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Special Religious Education “strengthened” by Fred Nile’s determination

12:59pm Monday, 14th November 2011

Karen Mudge

Minimum class timesand an annual celebration of special religious education (SRE) in have been introduced by the NSW government in order to “strengthen” the teaching of special religious education, says Mr Piccoli, Education Minister.

The government will mandate that Scripture be made available for a minimum of 30 minutes a week of ''meaningful teaching time'' in primary schools and a minimum of one period a week in secondary schools, since current policy sets only maximum time for SRE classes.

Mr Piccoli said, "As school days have become busier, the provision of a maximum period of time has led to other activities encroaching on the delivery of special religious education. This regularly disrupts the thousands of volunteers that deliver the classes.”

The government will also establish an annual ''celebration of special religious education'' to recognise the efforts of scripture teachers, a voluntary group second only to Surf Lifesaving in size.

These and other concessions granted to SRE came in response to a question posed to the government by Christian Democratic MP Fred Nile in the legislative council last Friday.

Peter Adamson, of ICCOREIS (The Inter-Church Commission on Religious Education in Schools) says, “The good things which have come out of last week’s parliamentary discussion, from our perspective, are very significant.”

Earlier in the day, Mr Nile presented his private member’s bill for the second time, calling for the abolishment of ethics classes. The result was the appointment of a parliamentary inquiry which will examine ethics classes in NSW schools. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the inquiry, which will report by June, will be conducted by a committee dominated by conservative MPs, including the Liberals David Clarke and Marie Ficarra, and Mr Nile's colleague Paul Green.

It will examine the objectives and effectiveness of the classes, the curriculum and whether the legislation that allows them to be taught as an alternative to special religious education should be repealed.

''This will be the first time there has been a formal investigation into the ethics classes,'' Mr Nile said.

Regarding Mr Nile’s call to abolish ethics classes, Peter Adamson says, “SRE providers realise that ethics classes are now law. Every time we agitate about ethics, it brings negative stories about SRE.” The focus of the SRE providers will instead, according to Mr Adamson, be on “getting on with making SRE as educationally sound and indispensible as possible.”

Mr Adamson celebrates the gains of last week, saying, “A new government and Fred Nile’s determination has brought about a response in which the current Liberal government acknowledges the importance of SRE.”

“Fred Nile has done something for SRE which will have lasting consequence. We can now build on the strengths of SRE.”