NSW school children are facing unprecedented hurdles to get into ethics classes in schools, the state's provider of ethics classes has warned.
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For the first time this year parents of kindergarten students do not have to be informed of the availability of ethics classes by the school principals until after they have been through at least four different steps.
"It's blatant discrimination based on religious grounds," said the chairman of Primary Ethics, Bruce Hogan.
New department guidelines say parents who leave their child's religious persuasion blank on the enrolment form should first be sent a letter by the principal advising them of all the religious education options available at the school. If parents choose not to select a religious denomination, their child will then be engaged in "meaningful activities" such as sitting in the library. Only then will they be informed of the availability of ethics classes and formally able to enroll.
The process comes after ethics was taken off the enrolment form as a secular alternative to scripture for students last year. The new form advises parents of children who do not attend scripture to contact their school about information on alternatives, which may include ethics.
"It is a deliberately difficult process for a parent to access ethics classes and give students an alternative to developing their critical thinking and moral reasoning," said Mr Hogan.
Despite the hurdles, Mr Hogan said the classes had continued to grow in popularity throughout the state.
The classes received some high-profile backing last year when the Dalai Lama spoke out in support of their inclusions in NSW schools as a way of keeping people who did not engage with religion on a moral path.
"We will start in 400 schools this year," Mr Hogan said. "In the end, parents always win when it comes to their children's best interest."
Marrickville mother Theona Bustos said that despite being Catholic she still wanted her five-year-old son Xavier to enroll in an ethics class at Wilkins Primary School.
"If I want my children to have a religious education, I don't want it to happen at school, we can go to Sunday mass for that," she said.
Dulwich Hill mother Ariella Ryner said that ethics classes were far more valuable to her children's development than the other non-religious alternative of "meaningful activities".
"All they do is watch Peppa Pig and Mr Bean," she said.
A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said that as not all NSW public schools offer ethics classes, it is up to schools to provide parents with the options at their school. Some schools openly advise parents of the availability of ethics classes.
Last year, NSW Premier Mike Baird denied the removal of ethics classes from enrolment forms was part of a deal with Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile to secure the passage of legislation through the NSW upper house.
The changes to the enrolment form were rushed through the Department of Education after the Premier was lobbied by faith groups, documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws showed.
The government's recommendations were in line with those of an upper house inquiry into ethics classes chaired by Mr Nile in 2012.
A spokesman for the Catholic Conference of Religious Educators in State Schools said: "Special ethics education is not an enemy or a threat to special religious education and the volunteer teachers in both groups are offering valid and valuable choices for parents for education in faith and ethics."
