Seventh-day Adventists, Jews, and others who observe the Bible Sabbath on the seventh day of the week gained additional protections in Brazil, thanks to a federal opinion signed by Milton Ribeiro, the nation’s education minister.

Opinion number 6/2020, of the National Education Council, allows Sabbathkeepers guarantees for alternatives to exams and compulsory activities on that day. In practice, it will chiefly benefit teachers and employees from private and public schools across Brazil who observe the Bible Sabbath.

In a previous opinion, the Ministry of Education reorganized the school calendar for Brazilian private and public schools. This was due to the pandemic, which would involve compensation for hours on Saturday. Because of this, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the country’s Jewish federations asked the public agency to allow, within the terms of the Federal Constitution of Brazil, the right of alternative provision to professionals who observe the Sabbath as a holy day.

The document signed by Ribeiro affirms that Sabbathkeepers have the right to alternatives when asked to work on the Sabbath, and that such alternatives must be provided by schools.

Students already covered

For students, since March of last year, Law 13.796, which gives them the right to take exams or be absent from classes due to their observance of a religious day, is already in force. These measures include, for example, in a practical way, permission to take tests on dates other than the Sabbath. Or the possibility of developing a written work or other modality of research activity to be defined with the educational institution.

For Pastor Hélio Carnassale, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America, the Opinion recently ratified by the Ministry of Education reinforces something important. It is a culture that is installed in the country to respect religious beliefs.

“The great highlight is that, for the first time, a document coming from the area of the Executive Branch, comes in the sense of offering protection in terms of religious freedom for workers, in this case, professionals in the area of education,” he said.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site