Here is a letter sent today by a prominent Christian leader to the new Minister James Merlino. This leader is one of several who are working with FIRIS to replace SRI with GRE. We have removed his name as this person has a prominent role in the church. There is an increasing number of individuals within the Christian community who are unhappy with ACCESS and SRI and are now unwilling to remain silent any longer. ******************************************************************************* Dear Minister, Congratulations on your appointment as Minister for Education and I look forward to working with you in this capacity in coming years. I write in relation to our recent letter to you regarding the development of a General Religious Education curriculum, and in the wake of The Age story on the weekend regarding the sharp decline in the uptake of Special Religious Instruction in Victorian schools. A thorough, critical religious education is vital to the future development of Victoria’s citizens. Recent events in Australia and internationally have shown that misunderstandings of religious beliefs and practices have very grave consequences, leading to extremists promoting terrorism on the one hand to unfounded prejudices against ordinary people on the other. More than ever, our society needs to be critically informed about major religious beliefs and practices and able to evaluate these respectfully and understand their contribution to our moral order. The only way to achieve this in state schools is through introduction of a general religious education curriculum taught by accredited state school teachers as part of the normal curriculum. As you know, SRI was first developed in the mid-twentieth century when the Education Act prohibited the teaching of religion in Victorian state schools, as a solution supported by the major churches to provide for the optional teaching of religious instruction by individual denominations and faith groups. Forty years ago a review of SRI recommended the introduction of a general religious education as a better way forward for Victoria’s state schools, but this recommendation was never adopted. Finally, in 2006 Victoria’s Labor Government amended the Education Act and for the first time in Victoria’s history it became possible for a general religious education curriculum of the kind envisaged above to be offered in state schools by professionally trained, fully accredited teachers. This opportunity has not, however, been taken up. As SRI continues to falter, we believe now is the time to develop such a curriculum and implement it by 2017. Religious education need not form a large part of the curriculum, and an innovative curriculum could include opportunities for local people of faith to participate in explaining their beliefs, building community through tolerance and respect in our schools and neighbourhoods. Several good examples of interfaith and ethics curricula already exist, internationally and in the independent and Catholic school sectors in Victoria, which could be easily adapted. We seek to assist you and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to establish and implement such a curriculum as a vital priority for Victoria’s education system We look forward to an early opportunity to meet with you in the new year to discuss these possibilities and a way forward that will benefit all Victorians. Please do not hesitate to contact me to arrange a time for us to meet. I wish you a blessed Christmas season. Yours sincerely .............
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 23:53:06 +0000
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