A long-running court battle over Bible studies being allowed in state primary and intermediate schools has been dropped after an opt-in clause was added to the Education and Training Act 2020. The August 2020 update to the Education and Training Act requires state primary and intermediate schools to enforce an opt-in process for religious instruction. Read more
A Government-sponsored survey questioning the future of religious instruction in state schools is being dismissed by both religious and secular groups as “biased.” The survey was launched last week by an independent charity, the Religious Diversity Centre (RDC), in partnership with the Ministry of Education. The survey asks whether “religious instruction” in state primary schools Read more
The Secular Education Network has launched a Teach, Not Preach petition appealing for Section 54 of the Education and Training Bill to be removed. They say the Education and Workforce Committee’s report to the House of Parliament last week on the Education and Training Bill: “sanctions bible classes for primary school children in state primary Read more
Katherine Hogg has no problem with Christmas activities in general at school, but she says making them biblical is “out of line . . . for a secular school.” Hogg kept her 7-year-old son home from school last week to avoid lessons about the Christian origins of Christmas. She said she was unhappy her son’s Read more
A Human Rights Commission spokesperson confirmed it supported the Secular Education Network’s application to have its case to stop religious education in state schools heard at the High Court. “The proceedings were originally filed with the Human Rights Review Tribunal in October 2016 and little substantive progress has been made since then,” the spokesperson said. Read Read more
The Churches Education Commission (CEC) is outraged by claims made by secular education campaigners who want to stop religion being taught in state primary and intermediate schools. Tanya Jacob, the South Island representative of the of the Secular Education Network (SEN), said there are “really quite serious concerns, even concerns about potential for grooming, keeping secrets Read more
According to a Secular Education Network (SEN) survey of state primary and intermediate schools, 37.7 per cent offer religious instruction. The survey received 1663 responses from a total of 1833 state primary and intermediate schools. The SEN website has a resource that shows which schools received the survey and which of them responded to it. Read more
The Secular Education Network (SEN) is launching a fresh challenge against Bible in Schools programmes. David Hines, spokesperson for SEN, has been described in the media as a”retired Journalist and lay preacher. An introduction to a 2012 YouTube video says Hines Was a Methodist minister for 10 years, from 1961. He resigned and became a Read more
The Secular Education Network is decrying government-funded driver licence courses using education techniques inspired by the teaching methodology of the Church of Scientology. The Network says any influence of the church on the education material meant a “biased education” was being delivered. Registered charity Rule Education Trust, run by David Rule, is delivering driver licence Read more
New Zealand’s Education Minister Hekia Parata says she is not considering a review of the Education Act, which allows religious instruction in state schools. Christchurch mother Tanya Jacob and the Secular Education Network are pressing for changes to the law in this regard. They have laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission. Ms Jacob Read more