The " Scripture " Question !

Australia is a country that adopts no individual religion as a state religion.   All and every citizen is free to follow the religion of their choice and in fact all religions get a host of benefits from the various levels of government that do not apply to commercial enterprises.   They do not pay council rates on churches and as a registered charitable organization they are not taxed on the money they raise.

One issue that is raising many questions in the minds of non religious people is religious teaching in our vast public education system.  State Religious Education  ( SRE ) as it is called has a seventy-one percent attendance in primary schools, but this falls away to less than one third voluntarily attending in high schools.   There is no compulsion for attendance figures to be collated and monitored, as is the requirement for all other school activities. Parents may excuse their children from attending SRE by providing a signed note to that effect.

A $ 300,000 review of SRE has finally been released by the state government after remaining dormant for almost eighteen months.  One of its recommendations has been rejected and this called for students who do not attend SRE to be allowed to continue their normal class work.   At present, those who opt out are permitted to use the time to do homework - or to simply read a book.

In 2015 this SRE subject was raised in the state parliament when some politicians with strong religious views succeeded in having an alternative to SRE banned.   This was the alternative to religious instruction being a replacement that teaches " ethics " as living standards. Politicians holding the balance of power were able to scupper that and insist that SRE remain unchanged.

There are many SRE matters that lack clarity.  It seems that in most schools the selection of who shall be selected to run the SRE programme is entirely at the discretion of the head teacher, and given the multitude of actual religions and their varied interpretation of religious matters exactly what is being taught remains something of a mystery.   Religious teachers simply self approve the content of their lectures at six monthly intervals.

It is unclear exactly what criteria can result in a religious teacher losing status as a SRE provider nor is there clarity about what age related standards apply to curriculums.   Given the width and breadth of religions, it seems unlikely that whatever an individual selects will be universally accepted by all religious bodies.

It seems obvious that SRE lacks accountability and transparency.  It arouses religious passions within the parliament and getting the numbers to institute reform is difficult.   At the same time, Australian education standards are slipping in world comparisons and it seems a waste of education time for those not attending SRE to be prevented from continuing their studies.

Religion is a deeply divisive subject.  Because it is so divisive, perhaps it would be better left to the various religions to revert to that old practice of holding Sunday school on Sunday mornings before church, to provide religious instruction to the young.  In such circumstances, they are assured of the attendance of those volunteering to learn, and what is taught is relevant to their individual beliefs.