Special Religious Education in Australia


Special Religious Education is a class students attend to learn about the beliefs, practices, values and morals of a chosen religion. Time is allocated in NSW government schools for qualified SRE volunteers to teach students about their chosen religion.
SRE can also be referred to as 'School Scripture' and though it is offered in NSW government schools to attend, it is not offered in all schools. The SRE teachers guide the students through a range of studies each week.
The NSW Department of Education and The Education Act both support the work of special religious education in government schools, by putting policies and procedures into place.
Although SRE has been around since the 19th century, there has always been an ongoing debate on its place in schools and an alternative has been provided for Parents who would prefer for their Children to not attend religious education classes.

Background

SRE depending on the school can provide a range of various religious providers for parent's students to choose from. These classes give students an opportunity to ask questions about the world they live in, explore values and morals, and discover various Religions. In these scripture classes, students understanding of religions are developed and deepened allowing them to make conclusions on what they learn. The service of conducting religious education in NSW government schools is not funded by the government, therefore SRE Teachers are volunteers who teach on a particular faith once a week, every two weeks or on occasion depending on the school. The school provides time within its teaching hours for the volunteers of their religion to come in and teach the Students about that religion. The time allocated to the volunteers to teach can vary in each government school from 30 to 45-minute lessons.

History

There is an extended history of SRE in NSW government schools, which has been swayed by ongoing debates and the role of Students Parents in the matter. Religious education has been a part of the educational policy and integrated into the curriculum since the 19th century. It was introduced in the 1820s after Sailors settled into Australia. The Church of England played an influencing role in challenging and developing the path of education in Australia. This led to education policies being changed and aligned with the needs and freedom of the Settlers.
In 1830, education was promoted as a system that didn't favour any specific religious denomination. Governor Bourke introduced a Schooling system that had Students of different faiths attending the same school. Religious leaders were given access into the school to teach their congregation. In 1848, the Board of National Education started a new Schooling system with the authority of Governor Fitzroy.
In 1866, the Public Schools Act was created to help organise how money would be spent on education and the facilities to best accommodate Schools. However, in 1872, it was agreed that the government would stop supporting the religious-based schools financially throughout all the states in Australia.
In 1880, the Public Instruction Act included details on religious education in schools. It stated that government schools are required to involve religious teaching and instruction in the students curriculum of learning. It also had an option in place for Parents who wish to exclude their Children from such religious education if they with. In 1980, the Rawlinson Report came out addressing government schools use of religion in NSW education. It involved references to the Public Instruction Act, and made suggestions for the future. SRE teaching was made accessible for those who requested it, however it also depended on the availability of qualified volunteers on a particular religion at hand in the area.
In 2011, the government and department in charge on the outlook on education at the time came to a conclusion that SRE's placement in Schools should be reviewed. As a result, a review on SRE in government schools was investigated in the year of 2015. The place of SRE in NSW schools is still being organised, structured and best thought out to this day.

Rationale

The NSW Department of Education outlines the importance of learning religion in government school curriculums, such schools have a duty of teaching religious education to its students.
The Education Act 1990 No.8 is a NSW legislation that was written on the base that "every child has the right to receive an education", that "the education of a child is primarily the responsibility of the child's parents", and that "it is the duty of the State to ensure that every child receives an education of the highest quality". The Act also states under Section 32 that "in every government school, time is to be allowed for the religious education of children of any religious persuasion", however the legislation also shares with a following section on objection, stating that "no child at a government school is to be required to receive any general religious education or special religious education if the parent of the child objects to the child's receiving that education".

Educators

The people who teach these SRE classes are volunteers, who are experts in their chosen religion.

Qualifications

SRE Teachers are required to undergo some training before they are allowed to teach Students. Such procedures may involve the volunteers obtaining a Working With Children Check. A WWC number can be gained from any Service centre in NSW. It is required from people who are working with Children.
A strong knowledge of the religion that they will be teaching is expected, and various Religions may require some further additional training in the knowledge of the faith they will be teaching.

Providers

The NSW government provides a list of groups that are permitted to enter public schools and teach various Religions. Such providers may include local churches or faith-based organisations. There are 101 providers that the NSW Department of Education has approved in providing SRE classes in public schools.
The majority of SRE classes are providers from the Christian faith, which involves 87 out of 101, and the remaining 14 are from seven other faith types. These groups involve Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha'i, Vedic and Sikh. The main Christian faith groups in order of quantity includes Evangelical, Catholic, Baptist, Anglican and Presbyterian.
Due to the location and population of each government school, not every religion may be available in every school, and since the Teachers who are teaching these SRE classes are volunteers that also can limit the options that Parents can choose from for their Students to attend. In 2015 there were approximately 11,400 approved SRE Teachers, with 3% of them being paid.

List of providers

In 2015 a review of SRE in NSW Government schools was conducted. The results showed that 87% of schools were delivering SRE classes, 92% of them being primary and 81% secondary schools.
From the pie graph, the main religious groups being taught in NSW schools in 2015 was Christian based faith groups. The bar graph shows the percentage of each Christian religion taught in government schools.
The 2015 Review of SRE in NSW Government schools showed that the availability of the participation in the main faith groups are due to the location and type of school that is able to offer the religion.
The review also showed the student participation in SRE. In primary schools the participation in 2015 was 71% and the participation of students in secondary schools was 30%.
School principals' view and role is important on whether the experience of SRE is made available to students. Principals are responsible for their students and in understanding the community of the school.

Controversies

There has been an ongoing debate surrounding SRE on whether it should be happening in schools.
Catherine Byrne, wrote for the ABC in 2010 about SRE providing religious groups with the ability "to use this access privilege to enter public schools and spend an hour each week delivering content that is important to them... to deliver such instruction so freely, unhindered by government regulation". Additionally, a survey was taken in 2010 stating that "70 percent of parents and educators felt that SRE delivered important lessons in values". The other side of the argument shares that SRE is giving Christianity an advantage, plus parents are concerned with discrimination and segregation.
Four years later, Chris Ashton addressed in the same news that SRE is called "special" rather than "general" religious education potentially due to it being limited in its participation.
The CEO of Christian SRE, Murray Norman in an interview stated the importance of having scripture classes in schools. He shared that it is an opportunity where students can learn about the values parents want their children to grow in, and such morals can be found in teaching a faith. However, many people disagree with Murray on his statements. The news has covered people's controversial opinions on SRE over the years. A challenge that SRE faces is its reputation of being 'old-fashioned' and 'out dated'. Parents have expressed their concern for its importance, and state that it is neglecting class time for teaching other, considered-more-important topics.
Maurie Mulheron, the NSW Teachers' Federation president said that the union supports SRE in schools, however "teachers had concerns about the 'dead time' for students who chose not to attend scripture". Cathy Byrne addresses that the debate on SRE in schools needs to take into consideration all factors of religion being taught and that people need to think about the ways in which we maybe able to improve SRE.
In 2017, The Guardian reporter Christopher Knaus, shares peoples concern with some inappropriate teaching on topics such as abortion to young children. After the review on SRE in 2015, negative thoughts arose on what particular faith-groups were teaching the students that attended. The same year, Naaman Zhou reported in the same paper that the Labor government at the time was planning on removing scripture classes. The public school community had a high percentage for this motion. The Daily Telegraph shared similarly the push of removing scripture classes from schools, as some families weren't seeing the priority of it in their children's' education. One parent shared that, "schools should be offering something everyone can benefit from like debating, sport, cooking or dancing".
As well as primary schools, high schools were wanting to remove religious education from their curriculum. In 2018, Jordan Baker of The Sydney Morning Herald stated that principals wanted it removed from the program because it was taking up precious time that they thought should be used on other more important learning for their students. The wish to remove SRE from NSW schools is still ongoing as news reporter stated that teachers were finding it out-dated. However, Murray Norman this year believes that SRE is essential for a students growth. SRE in a recent report has been proven to be beneficial for improving mental health issues and embedding good morals in students.
Currently, SRE is still being taught in NSW government schools, however the debate on its place in schools is still ongoing.

Alternative

The Education Act 1990 states that as an alternative class that government schools can provide a class in ethics instead of instruction in a particular faith.
If parents prefer their children to not attend a religious teaching lesson they are given the opportunity to have them attend a substitute class on Special Education in Ethics. Schools are required to make this other class available to Students whose parents object in sending their Children to an SRE class.