Yerevan hosted on Tuesday a public debate devoted to the problems of religious education at Armenia’s secondary schools.

Under a draft national strategy on the protection of human rights (elaborated in 2012 by an interagency committee of the National Security Service), the school curricula on religious studies should be based upon the Toledo Guiding Principles, Stepan Danielyan, a co-author of the study, told reporters on Tuesday.

The principles require that the Council of Europe member states disseminate the document, as well as launch a monitoring at schools in order to identify to what extent the teaching process meets commitment of ensuring impartiality and protection of rights.

“The study widely covered international legal acts, particularly the European Court of Human Rights rulings that could serve as a precedent. We have visited schools in the regions of Armenia, met and conducted discussions with the principals, teachers and parents, as well as persons in charge for comprehensive education, and religious organizations,” Danielyan said.

The co-authors are hopeful the schools will not engage in teaching theology but in the meantime they call for adherence to the international norms concerning religion.

As for the religious textbooks, Danielyan agreed that they are far from ideal in terms of contents and coverage of historical records.

“The problem with the existing textbooks has to do with not only the principle of religious tolerance but also the historical records. It is necessary that skillful historians deal with their interpretation,” he noted.