage caused by the LOMLOE or Celaá Law

A recent survey carried out among teachers of the subject of Religion in Spain confirms the damage caused to this subject by the LOMLOE, known as the Celaá Law, the last educational norm approved in Spain in 2020, as denounced by the bishops and the Catholic educational community .

The study, carried out by the Observatory of Religion in Schoolhas surveyed more than 2,000 teachers who teach this subject in public, private and subsidized educational centers after two years of implementation of the new model.

Regarding the general adoption of the new educational standard, 85% of those surveyed affirm that it has not produced any educational improvement or has only improved slightly.

In the specific case of the Religion subject, two out of every three teachers consider themselves to be somewhat or strongly in agreement that “LOMLOE has posed greater difficulties” in teaching it.

The Organic Law for the Improvement of the Organic Law of Education (LOMLOE), promoted by the then Minister of Education, Isabel Celaá, current ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, imposed three conditions on the subject of Religion about which the Spanish bishops warned risk of “illegal discrimination”.

What, in the opinion of the professors, has most affected the subject is that the grade obtained by the students does not count towards their academic record for admission to the university. 87% of those surveyed estimate this.

Regarding the disappearance of an alternative subject for those students who do not choose Religion and the reduction in the number of teaching hours assigned to the subject, religion teachers consider that it represents “a lot or quite a bit” of difficulty in 78% and 76% of students. the cases respectively.

These difficulties increase in publicly owned centers in a very notable way compared to subsidized and private centers, according to the teachers’ perception.

On the other hand, these three circumstances imposed by law for the subject of Religion show their impact predominantly in the Secondary Education stage, more than in Early Childhood and Primary.

Thus, the elimination of the alternative subject represents a difficulty for religious education according to 61% of the teachers and having a reduced schedule represents the same consideration for 63% of the teachers.

That the grade is not taken into account for the academic record is considered an inconvenience for almost 3 out of 4 teachers (73%).

Religion Teachers: not very excited, but more than others

The report prepared electronically throughout the month of June also asks about the most common state of mind at work among teachers. Only almost 4 in 10 (38%) say they face the task with encouragement and positive perspectives.

The same (41%) describes that, despite the problems, they make an effort “and sometimes” manage to get excited about the task of transferring religious knowledge in the classrooms. Those who show greater disappointment with work for different reasons only represent 12%.

These data, which at first glance may not seem very promising, are higher than those expressed in other surveys by teachers of different subjects, who have expressed 24% of being excited or, in the same percentage, making an effort to teach with motivation of from time to time.

On the other hand, the data in this regard is more negative in the Secondary stage, from 12 to 16 years old.

Lack of social recognition

The survey also addresses the perception of teachers regarding the external assessment of their work. Only 18% feel valued or very valued by society and 11% by the educational Administration.

Significantly, the percentage of those who perceive themselves supported by the authorities of their religious denomination amounts to 70%. This represents an increase of 30 percentage points compared to 2020, according to those responsible for the study.

In general terms, more than half of those surveyed (56%) consider that religious teaching has worsened a lot or somewhat, while only 17% consider that it has improved.

In this sense, the pattern is repeated whereby Secondary school teachers are more critical than Preschool and Primary teachers.

Despite the obstacles, 60% of students in Spain still choose the subject of Religion.