From The SMH
The state
government has rejected the recommendations of an independent report into
scripture teaching in NSW schools that would have forced providers to track
student enrolment numbers and let students who opt out get on with their
regular class work during scripture class time.
Less than
one-third of high school students are enrolled in scripture, according to a
$300,000 review of Special Religious Education (SRE) released by the NSW
Department of Education.
But the
department has rejected making substantial changes to the teaching of scripture
after sitting on the review by ARTD consultants for almost 18 months.
A
recommendation to permit the majority of students who do not take scripture to
get on with their class work was rejected on the basis it was against the
current Religious Education Policy; along with a recommendation to give high
school principals the power to opt in to SRE, which was rejected because
parents currently have the right to withdraw their child from SRE in writing.
In primary
schools, participation in SRE is about 71 per cent, while almost half of all
principals report a decline in scripture enrolments in the past four years.
But there
is no way to test those enrolment figures, which are based on a survey of
principals, because the department also rejected a recommendation to keep
centralised SRE enrolment figures on the basis it would not be "the best
use of resources to establish an additional statewide monitoring system for
attendance in SRE"
In
addition, the controversial 2015 change that removed the ethics option from the
school enrolment form, which was viewed by ethics advocates as a sop to
Christian Democrat MP Rev Fred Nile who holds the balance of power in the upper
house, will stay, against the recommendation of the review.
"I am
very pleased that today the NSW Coalition government has continued its positive
support for SRE, which is so beneficial to our young people today," Mr
Nile said on Tuesday.
The review
was a recommendation of a 2012 upper house inquiry into ethics classes in NSW
schools, which recommended the department publish the number
of students taking part in ethics and scripture classes, or neither, and that
both types of class be reviewed in 2014-15.
Education
Minister Rob Stokes conceded the review heard some "concerning
anecdotes" but said "there was no widespread or systemic evidence of
problems in the present system of SRE or SEE [ethics].
From my Twitter feed
UK School Standards Minister @NickGibbMP talking #education reform and sharing experiences with @NSWEducation & @DETVic teachers
We do not want to be following the lead of the UK in education EVER!
No comments:
Post a Comment