Religious Instruction in Schools.

Otago Witness, Issue 1503, 4 September 1880, Page 22

Religious Instruction in Schoo l s.

A special meeting of the Dunedin School Committee' was held on Monday to consider an application from c^ Lor 1 nzo i Moore tor the af t« school hours of the King street school building, for the purpose of giving religious instruction therein. The members present were Air J. Robin (chairman), and Messrs Livingston, Nathan, Bolt, and Low. The application was as follows : " My Dear Sir,— l shall feel much obliged tfl mUy be ' allowed the use of one of the roonS in the King street school building for three-quarters of an hou? before school commences, one day in the week for the purpose of giving a Scripture lesson to such children as might be disposed to attend. The instractiou would be of an entirely unsectarian character, as the class would be composed of children comin°- to the school on that day, only a little earlier. I hope if I am allowed the use of the room, that I should not be required to pay for it.-I am, dear Sir, yours truly "Lorenzo Moore, M.A., „, r , " Church of England Minister." The Chairman said that he had called a special meeting to consider the application because, when the religious element was introduced, a great deal of time was taken up and "bad blood" engendered. Mr Nathan: I have never noticed that, i though I have seen great differences of opinion. The Chairman explained that he simply meant that on such occasions an unusual degree "of heat was manifested. ' Mr Bolt moved that the rooms be granted on the same terms as they were let for on Sundays, and providing that 15 minutes elapse between the closing of the school lessons and the commencement of the Rev Mr Moore's class. Mr Livingstone dissented from the motion. He thought it was desirable that children should receive religious education, and although it was excluded from the ordinary school course, every opportunity should, in his opinion, be afforded to those who would impart it to the children, either before or after school hours. He could not see how any harm could possibly oe done by granting the Rev. Mr Moore's application, or any similar request from any clergyman m the city. No extra cleaning would be rendered necessary by the children remaining in school a little longer, and consequently no charge should be made. Mr Moore was an authorised clergyman, qualified to give religious instruction, and he thought the Committee should not oppose him in his trood work. t b The Chairman said he would not object to' anyone giving moral lessons in the school buildings. Mr Nathan did not believe in Bible-reading in schools, but he was in favour of the application being granted upon condition that none but the chiP dren of parents who were favourable to the work the Rev. Mr Moore wished to undertake should attend the class. He thought that such a reasonable concession would reconcile to the present system those who wished to have the Bible introduced into the schools The use of the room might be given free of charge' but care should be taken that cluldren should not be" coerced by teacher or clergyman to attend the class The Chairman was in favour of granting thp innii'w, tion, but thought they might as well refufe to ganttt as to insist on the condition proposed that 16 minutes should elapse between the closing of the school n.tf.l saw s»sKßis£aSs

Schools were occupied on the Sabbath it was different, because more cleaning was then required, and the Janitor should be paid for the additional labour imposed upon him. . Mr Bom said that when they endeavoured to introduce the teaching of religions in the school buildings they were going outside the Act. They had nothing whatever to do with the question whether religious instruction was necessary at State schools— their duty was to administer the Act as they found it. The interval he had suggested was necessary, as children could not be expected to make themselves singular by leaving, and the presence of a clergyman would probably prevent those who wished to leave from so doing. Mr Livingston said that nineteen-twentieths of the people of Dunedin were anxious that their children should have religious instruction during the week, and that the Bible had been put out of the schools to please a very small minority. Mr Nathan said that if only one in ten wished their children to have such instruction, he thought the Committee would be right in granting the application under the restriction he had mentioned — that the consent of the parents to the attendance of their children be obtained in writing. The Chairman thought it would not be necessary that the consent should be in writing, as that would involve trouble. He suggested that the children should simply be told that they must obtain their parents' consent to attend the class. Mr Low considered that if parents desired that their children should be taught Scripture lessons they would not begrudge' writing letters giving their consent.

Mr Nathan : There could be no difficulty hi getting the consent in writing if the parents are in earnest, and I believe a majority of the parents are in earnest.

Mr Livingston amended a motion he had suggested, bo as to read aa follows : — " That the use of the school be granted to the Rev. L. Moore free of charge, for the purpose of imparting religious instruction to such children as choose to attend, provided an interval of five minutes elapse between the conclusion of the ordinary classes and the commencement of Mr Moore's class, and that the written consent of the parents or guardians of the children be obtained." The motion was carried without dissent, but the Chairman remarked that he would have preferred to have seen it without the condition that the consent of the parents must be obtained in writing.