Media Releases
Religion: the fourth ‘R’ in school education?
There is no evidence that religious schools cause problems for their students or society argues a new report being released by the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) this Thursday.
In The Rise in Religious Schools, CIS Research Fellow Jennifer Buckingham debunks the myth that the Howard government was responsible for the largest growth in the non-government schools and argues that the greatest change in the last two decades has been the diversification of religious schools.
‘1.1 million students attend non-government schools in Australia; more than 90% of these students are in religious schools’, says Jennifer Buckingham.
The religious background of these 1.1 million students has changed dramatically over the last twenty years.
Jewish and Catholic children still have high rates of enrolment in non-government schools, but other religious groups’ representation has increased substantially.
Previously unpublished Census data show that:
- In 1996, 9% of Muslim students attended non-government schools, up to 21% in 2006;
- Fundamentalist Christian students increased their representation in non-government schools from 28% in 1996 to 40% in 2006.
- The number of children in Christian schools not affiliated with the major Christian churches more than doubled from 19,000 in 1998 to almost 44,000 in 2006.
‘Islamic and Exclusive Brethren schools receive a large amount of media attention, yet no evidence exists that should concern a free and pluralist society.’
Common complaints that religious schools stop children from learning tolerance or that the teaching of religion is harmful to children have no supporting evidence.
‘Adults who attended non-government schools report higher rates of civic participation than people who attended government schools.’
Parents most often choose non-government schools because of their values, discipline and educational standards, with religion falling very low on their list of priorities.
‘School choice, for religious, discipline or other reasons, should be a celebrated principal of our multicultural society.’
Religious schools exist because parents want them and aggressive secularism or heavy regulation could potentially deny parents this important choice.
