I Support the Ethics Trial in NSW Primary Schools

Dear Judy Hopwood
I am writing to add my strong support for the Ethics Trial  [more].
* The minister only has to change DET policy (not the law) to approve ongoing ethics classes as an option for kids who opt out of scripture.
* St James Ethics Centre and the NSW Federation of P&C Associations have no desire or intention to eliminate SRE from schools.
* That anyone should wish to deny any child further opportunity to spend a period of meaningful reflection about aspects of what makes for a good life and a good society is a serious ethical issue in itself.
* Parents of all faiths and of no particular faith have joined together to press for this initiative to proceed.
* The pilot is designed to engage students in ethical inquiry rather than to offer them ethical instruction. The treatment of the subject matter will stimulate students to explore ethical issues through dialogue and discussion. Students will be involved in building a collaborative and inquiring community.
* The Rawlinson Committee (set up to review Special Religious Education in schools) specifically recommended in 1980 that students who do not attend SRE be offered purposeful secular learning in this time slot (Rec 62). Ethics classes meet this recommendation.
* All material developed for an ongoing program will be made freely available to SRE providers so that they can match or exceed what is offered in secular ethics classes.
* A commitment to secular education does not imply hostility to religion. The secular state is the best guarantee of freedom of conscience and belief for all. A secular approach to ethics classes will be open to a diverse range of perspectives.
Dr Tony Scotland