Parents of public school students say their children are effectively being punished for not attending religious studies.
Schools are legally obliged to be secular, but under the Education Act they are allowed to close for an hour a week for religious instruction, as long as children can opt out.
Peter Harrison, the founder of Facebook group Keep Religion Out of Schools, says children that opt out of religious studies often feel isolated and are left with nothing to do.
”They are effectively treated the same as in detention,” Harrison says.