The Association of Protestant Parents

 
 

When the European schools were constituted, the different countries had different approaches to education which had to be harmonised or brought together. They had particularly diverse traditions about the nature of religious education. So an agreement was reached whereby, the schools include religion lessons on the timetable, but take no direct responsibility for what is taught and by whom. In the case of Protestant Religion, this role falls to the Protestant Council. The main religious denominations taught in European Schools are Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant (the latter including Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists and other protestant churches from EU Member States).

 

Teaching of Protestant Religion in the European Schools

The Protestant Council

The Protestant Council is made up from representatives of the Association of Protestant Parents from the European schools, together with clergy from the range of churches in Brussels. It involves all the languages sections, working together or according to language group, depending on the issue. The main tasks of the Protestant Council are:


  1. Bulletto select and to propose teachers for protestant religion to the European schools in Brussels

  2. Bulletto coordinate and to support the teachers with the help of the school coordinators

  3. Bulletto keep the contact with the directors of the European schools in Brussels

  4. Bulletto represent the interests of Protestant religion at the Secretariat of the European schools and the meeting of the Board of Governors

  5. Bulletto develop the curriculum for protestant teaching.

The Association of Protestant Parents

The Association of Protestant Parents represents the interests of protestant parents at European schools. In the European schools in Brussels, around 800 families and 1300 students have chosen protestant religious education.


Two parent representatives per language section form the Parents Committee and are member in the Protestant Council, the responsible authority for protestant religious education.

They are elected by the General Assembly of the Association which holds its annual meeting once a year, usually in May. Currently, there are eight language sections (Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Swedish). The Parent’s Committee members choose a board with a President, a Vice-President and a Treasurer.


In addition to the representation of the parents interests in the Protestant Council and with the European schools, the Association provides financial support to protestant religious education by buying teaching equipment such as books and videos for the classes, to provide further training and refresher courses for the teachers and to cover the cost of periodic external teacher inspections.