|TOP|The Catholic Education Service has called on the government to reconsider its decision to give sixth-formers the option to opt-out of religious worship.

Recently, the Education and Inspections Bill was amended to allow children over 16 to withdraw from prayers, rather than their parents having to request it. However, CES chief executive Oona Stannard has commented that this change should be reversed for state-funded faith schools.

Under current laws, state schools in England and Wales “must provide daily collective worship for all registered pupils” that is “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character”.

Parents, however, can choose to withdraw their children from this.

|AD|In July 2006, the House of Lords decide that the Education and Inspections Bill, which is still going through Parliament, should be altered to allow those aged 16 and over to opt out.

Stannard said: “If a student chooses a Catholic school or college for their post-GCSE studies, it is important that they recognise that the prayer life of the school is an essential part of the package.

“Collective worship and RE lessons are integral to the ethos and success of every Catholic school and college; without them you would be talking about a very different place - a community in which students and parents would be less inclined to take part,” according to the BBC.

Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society reported to the BBC: "The Catholic Education Service appears to think that religious schools should be exempt from the duty to apply human rights in its schools.