Articles by Dave

The Education and Training bill. Is it an improvement or further entrenchment of legislation that should be long gone?

Opaheke School’s Board of Trustees is about to make a decision on whether or not to allow religious instruction to remain in the school. A very fuzzy community vote is meant to inform them on what parents want but it’s got issues and has nothing to do with the motivations behind religious instruction.

Another school has taken the decision to remove religious instruction classes. But what do the locals think?

Remember how important it was for you to fit in and be like your friends when you were a kid? Bible in Schools relies on that feeling to coerce parents and children into accepting religious instruction. Does your school do this?

Most parents don’t seem to have much of an understanding of what Bible in Schools classes really are. Many of them seem to think that they teach about world religions and don’t just promote Christian faith.

Schools are now considering what they will do with the new Ministry of Education guidelines on religious instruction classes. Many schools have practices that currently fly in the face of these recommendations. Will they change by choice?

The NZSTA have released a newsletter informing their members about the Ministry of Educations guidelines for religious instruction. But they’re still not taking a stance on it, just repeating what has already been stated.

Schools around the country will be reviewing their religious instruction policy in the wake of final recommendations from the Ministry of Education. Is your children’s school one of them?

The NZ Ministry of Education has finally released their “guidelines for religious instruction”. But will anyone listen? If the board of trustees wasn’t concerned with imposing religion on a secular school before, why should they be now?

Wellsford School has changed their religious instruction programme to opt-in. Another small victory on the path to truly secular schools where children of all religious backgrounds can feel included and welcome!