Parents have spoken out against the idea of introducing a mandatory religion class in secondary schools in our country, launched by individual politicians.
Over 500 people have signed the open letter, which was sent to the Ministry of Education, the parliamentary education committee and the Ombudsman Institution.
This was reported by the Bulgarian National Radio.
Recently, the Minister of Education Krassimir Valchev announced that a series of discussions on education is discussing a "class on virtues and religions".
The author of the open letter, which has been supported by nearly 500 people so far, is Irina Manusheva, a philosopher and translator.
"All of us who support the letter do not in the least belittle religion and its institutions, nor the role of faith for each of us. We find it very important that religions be studied in a historical, cultural and philosophical aspect, within the framework of humanitarian subjects, which is also done now. In no case are we against the opportunity that is now given to study religion as an elective subject.
We only object to its becoming mandatory, first of all, because both the choice of religion and education that corresponds to the religious and philosophical views of the family is a fundamental human right. We do not believe that the educational role of the school should be exercised through the prism of religion. As for the claims that there is such a practice of mandatory religious education in many countries in Europe, this is categorically speculation," commented Irina Manusheva.