Parliamentary committees will consider a bill granting religious organizations the right to found educational institutions

For Wednesday, March 4, 2009, a consideration of the bill «About making alterations to some laws of Ukraine in relation to the foundation by religious organizations of educational institutions» (register № 2729) was planned at the Committee on Questions of Culture and Spirituality and the Committee on Questions of Research and Education. Thus, the last parliamentary committee is appointed as dominant in relation to this legislative proposal. The bill foresees the acknowledgement of religious organizations as the legal subject for founding social educational institutions of different forms and levels of accreditation, which already a long time ago appeared in society as an actual problem. The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has repeatedly brought up this question over the last few years to the state authorities, last year in addresses to the President of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Ukraine, and Head of Parliament, from 16.12.2008. It is necessary to note that the representatives of different parliamentary factions came forward as the authors of this initiation of a legislative proposal, in particular the Bloc Our Ukraine National Self-Defense, the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, and the Party of Regions, which witnesses to the exceptional public importance of the proposed changes. According to the conviction of the deputies, the noted bill will allow to provide legislatively the right of believing parents not only to give children an education with state standards but also to take care of their education in a spirit of high morals on the basis of religious values. Representatives of the Ukrainian Churches in appeals directed to the above-mentioned Committees’ chairmen note that the legislative changes are closely related to an urgent issue in Ukrainian society today, the absence of a proper level of moral education of children, teenagers, and youths who daily meet in an environment with the influence of propaganda of alcoholic and “light alcoholic” drinks, smoking, with the lack of sexual restraint as “free love,” cruelty and violence. For this reason the indicated bill is called to create favorable conditions for the activity of educational institutions founded by religious organizations in which students will be able to get used to moral conduct and a healthy way of life.

Institute of Religious Freedom

www.irs.in.ua