Skip to main content

Kōrero: Interdenominational Christianity

Religious instruction in a state primary school

Religious instruction in a state primary school

Bible in Schools teacher Laureen Williams reads a bible story to pupils of Stanhope Road School, Mt Wellington, Auckland, in 2007. Stanhope Road School, a co-educational state primary school, was visited by teachers from local churches for its weekly 30-minute Bible in Schools programme.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Churches Education Commission, Auckland

The photo is, unless otherwise stated, the property of Churches Education Commission, Auckland. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is a violation of copyright law.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Peter J. Lineham, Interdenominational Christianity – Education, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/29765/religious-instruction-in-a-state-primary-school (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Peter J. Lineham, i tāngia i te 5 April 2011.

Comments

Tanya Jacob
21 April 2018
This page needs correcting. The heading should read "religious instruction" not education. The difference is made clear in the Human Rights Commissions "Religion in Schools: Questions and Concerns (2009)" - which was prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. To say "education" (and use the term "teacher") implies that the program is part of the NZ curriculum and approved by the Ministry of Education. It is not. Schools must be legally closed in order for *volunteers* (not teachers) to come in and provide religious instruction. There is no requirement that these volunteers use any particular "interdenominational" material, and in fact can impart whatever faith perspective they like. Monitoring is a recognised problem within the Churches Education Commission (the largest promoter of religious instruction) and no external monitoring is done by education authorities at all. Complaints by parents, however, regarding telling children that they or their loved ones are going to hell are commonplace. The anachronism of church volunteers requiring our state school children to be segregated by faith is highly controversial. This page should at least be factual as to the nature of their presence in our schools (closing them for religious instruction) and reflect the different views on this.