Catholic schools are education ministries of the Roman Catholic Church. These schools aim to develop their students through participation in the sacramental life of the Church, study of religion and theology, a full curriculum in secular subjects, and a variety of extracurricular activities. Catholic schools are found in almost every country of the world and have often been the only schools in some parts of the world.

Religion is included in the learning experience, and school uniforms are often a requirement for students. While it is common for Catholic schools to require non-Catholic students to take Catholic religion classes and attend the various religious exercises of the school (except in Muslim nations where this is prohibited by law), a requirement that the student must be Catholic to attend a Catholic school is rare.Fact: date=January 2008

Canada

In Canada, publicly funded Catholic schools are referred to as 'separate schools'. While historically Catholic schools received public funding in many provinces, currently seven of the thirteen provinces and territories still fund faith based schools. A UN committee has accused the Ontario Ministry of Education of discriminating against non-Catholics by funding Catholic separate schools, but not funding other separate schools. For more information see Education in Canada.

Public schools in Québec

more: Education in Québec Public schools in the province of Québec were organized along confessional lines until amendments to the Education Act took effect on July 1, 1998. Thus there existed parallel Catholic and Protestant school boards, financed and controlled by the province, that assured public education. Before 1998, most non-Catholics attended Protestant schools because they did not overly emphasize religious devotion, perhaps due to the variety of beliefs in Protestantism. Catholic schools, on the other hand, incorporated preparatory courses for the Sacraments into the curriculum, celebrated Mass on major feast days, organized retreats and promoted prayer at the beginning of the school day and before meals. Until the changes of 1998, the law required all religion teachers in Catholic schools to be practicing Catholics. Religion courses at the time, while dealing with Theology and Church history, were more pastoral in nature, especially in elementary schools. It was thus assumed that a non-believer could not properly instruct children in the Catholic Faith.

The reforms of 1998 organized school boards along linguistic lines — English and French — and reduced their number, among other things. Masses are no longer celebrated in former Catholic schools and teachers may lead children in prayer only when it is inclusive. Religion courses are still offered in schools, though students can choose to follow moral education classes instead. Furthermore, while schools in multicultural neighborhoods removed their crucifixes and requested name changes (most Catholic schools had been named after saints), those in Catholic or immigrant neighborhoods tended to passively resist the changes. For example, crucifixes still hang on classroom walls in many schools in the east end of Montreal, which is predominantly French and Italian.