Hundreds of primary school principals in Australia have called off religious education classes despite a department requirement to conduct the classes. According to existing education department guidelines, principals must schedule special religious instruction (SRI) classes in their school timetables if accredited instructors are available, but a recent report by the department has revealed that such classes have declined by a third in the last two years.
In 2011, 940 government schools provided SRI classes to 130,100 students but in 2013, the number of schools had dropped to 666 and the number of students to 92,808.
Access Ministries, a Christian organization, is the leading provider of SRI programs in government schools and they organize 81 percent of the programs in the state. Joe Kelly, principal of Cranbourne South Primary School for 15 years, used to support the classes blindly until he decided to take a closer look at the classes and curriculum.
“It is not education. It has no value whatsoever. It is rubbish - hollow and empty rhetoric. My school teachers are committed to teaching children, not indoctrinating them,” said Kelly.
In 2012, Kelly sent a two-page letter to Access Ministries, explaining to a representative why the organization would not be allowed into his school.
“We did meet and we agreed in the end. His words: 'If the school does not want Access Ministries, we will not force our way in',” elucidated Kelly.
Evonne Paddison, chief executive of Access Ministries, believes that SRI classes function because many parents opt for them. According to her, some areas may oppose it but many others are still in favour of it. Kelly maintains that his actions received no backlash from within the school community or from the state education department and that is why he hoped other principals would exercise their discretion as well.
Education minister Martin Dixon said, “I have full confidence in school principals making decisions in the interests of their parent body and the school community.”
Photo Credit: Addicted04
