EXCLUSIVE

SCOTLAND'S biggest teachers' union is to consider staging a legal fight against the ban on non-Catholics teaching in denominational schools.

The Educational Institute of Scotland - which represents almost 50,000 primary and secondary teachers - is being urged to investigate the lawfulness of existing legislation and to cost a challenge as far as the European Court.

The issue will be discussed at the EIS's annual conference in Dundee next month for the first time in almost 30 years.

It has been prompted by perceptions of an increasingly hardline attitude by the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland over the employment of non-Catholics.

The Scottish Parliament is also seen as a forum where the relevance of the law, which dates back to 1918, can be given renewed scrutiny.

National executive member Ian Close, who proposed the conference motion, said: ''This is an issue which the union has dodged for years. We have a lot of members in Catholic schools and the fear was that we would be offending them.

''I am hoping that this is not seen as an attack on Catholic education but I do think there's an issue that needs to be addressed.''

The 1918 Act gives the Catholic Church the right to approve all teaching staff appointed to denominational schools with regard to ''religious belief and character''.

However the scarcity of teachers has made it difficult in the past to find appropriately approved staff to fill secondary posts and the Church has allowed a relaxation of the law, except in the case of management group members, all RE teachers and principal teachers of guidance and biology.

Recently some local authorities have looked at extending the list to include subjects like home economics, which includes a section on parenthood issues, and modern studies, which includes the issue of birth control in the Third World.

In primary schools all places are reserved for Catholic teachers except for short-term supply posts.

Mr Bill Moffat, secretary of the EIS's Renfrewshire branch which proposed the motion, said: ''There's a distinct inequality of opportunity depending on your religious persuasion.

''That arises because a Catholic teacher can teach in any school but a non-Catholic can only teach in non-denominational schools.

''Frequently you find that teachers are unable to get a post when their Catholic brethren are able to do so because there are opportunities in the denominational sector.

''Recently it has become much starker. It's almost as if there's a more strident approach. That's not local authority inspired, it's Church inspired.

''People are very reluctant to talk about it because it sounds like you're being anti-something. Either through mistakes or through an increasingly firm policy on the part of the Catholic Church, more and more jobs appear to be mentioning Church approval and that seems to me quite serious.''

Another EIS source said: ''Teachers see themselves in the vanguard of opposing discrimination on the grounds of sex, race and disability. It seems paradoxical that they are caught in this trap when it comes to religion.

''In the past there has been a reluctance on the part of the Labour Party and the SNP to raise the issue for fear of losing seats.

''With the Scottish Parliament being partly elected on proportional representation that fear will be diminished.

''People do accept that there's a valid place for Catholic schools and most people would accept that there's a demand for them among some sections of the public and that should be respected.''

A supply teacher who has been the acting head of Biology at a Glasgow secondary for the past year has been told she will be unable to apply for her own job when it is made permanent because she is not a Roman Catholic.

She said: ''I am very much in favour of the school and I would like to continue here. It seems ridiculous that I will be unable to apply for the job I have been doing satisfactorily for the past year.

''There are no problems working in the school. There's no sectarianism at all. I would find it difficult to pick-out the Catholic from the non-Catholic teachers.''

Mr John Oates, national field officer for the Catholic Education Commission, said: ''With the reform of local government there has been a review of local arrangements and this is perhaps what's causing some frisson and concern.

''If the EIS wants to look into it they are very welcome but I would advise them not to spend too much money on a legal challenge because the law is absolutely clear.''