Facts
The appellants, [A.X.] and [B.X.] , parents of the child [Z.] , applied to the school board [Y.] to exempt their son from yoga lessons in kindergarten, as they consider yoga to be a Hindu religious practice and felt disturbed in their religious feelings. The school board rejected the application, and the appellants unsuccessfully appealed to the district council and the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich.
The appellants filed an appeal with the Federal Court and requested the annulment of the cantonal decisions and the obligation of the school board to exempt [Z.] from yoga lessons. They argued that the yoga lessons constituted a religious practice and that the school violated its duty of religious neutrality.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the appeal and found that the appellants, as parents of the child [Z.] , were entitled to challenge the decision of the lower court. The court also examined the grounds for the appeal and found that the appellants had not demonstrated how the findings of the lower court were arbitrary.
The court addressed the question of whether the yoga lessons constituted a religious practice and whether the school violated its duty of religious neutrality. It found that the yoga exercises in kindergarten were not performed as religious acts in the true sense and…