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beliefs of the parents or legal guardians, in some cases the guarantees
required to implement this principle may be specified. This right often
implies the freedom of children to receive or not to receive a religious
education, according to the wishes of their parents or guardians. Some
legislations, which make provision for religious instruction in State schools,
spell out the right of persons responsible for children's education to decide
whether or not they shall attend courses of religious instruction. In other
cases, a dispensation may be granted, sometimes on condition that the person
with custody of a child himself undertakes to see to the child's reliqious or
moral education. In some cases, the consent of the child himself, from the
age of 15 on, is required for his participation in the activities of a
reliqious community or for his dispensation from religious instruction. Some
countries specify the secular nature of education in their legislation.
Others make provision for the establishment of private schools which can
provide religious education, and a number of legislations recognize the
financial equality of State and private schools. In some cases, parents may
request permission to take their children out of the school if they disapprove
of the reliqious or other principles on which its teachinq is based. Lastly,
in the information received, mention is also made of the possibility for
members of new reliqious movements to withdraw their children from the secular
State education system and qive them an alternative education in accordance
with their reliqious precepts.