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New Government Settles In

With a new government now settled in Canberra, the forces opposed to non-government schooling are taking every opportunity to grab the headlines, and the attention of governments, with inflammatory releases that have the potential to paint Christian schools in a poor light.

The following are just samples:
• statements that divide the major denominational schools from other faith-based schools; (The Age)
• non-specific references to certain faith-based schools being ‘fringe’ schools; (The West Australian)
• a reference to faith schools creating division; (The West Australian)
• the funding system for non-government schools being described as ‘the worst of all worlds’; (The Age)
• a reference to private schools being caught up in an apartheid-like situation as parents withdraw their white children from state schools and send them to non-government alternatives. (The Australian)

Clearly, there is a great deal of ignorance about many faith-based schools and, in particular, mainstream Christian schools. There is a convenient disregard for the fact that these schools are registered by government authorities and serve a recognized public purpose. They offer curricula based on state syllabi and present students for public tests and exams. They are intensely accountable under approximately 50 pieces of federal and state legislation. Their graduates have an established record of taking their place in the multitude of institutions that make up the economy, the public service and the societal structures of our land. The beliefs, values and attitudes taught in Christian schools have flavoured their graduates’ citizenship of the nation and contributed significantly to the moral capital and the cultural mix of the country.

Christian schools have much to be proud of and, far from being responsible for dividing the nation, they are just as committed to building the nation as any public school in Australia. Yes, there are differences between schools that are framed by the worldviews that they subscribe to. But when schools are kept accountable within the terms of legislation and regulation, these differences should not be caricatured as ‘fringe’ or ‘divisive’ but rather celebrated as part of the rich diversity of the nation.

Minister Gillard recently drew attention to the importance of preparing children to live in a diverse, multicultural Australia. Do Australians need to be reminded that one of the largest cultural groupings within that diversity is the Christian culture, in all of its many expressions, that was so instrumental in the establishment of our institutions, our laws and many other societal reference points?