Helsingen Sandomat reports that Finland's National Board of Education is rethinking it present Guidelines on religious celebrations in schools. Under Finland's Constitution (Section 11), students must be allowed to opt out of activities that violate their religious beliefs. According to an earlier report by the same paper, the growth of Finland's Muslim population seems to be the impetus for the rethinking. Under present Guidelines, an opt-out is permitted for church services and morning assemblies with a religious theme. However, Kirsi Lindroos, Director General of the Board, says that neither the singing of hymns nor the presentation of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus make an event a religious occasion that pupils would have the right to opt out of. She says that a line is crossed if there are prayers or the reading of the Biblical Christmas Story.
In most schools, there have been negotiations with parents of children of various religious denominations in order to have a celebration that everyone can attend. Some schools hold two different Christmas celebrations - a neutral one in school and one with more religious content in a nearby church. In one school, the Christmas Gospel texts are read at the beginning of the school Christmas party, and non-Christian children do not come to the party until after the reading is over.
