The Human Rights Commission has launched a guide for schools titled “Religion in New Zealand Schools: Questions and Concerns”.
The guide says it aims to provide answers to common questions on how schools and their communities can give a place to religion “that ensures security and dignity for all”.
The place of religion in New Zealand schools is a complex area, says Joanna Collinge, executive director of the Human Rights Commission. “It has been the source of a steady stream of enquiries and complaints to the Human Rights Commission and the New Zealand School Trustees Association over many years”.
The publication offers advice and case studies on how schools can respect the law and not discriminate against their students on the grounds of religious belief or lack of it. It provides explanations of what the Human Rights Act and the Bill of Rights Act and Education Act say about religion in schools.
Joanna says that questions raised by parents, whānau, teachers, trustees and students range from the permissibility of hot cross buns or the celebration of Easter, and the question of whether children from non-religious families are discriminated against by provision of religious instruction, to the role of waiata and karakia in schools.
Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says the guidelines are needed because New Zealand has changed since the legislation about religion in schools came into force in the 1960s. “Today we live in a vastly different society, with many cultures and religions, including a third of New Zealanders who say they haveno religion.”
The guidelines were prepared by the NZ Diversity Action Programme. A draft was written by Paul Morris, Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University, and used as the basis for consultation with a range of stakeholders, including faith and non-faith groups, schools, the School Board of Trustees Association and the Ministry of Education.Some religious groups have expressed disappointment that they were excluded from the consultation process.
Responding to the new guidelines, Carol Craymer, principal of Queen Margaret College in Wellington, says they have been designed for state schools where “education is meant to be secular, but that is difficult because at times you do need to refer to religion. And religion is taught in primary schools.”
Carol says that for Queen Margaret College, an independent Presbyterian girls’ school, the guidelines reflect what they promote: “to provide an inclusive Christian environment for students”.
“We have religious observation but you opt into that with a school like ours. We have religious education where students learn about Judaism and other non-Christian religions. It’s about tolerance; it’s important to know about and appreciate other religions.”
Graeme Yule, headmaster of Scots College in Wellington, can see a few problems with the guidelines from his school’s perspective.
“We were established to offer an alternative to a secular education. All students and staff agree to support our special character; we deliver an education in the Presbyterian tradition.”
Graeme says that all students are required to undertake religious education and that there are regular Chapel services.
“Christian values are at our core. Not all of our students are Christian, or practise their faith, however they all must agree to attend Chapel and support our character before they are offered a place here; they make their choice prior to enrolling. Having said this, it is not our mission to convert students to faith; rather to provide education and an environment where Christianity is celebrated and part of their education.”
Graeme notes that young people are discerning and able to make their own decisions. “With teenagers, the more you make something compulsory the more they are likely to rebel”.
By Angela Singer