BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1954, 10 January 1914, Page 3

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

v A' TEACHER'S STANDPOINT, By..A.' Inglis, -M.A.,M.Sc., Keadmasl* ■ • of the North School, jJiivereargil i^ox-Prcsident,...Southland Teacher, I??;.lnstitute; ■' ' I- must confess'-that"tlio-attitudo. c Jio'- teachers! of; New Zealand .' toward he - subjcci;ic f■> religious instruction' i ioniewhat perplt'Xiiig.-" So,far as dofir is. available, some of tli iistrict. Institutes hav« or ..the existing secular system, or .'sin )ljV recorded' their . opposition to tli ntroduction cf the'' Australian "system jthors, again, have made no prc-nouncc nent on the subjeef,; while tho Smitl ,and- District- Institute; lias declined t giro.-'official- support , to' either'-'sido'' i tho present-controversy.;; Further, "j th Jelogates to" tho annual meeting of tli NW Zealand "Educational liistitut !ield at New Plymouth Inst januar. ieeided by a largo majority against tli irogramino of tiro Biblo-in-State-Sehocl League. Since, for tho reasons statei above, many of tho delegates had no in struct-ions rfrom ■ their respoctivo dis iricfc institutes, and recorded merel; their own personal opinions on th juestion, the voting could not bo re yarded as representative. Nevertheless I am constrained to say that, if a pk-bis :ito were taken, tlw teachers in fav >ur o-f the Australian system would b< found to bo in a minority—a minority however, which is moro ■ considerable than it is generally supposed to bo. Tho most perplexing aspect of. th< matter is, however, the fact that n con ferenco of leading teachers should restrict itself to tho passing of a purely negative resolution stating that it die pot favour tho Australian system, whih it remained silent- on tho extremely important question of religious instruction in general. The result is that the NT.Z.E.I. has, to" all intents and purposes, resolved itself into a branch oi fcho Schools Defence League, with a consequent l-oss of power to mould publk opinion on tho subject. a If it woro the dutv of the official or. of New Zealand teachers to lefino its attitude towards the Australian system, it surely was a prior and more imperative duty, not only to itself, but to the public at large, to say categorically _ whether it supported any form of ■eligiotis instruction in tho schools. As natters stand, those delegates who voted riih tho majoriy, bu who favour religioiis instruction, have been placed in su equivalent position. * <■■■■■ On the general question, I am not in i position to sny whether the teachers jf New Zealand as a whole desire a :hangt> from the present secular system :o one that includes some form of Scripture lessd»s._ 1 am awaro that tho sonccnsus of opinion among educational luthorities all over the world is in favour of religious instruction in schools, liid I should bo surprised to learn that ;lw majority of our teachers had Tanged themselves on tho opposite side. So far as my own observations havo Hiabled mo to form an opinion, I am iisposed to say that the chief objection unoug-teachers to tho Australian sys.cm is based -on fears of sectarian dificultios. Perhaps tho chief reason why [ do not share these fears is due to the act that I received the greater part of ny primary education under a system somewhat similar to that obtaining in iustralia. During my period of con:act .with the. system I saw or heard cf lothing in tho. shape of sectarian trouble, »;-d I can therefore readily accept he evidence testifying to- tl'io smooth .-orfeing of the system in the Commonwealth. At the same time I must pay hut tho numerous testimonials from Inpecters of Sehools aiid teachers of landing in Australia and Tasmania lavo not received- at the hands of tlk> cachers of New-.Zealand the considera■ioix duo to the.n. One.of the writers.is ill". J. A. Johnson. M.APrincipal'of -ho Teachers' .Training College' in Tasmania, and formerly one of tho" most uglily rcspccted of New Zealand tea.-ch-and president of the New Zealand IduciLtional Institute. 1 think I can venture the assertion .hat had Mr. Johnson made a statenenfc unfavourable to tho Australian ;ystem, his opinion would have hcen.proiiaihied from the hopsetops ail over the iominion. I cannot refrain from quotiig this striking testimony of Mr. fohn Tucker, headmaster of one of the :ity schools of Perth, and, fit the time (f writ inn, president- of the State School fcachers' Onion of Western Australia. iTr. Tucker says:—"From South Australia-' I was an epic nent to the introduction of the sysom, as t thought it would tend to ii-and distinction that would -not . be jleasant; but so far as I can see, after ic-ven years' experionsb, my fears had u>. foundation in fact. Your Qneciisand_ teachers have nothing to fear in ;he introduction of religious instruction, but will have an added lever to raise ihe young lfrw to tho high ideals they io much desire." ! ' Contact with teachers on both sides >f tho question has led mo to respect :he honest convictions of those whose ;iews do not coincide with my own. I :annot close, however. - without taking ?xeeption to a claim which has been put 'orward on behalf' of teachers as an irgument- against the introduction of tho Australian system, but. which, I am glad ;o say, I have never heard mentioned j,v any member of tho profession, . I ;ofer to the suggested conscience claure "or teachers. As a logical argument, it ippears to me to lack the essentia! yiiaiity of common-sense, for it would 50 strange indeed if it were left to tho .cachers of New Zealand to unearth n -iola-tcd conscience, which' thousands of eachcrs in Australia failed to discover ifter working tho system for so many rears. Further, the argument savours >f insincerity, inasmuch as our autborsed test books contain lessons wholly jr in part of a religious character, For ixarnpie, I recently picked out from a jundle of old school journals twenty-sis moh lessons. Although th® matter contained in our text books has never beers found to conform to the requirements of % purely secular system, not a single orotest 6tt account of conscientious scruples has, so far as I am aware, ever joejj made. Moreover, tho State, like my other employer, expects its servants to do tho work it considers to bo necessary, Tho State recognises no conscience ;lauso for tho pustenis officials, who 'acilitate the distribution of spirituous ,iquor-s| or for postal, telegraph', and railway servants, who are required to jive.the services on Sundays; nor is it ikely that tho State, should it decide, to s. Introduce Scripture lessons into tho priaiary schools' curriculum, will grant oer- | Mission to teachers to defeat its will. ' J