Education Minister, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, says, in the future, schools including those run by denominational boards, will be mandated, under a revised curriculum, to teach about all religions.
Gopeesingh made the comment at the Hindu Students' Council of Trinidad and Tobago's (HSCTT) annual conference at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope yesterday.
He said the way religion is taught in this country needs to be revisited, and that the topic will be on the agenda when his ministry hosts a national consultation on the primary school curriculum this week.
"In the reviewed curriculum, all schools, whether they are government, government-assisted, which are denominational or private, will be mandated to teach about religious education as part of their timetables ... not in the same manner as is being done now. So we want to teach about religious education and not religious education, there is a difference," Gopeesingh said.
"I will therefore welcome the inputs of not just the Hindu Students' Council of Trinidad and Tobago, but all youth groups, of all religions, in partnering with the Ministry of Education in completion of a revised curriculum in religious education that mirrors the virtues and values of all the religious groups in our country. This will ensure that we continue to produce citizens who promote the wonderful pluralism and unity that defines our beautiful multicultural society and country of Trinidad and Tobago."
