catholicweekly.com.au 11 2, August, 2020 Find the career you deserve SEE OUR LATEST JOBS Call Katie (02) 9390 5402 catholicjobsonline.com. au “With the decline of other in- stitutions – sometimes includ- ing families – that once played a lead role in inculcating val- ues and developing character, schools have found it increas- ingly necessary to give priority to students’ social and emo- tional development, and often to their physical and mental safety, health and wellbeing.” The Greens’ solution to the skills decline due to an over- crowded curriculum and val- ues- and virtues-gap due to the decline of values-based institutions, including the family itself (and presum- ably, the churches), is to re- move SRE from classes and kick chaplains out of schools. Yeah, that should do the trick! It is absurd to think that Greens policies can address the serious problems facing education today: Spend less time on reading, writing and arithmetic, and more time on left-leaning social agendas, leaving a significant gap in ba- sic skills needed for transition into adulthood; undermine the nuclear family as the ba- sic unit of society, leaving kids without the support needed to develop resilience, leaving a significant gap in their abil- ity to cope with stress; and do everything you can to re- move religion from the public square, not only in schools, leaving a significant gap in the inculcation of values. The education of future generations is the most im- portant tool in securing their future, and Australia’s more broadly. It is a conversation for serious people, and it is not assisted by those who pre- tend that they want religion out of schools, when what they really want is the singu- lar religion of socialism to be taught to your kids. Suffer the little children W ell, it wouldn’t be a new school semester if the Greens didn’t again try to push Special Reli- gious Education (SRE) out of public schools. Greens MLC David Shoe- bridge has launched a cam- paign to remove catechists from public schools, saying that “it’s time to end scripture classes in all public schools and use this time for learn- ing and ethics classes.” [Eth- ics classes are those that the Greens and their support- ers successfully lobbied to offer as an alternate to SRE, that – while well-meaning – presume that you can teach kids to employ ethical rea- soning without reference to the Judaeo-Christian ethic on which western civilisation was built.] Without a hint of irony, or self-awareness for that matter, Shoebridge has labelled his campaign Education, Not In- doctrination. You know there are some serious word games going on when the Greens pretend to be against indoc- trination of kids in the class- room. This, from the party that backs the controversial Safe Schools program and whose MPs not only backed, but par- ticipated in, the school cli- mate strikes. Make no mistake, Da- vid Shoebridge and the NSW Greens want religion in schools; they just don’t want your religion in there. They want theirs. They want a reli- gion of not only atheism, but anti-theism in schools. They want children indoctrinated in gender fluidity and other dangerous ideas. And, as best as possible, they want to do it without giv- ing parents the choice about whether their kids are subject to such indoctrination. Under NSW rules for SRE, parents have to opt-in for their children to attend Scrip- ture/catechism classes and children are not permitted to attend without written pa- rental consent. This is not the case for the more socially constructed lessons, like Safe Schools and similar, that the Greens want in the classroom. The timing of the Greens campaign is also a little ironic. In the coming days, sub- missions will close into a par- liamentary inquiry into the New South Wales School Cur- riculum. This inquiry, borne out of a review conducted by Professor Geoff Masters, is looking to address complaints of the curriculum being over- crowded and the dramatic decline in student achieve- ments. David Shoebridge is one of the MPs sitting on the committee charged with run- ning the inquiry, and so his predetermined views are not to be ignored. The Masters Review found that “the proportion of NSW 15 year olds meeting mini- mally acceptable standards of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy has been in steady decline” and that they are instead achieving only low-level skills insufficient for the modern workplace. These low levels are consistent with NSW students going from be- ing amongst the world’s top performers 20 years ago to be- ing near the OECD average. The Review also found something very interesting in relation to the overcrowded curriculum. From the report: Innocence receding: Greens MLC David Shoebridge wants catechists out and gender ideology in public schools. PHOTO: PIKREPO.COM Catechists are too dangerous to allow in public schools for the Greens. Sowhat do theywant? Radical gender ideology ... T o the point with Monica Doumit David Shoe- bridge and the NSWGreens want religion in schools; they just don’t want your religion in there ... They want a religion of not only atheism, but an- ti-theism in schools.” Come TALK TO US about Your PATHWAYS to RELIGIOUS LIFE! Across the world, we have many De La Salle Brothers and Sisters working in schools, universities, childcare centres and in social work settings. The mission of the Brothers and the Sisters is to bring young people the Gospel through works of charity, education and hope. It is a life of service to others through supporting the needs of young people, especially to the poor. TALK TO US TODAY! Vocations Team
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