You'd think it could happen here also.
BR
Rise of religious classes in public schools questioned
Amy McNeilage ("The Sydney Morning Herald," March 2, 2014)
Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic scripture classes are growing rapidly in NSW
public schools, and students are on waiting lists for the popular ethics
classes.
But as the popularity of the religious and ethics classes grows, some
academics argue that segregating children based on religious faith, or for
other
classes, has detrimental effects and is at odds with the inclusive
philosophy of public education.
Ethics classes, which started in 2011, had about 13,000 students this year,
up from 8000 12 months ago.
About 250,000 students in NSW public schools get Christian religious
education, with the largest providers coming from Catholic and Anglican
churches.
The NSW Islamic scripture program teaches more than 22,000 Muslim students,
up from 17,000 at the end of 2010. The number of students taking Hindu
dharma classes has doubled in the past five years and is fast approaching
10,000. Judaism classes are attended by 2700 students.
Southern Cross University sociology of religion expert Cathy Byrne says
segregation on religious grounds is outdated, inappropriate and educationally
unsound.
''International research has shown children learn best about these ideas
when they are given the opportunity to dialogue with others of their own
age,'' she said.
Dr Byrne said ethics classes have ''a fine and worthy intention'' but
''even if you have a school that has ethics volunteers, you can still get the
outrageous distribution of inappropriate fundamentalist and proselytising
material'', she said.
A push to abolish religious education in public schools is gaining momentum
in Victoria, where Fairfax Media revealed children at one primary school
were given a magazine that claimed girls who wore revealing clothes were
inviting sexual assault, and homosexuality, masturbation and sex before
marriage were sinful.
Macquarie University academic Marion Maddox says lessons about religion
should be taught in a multi-faith setting and not by volunteers.
''For most children in public schools, the moment they get divided up on
the basis of religion would be their first experience of being segregated on
the basis of some social marker, and the fact it is happening at our public
schools which are supposed to be about inclusivity is something we need to
rethink,'' Professor Maddox said.
Rouba Kodr, who manages the Islamic program, says school scripture is an
important service for parents who may not have the time to educate their
children or the money to send them to religious school.
The deputy chair of the Inter-Church Commission on Religious Education in
Schools, which represents Christian providers, Peter Adamson, said some
parents could feel ''incompetent'' teaching their children about religion.
''Parents are concerned for their children's values and they may make a
choice to expose their children to a faith which they at least nominally
espouse,'' Mr Adamson said. ''Some parents feel incompetent to expose their
children to the stories of whichever faith they belong, and they look to a
faith community to do that for them.''
The commission's executive director, Sue Sneddon, said the growing number
of religious and ethics providers has had ''a bit of an impact'' on
enrolments, but it was difficult to determine to what extent.
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