A TEACHERS' union has called for the scrapping of the exemption that enables schools to circumvent fair employment legislation.
The NASUWT is calling for changes to equality law in Northern Ireland to ensure teachers cannnot be discriminated against when applying for jobs, regardless of their religion.
At today's Irish Congress of Trade Unions Biennial Conference in Belfast, the union will be calling for a change to the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1988 to remove the exemption regarding the employment of teachers in schools.
The current law allows for an exemption in relation to equality of opportunity and fair participation in employment for members of the Protestant and Catholic communities.
It means it is not currently unlawful to discriminate against someone in an appointment process on the basis of their religious belief.
NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said "discrimination" was damaging to children’s education and to the wellbeing and careers of teachers.
"This legislation is compromising efforts to tackle prejudice and hatred and conflicts with the goal of social inclusion which schools should be working to nurture and promote," he said.
“No teacher should be denied opportunity to teach or to lead schools on the basis of their religious belief.”
NASUWT national official Justin McCamphill said the exemption was "outdated and needs to be removed".
“We are calling on the first and deputy first minister to remove this and ensure that every teacher has equality of opportunity and is able to apply for work in any school regardless of their religion or perceived community background," he said.
"Teachers should not have to wait any longer for the same employment rights as every other worker – removing the teacher exemption is necessary to tackle endemic nepotism and lack of diversity in the teaching profession."
