Bible Ercluded form New Zealand Schools.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 6, 1 January 1914, Page 95

Bible Ercluded form New Zealand Schools.

Mr C. H. Hogbeii, Inspector General of Schools, f»r New Zealand,, m "Moral Instruction and Train- ■ ing m, the Schools," being report of an International inquiry, volume 2, 1908, edited by Sir Michael Sadler, writes:—^(Page. 313.) "In New Zealand the public elementary school programme includes civic instruction as a compulsory subject m all schools, with reference especially to the ' privil-. eges and duties of a citizen as a. member of the Empire, of the State or Colony, and of the muni-, cipality.' ; . " The teaching must also include., instruction m morality, although it is not intended that these lessdns should necessarily occupy a separate place on the time-table. The suggested programme refers to the formation of personal habits and to duties to others. Teachers are en-, joined to. ' enforce the principles of moral conduct by examples taken from history, biography, poetry, and fiction, and by allegory and , fable.' By the terms of the Education Act the teaching within the regular school hours must be entirely secular (a remark whicit applies also to the public high . schools, i.e., nearly all the secondary schools m the Colony.). This is generally held to exclude the use of parts of the Bible, either as. literature or for the illustration of. ..moral principles. Personally, I do. not think that' this position can be logically defended ; indeed, I do not think that the use of Biblical pas-

sages, as literature or for the ethical lessons they contain, can besaid to transgress the principle of strict secularism. But the strength of sectarian feeling m New Zealand is unfortunately still so great, that the average person, appears to be unable to distinguish between the use of the Bible -for these *p;urposes, and its use for influencing the religious emotions or for teaching theological doctrines. The so-called secular solution has, therefore, been adopted m 2sTew Zealand, and probably on the grounds of expediency, may be the only solution for some time to come."