'Parents don’t want Bible in schools’

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 26

'Parents don’t want Bible in schools’

PA Auckland Thousands of primary school children are getting Bible instruction against their parents’ wishes, says Mrs Jill Holt, a Planning Council member. Parents were reluctant to tell schools what they really thought, she told a West Auckland principals’ conference.

Mrs Holt said her views were supported by a survey of parents at Newmarket School, where she is deputy principal. Of 110 pupils, only nine had been exempted from Bible study at their parents’ request, but when the parents were surveyed, only 21 approved the instruction without reservation, Mrs Holt said.

The parents had not objected to the classes on the enrolment form

at the beginning of the year. “They let their children go to religious education, when really, they’d rather not.” Mrs Holt said parents at her school — many of Asian origin — were reluctant to object to the school’s 30 minutes a week of Christian instruction.

Other questions on the survey showed similar gaps between what parents said and what they actually wanted.

“They say they are satisfied with school reporting to parents, but express a real desire for the school to be more open, and to be genuinely and accurately informative.” Most parents wanted homework for their children, according to the survey. Only three out of 51 parents did not want homework.