Teachers speak out against government funding for religious chaplains in schools
The Australian Education Union has joined a host of groups protesting last week’s announcement of federal funding to extend the school chaplains program.
The program will receive an additional $247 million over four years to support thousands of religious chaplains in schools.
Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said that schools are in need of funding for other areas, The Guardian has reported.
“We do not support the chaplains program,” she said.
“Our schools need these funds to invest in programs such as school counsellors and student wellbeing programs in schools.
“We prefer to see that money invested in our schools more broadly.”
The school chaplains program, which is to feature “an enhanced focus on addressing bullying in schools”, will effectively replace the LGBTI-focused Safe Schools anti-bullying program.
Other secular groups have also criticised the chaplaincy program.
The Rationalist Society of Australia said that it “interferes with the right to religious freedom and involves religious discrimination in hiring decisions”.
Alison Courtice of Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools said the government had ignored opposition to the program and organisations urging that the religious requirement be removed.
She said the Queensland guidelines allowed chaplains to be employed under a temporary waiver of minimum qualifications, but “no such waiver applies to the faith requirement… which clearly illustrates that the program is about religion more than what’s best for students”.
Courtice said that while chaplains are not permitted to proselytise, they are allowed to deliver religious instruction while not on chaplaincy hours, in what she called ” a concerning blurring of the lines”.
In 2015, the Australian Human Rights Commission reported that concerns were raised about the school chaplains program at almost all of its public meetings, raising “questions about the extent to which religious organisations are able to enforce their beliefs when providing services that are funded by the government”.
Almost all of the religious chaplains in schools are Christian, with a small number of Islamic, Jewish, and other faith chaplains.
If religion-run schools want to have chaplains then let them and let them do what “chaplains” have always done: Give Religious and Spiritual Support to followers/members of their religion.
They are not “social workers”
They are not, nor ever have been, trained in Counselling. That is the job for trained Psychologists and Psychologists only. An enormous amount of damage has been done by these people either with no training whatsoever or the barest minimum such as that provided to “social workers”
Let the experts do the Counselling. The rest should simply get on their bikes and bugger off.
State schools should provide Qualified Counsellors (Psychologists) who have no overt religious attachments should any child wish to discuss her/his personal issues with them.
Religion is an entirely Private, Personal matter and Chaplains should only be allowed to advise members of their own religion on matters of religion. The more extremely held religious beliefs Chaplains have the more damage they will do to children.
Religion should not be taught in any schools – religious or otherwise. No child should be subjected to Religious instruction (brainwashing).
Children should be allowed to discover religion in their own time and when they have the intellectual ability to understand. They should not have it shoved down their throats before they are, at least, 16 years old – if then. that does not mean children should not be taught Right from Wrong, how to behave, to have compassion, be generous – those characteristics have nothing to do with a belief in some unproven, mythical all-powerful, all-knowing old man up in some paradise/heaven.