Religions Teaching.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 6698, 17 May 1900, Page 3

Religions Teaching.

Per Press Association.) Auckland, May 16. At the Board of Education to-day the following important letter was read from the Department of Education in response to an enquiry from the Board regarding religious instruction in schools :—" In reply to yonr letter of the Bth inst. seeking the advice of the Minister with regard to the application of the • Papatoitoi School Committee for holding a Scripture class in its school from 9.30 to 10 a.m. one day in the week. I have to say that section 84, 2 of the Education Act, 1877, requires that two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon shall be consecutive, and the section must be taken to imply that it was found necessary to open the school, sfvy for more than t*vo hours in the forenoon, the teaching during that period is to be entirely of a secular character, so that a Scripture lesson cannot be inserted within the ordinary school hours, even though there may be left two hours of consecutive teaching during the forenoon. In other words, religious instruction, if given, must be entirely apart from the course of secular instruction and outside the hours assigned for such instruction, namely, either before the assembling of the school or after the dismissal of the school.— George Hogben."