The NSW State government and opposition have both acknowledged the importance of special religious education (SRE), and ensured providers that the right to teach SRE in NSW government schools will never be taken away.
"The public instruction act of 1880 guarantees that all students in our public school have a right to regular reserved time for religious education and that right is still enshrined. We consider this to be a fundamental right of children and there are no plans whatsoever to change that," said Verity Firth, the Minister for Education and Training, at the "Celebration of SRE' event held at the Department of Education and Training in Sydney on September 21.
Adrian Piccoli, the Shadow minister for Education, Skills and Youth Affairs, was unable to attend the event but still conveyed the opposition's commitment to SRE.
"SRE has been a part of NSW public education for decades and that will not change if the Liberals and Nationals are elected to government," he said through a statement.
Archbishop Peter Jensen, who’s in Melbourne for the General Synod, sent a message via video.
Dr Jensen described Special Religious Education as a major community partnership and part of a well rounded education “...and that is delivered not just simply through maths and english and sport and those other things, but it is delivered as they understand the religious tradition that they belong to and something about the Bible and the scriptures, so they can take their place as modern citizens in the modern world.”
The trial of ethics classes in 10 NSW schools was also addressed, with Cardinal George Pell, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, reminding attendees that state legislature dictates that SRE should be offered to all students with no other programs in competition with it.
"[SRE] is enshrined in the Education Act of 1990 which says that in every government school, time is to be set aside for the religious education of children" For those who are withdrawn, [secular education] should be offered that is of a nature that will avoid conflict of choice either for parents or pupils receiving special religious education," he said.
Ms Firth also addressed the ethics trail, insisting that classes were offered only as an option for parents who had already opted out of SRE. Ms Firth said that the evaluation report on the trial was expected in the next few weeks and that the government would make a decision on how to proceed after analysing the report.
Ms Firth stressed that no decisions would be made hastily or without discussion.
"No decisions will be made until government has considered Dr [Sue] Knight's report" I do know that this is an issue that people are very passionate about, and I do know that we need to have a proper discussion about this" What I have liked is that conversations I have had [with organisations represented here] have always been very honest and direct and they have always been with a sense of mutual respect" That's what I'm looking for, to have discussions in this context," she said
SRE providers and teachers from many different faiths were present at the event; all welcomed the commitment to SRE made by the government and the opposition.
