Isn't it ironic... Don't you think?
Federal Education minister Julie Bishop wants the Australian taxpayers to fund chaplains in state run schools. Ms Bishop said parents were "looking for choice in the education and values taught to their children".
Now call me crazy, but I thought parents already had such a choice. There are churches all over the place, you can't walk down a city street without seeing the spire of some house of worship pointing up into the smoggy sky. I assume there are practitioners of religious guidance inside them, despite having never ventured into one recently. Anyone can walk into a place of worship and seek guidance from an official of the religion in question, as far as I know, without fear of being turned away. Indeed, if parents feel strongly enough about spiritual issues, they can choose to send their children to schools specifically designed to indoctrinate them into certain ways of thinking.
But apparently it's up to the Australian taxpayer to foot the bill for individuals' choice of religious persuasion, and schools should have spruikers for selected belief systems installed as a permanent fixture. Not only the taxpayers in general, but parents of children at any state school, who may have no interest in consulting a religiously oriented counsellor, should also help pay for the choices of those who do. The school will have to make up half of the $70, 000 it will take to have a chaplain on campus at all times, and the government will match their comittment.
I don't know of many schools that have a spare $35,000 laying around unused at present. Indeed, my own son's school has it's library open only on selected days because of staff and funding shortfalls. But Ms. Bishop, who has no children of her own in the education system, seems to think that what the kids are really missing out on is someone to impart a value structure to them, rather than access to varied information of their own choosing.
If children are missing out on being taught values, it is not a fault that lies with the school system. The very basis of a secular schooling curriculum is that all children, regardless of personal or family beliefs, will have an equal education in areas essential for their future success in society. If the school system is to provide a moral framework, perhaps study of philosophy in general, and ethics, should be included among the curricula of schools in this country. Across the board, in a national approach, as is proposed with this policy.
Particularly galling is the prospect of installing chaplains, a patently christian concept, while at the same time removing study of indigenous culture from classrooms in Australia. So it's okay to teach indigenous kids about Western Christian values, but not those of their parents and their ancestors, as that is apparently the job of the family. This smacks of blatant hypocrisy and obvious double standards.
It is also ironic that this present government is crying foul that the youth have no moral guidance. Quite aside from directly insulting the hard working teachers in the State School system, by suggesting they have no morals themselves, the Howard led coalition is probably one of the most corrupt and morally questionable governments this country has seen. Their record on treatment of refugees, their illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, their complete disregard for minority and general public opinion, their constant state of denial about human rights abuses here and overseas, as well as consistently misleading the public over a number of issues (not least the AWB affair) are hardly shining examples of moral fortitude.
This is yet another chip away at the freedom of Australians, particularly our freedom of thought. And it is being carried out in the most insidious way possible, by targeting young, impressionable, often confused, yet always trusting, children. If the split in the government continues the way it is going, the concept will never be passed as a bill through the senate. If it comes down to such a vote, I hope the open-mindedness and freedom of thought that currently exists in our state schools extends into the parliament of our nation.
Now call me crazy, but I thought parents already had such a choice. There are churches all over the place, you can't walk down a city street without seeing the spire of some house of worship pointing up into the smoggy sky. I assume there are practitioners of religious guidance inside them, despite having never ventured into one recently. Anyone can walk into a place of worship and seek guidance from an official of the religion in question, as far as I know, without fear of being turned away. Indeed, if parents feel strongly enough about spiritual issues, they can choose to send their children to schools specifically designed to indoctrinate them into certain ways of thinking.
But apparently it's up to the Australian taxpayer to foot the bill for individuals' choice of religious persuasion, and schools should have spruikers for selected belief systems installed as a permanent fixture. Not only the taxpayers in general, but parents of children at any state school, who may have no interest in consulting a religiously oriented counsellor, should also help pay for the choices of those who do. The school will have to make up half of the $70, 000 it will take to have a chaplain on campus at all times, and the government will match their comittment.
I don't know of many schools that have a spare $35,000 laying around unused at present. Indeed, my own son's school has it's library open only on selected days because of staff and funding shortfalls. But Ms. Bishop, who has no children of her own in the education system, seems to think that what the kids are really missing out on is someone to impart a value structure to them, rather than access to varied information of their own choosing.
If children are missing out on being taught values, it is not a fault that lies with the school system. The very basis of a secular schooling curriculum is that all children, regardless of personal or family beliefs, will have an equal education in areas essential for their future success in society. If the school system is to provide a moral framework, perhaps study of philosophy in general, and ethics, should be included among the curricula of schools in this country. Across the board, in a national approach, as is proposed with this policy.
Particularly galling is the prospect of installing chaplains, a patently christian concept, while at the same time removing study of indigenous culture from classrooms in Australia. So it's okay to teach indigenous kids about Western Christian values, but not those of their parents and their ancestors, as that is apparently the job of the family. This smacks of blatant hypocrisy and obvious double standards.
It is also ironic that this present government is crying foul that the youth have no moral guidance. Quite aside from directly insulting the hard working teachers in the State School system, by suggesting they have no morals themselves, the Howard led coalition is probably one of the most corrupt and morally questionable governments this country has seen. Their record on treatment of refugees, their illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, their complete disregard for minority and general public opinion, their constant state of denial about human rights abuses here and overseas, as well as consistently misleading the public over a number of issues (not least the AWB affair) are hardly shining examples of moral fortitude.
This is yet another chip away at the freedom of Australians, particularly our freedom of thought. And it is being carried out in the most insidious way possible, by targeting young, impressionable, often confused, yet always trusting, children. If the split in the government continues the way it is going, the concept will never be passed as a bill through the senate. If it comes down to such a vote, I hope the open-mindedness and freedom of thought that currently exists in our state schools extends into the parliament of our nation.
posted by The Last Scientician at 10:15 PM
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