Religious Education Loses Out in Ethics Trial
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese, 18 Mar 2010
A pilot program introducing ethics classes at 10 different NSW public primary schools as an alternative to the current 30 minute weekly religious education classes begins next month. But less than four weeks before implementation, the scheme is already causing consternation and concern.
Rather than being complementary to primary schools' religious education (SRE) classes as promised, ethics classes seem to be in direct competition and in their grab for students, are not restricting enrolment to those who have no religious affiliation and spend the weekly half-hour of religious instruction with supervised study and homework.
"Baulkham Hills Primary and Hurstville Primary, which are taking part in the trial program, have already sent out letters to all parents about classes in ethics, when these should have been limited only to parents who choose not to have their children take part in religious instruction," says Robert Haddad, Director of the Archdiocese of Sydney's Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD). Robert is worried class numbers in SRE courses will drop as a result.
"The way ethics courses are being presented makes them sound new, sophisticated and exciting, but what they are in fact offering is already being taught as part of the school's general syllabus."
Pointing out issues such as "fairness," "telling the truth" and "bullying" are already addressed throughout the school curriculum by teachers of all subjects, Robert Haddad describes the proposed classes in Ethics, which have been devised by University of NSW Philosophy professor, Philip Cam, as "an unnecessary duplication."
As Director of the CCD, Robert Haddad oversees, supports and provides resources for the Archdiocese of Sydney's 1834 volunteer catechists, along with religious leaders from a wide spectrum of faiths across NSW, view the introduction of ethics classes not only as direct competition to current SRE classes but as a further restriction of religious freedom in Australia by special interest minorities.
Meeting with State Government
The concerns of Sydney's religious leaders were raised this week when a delegation from the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Dioceses of Broken Bay, Wollongong and Parramatta met with the NSW Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth's Chief of Staff and one of her senior advisers at Parliament House. The Minister had been eager to attend the hour-long meeting but at the eleventh hour had to pull out for an urgent matter on the floor of the House.
Nevertheless, according to Robert Haddad the meeting on Wednesday, 17 March went well and the delegation's issues and the concerns acknowledged by the Minister's team, included the lack of consultation with SRE providers, particularly before the decision was made to begin the 10-week trial of ethics classes to Years 5 and 6 pupils at 10 if the city's public primary schools.
"We were told Catholic representatives could have input into any future curriculum design of the ethics course to ensure nothing was included that might denigrate our faith," Robert Haddad says. "Those we spoke with were also open to the suggestion that when the 10 week pilot program is evaluated, Catholic religious educators will have a seat at the table."
The delegation to Parliament House to meet with key figures on the Minister for Education and Training's staff was led by the Bishop of Wollongong, the Most Rev Peter Ingham. Others in the delegation included Robert Haddad, representing the Sydney Archdiocese; Paul Worthington from the Parramatta CCD; Jude Hennessey from the Wollongong CCD and Anne Marie Whenman who represented the Inter Church Commission of Religious Education in Schools (ICCOREIS).
"During the meeting we strongly proposed that the ethics course should at no stage be offered in direct competition with religious education and also asked that if there was to be a dedicated ethics course, that it be developed and taught within the scope of General Religious Education," Robert Haddad reports.
Under the 1990 NSW Education Act, General Religious Education as well as Special Religious Education is mandated as part of the weekly public school curriculum. Special Religious Education or SRE, as mentioned in the Act, relates to the teaching of the beliefs and practices of an approved religious faith by its authorised representatives. These include volunteer catechists from the Sydney Archdiocese as well as those trained by other faiths to give religious instruction in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or any other of the world's major religions.
General Religious Education, by contrast, is broader in scope and involves the general study of the world's religions, allowing students to explore these different beliefs and the affect they have on the lives of their adherents.
Parents or caregivers under Section 33 of the Act are entitled to exempt their children from either or both of these classes. However under the Act those who opt out of the classes are mandated to be given a supervised study period where they carry out classwork or catch up on homework.
"Claims that ethics courses will stop pupils from 30 minutes each week 'twiddling their thumbs' while their classmates are being given religious education, doesn't stand up. And if they are "twiddling their thumbs" the school is not adhering to the Education Act," Robert Haddad says.
Social Justice
Robert disputes claims by the NSW Federation of Parents' and Citizens' Associations, which lobbied hard for the adoption of ethics courses as an alternative to SRE classes, that this is a social justice issue.
"It is not an issue of social justice but an issue of management," he says, pointing out that if teachers cannot be found to oversee a short study period while SRE classes are being conducted, then it will be even more difficult to find the numbers of teachers required to take ethics classes at schools throughout the state if the course becomes mandatory.
Proponents of ethics courses counter these concerns, claiming volunteers will be trained to take them but it is difficult to discover who will undertake this training, who will oversee it and to whom these volunteers will be accountable.
The pilot scheme for ethics classes was put in motion by NSW Premier, Nathan Rees. However he has since been deposed and many of his initiatives put on hold.
Worth noting, also, is the fact that if the NSW Government intends to add ethics courses as part of a state-wide syllabus once the trial is over, it will also have to change the law and the current Education Act, which only makes provision for general religious and special religious classes.