Standardised Religious Education Exam to Determine if Australian Private Schools Retain Government Funding.
Faith-based private schools in Australia will only receive government funding if their students pass a national standardised religious education exam.
According to the new initiative, the majority of students will have to score a certain percentage in an exam which will measure their knowledge of the religion taught at that school. The test will apply to students from year 3 to year 10 at schools of any faith, and will be set and administered by an independent body.
If students fail to reach the required benchmark, that school will receive no government funding during the following financial cycle.
The majority of private schools in Australia are religious, and the move comes amid continual debate about the equity of spending large amounts of taxpayer’s money on private schools, while government schools across the country suffer due to lack of basic funding and resources. The exam’s creators argue that religion is the one defining feature which separates these private schools from government schools, so if the schools wish to receive taxpayer’s money, they must demonstrate that their students have a sound knowledge of the philosophy which underlies their institution.
As one commentator stated,
“If you don’t learn religion at a religious school, you might as well go to a public school.”
The exam will operate similar to the NAPLAN (National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy) tests but will instead focus on religion. The content of the exam will be taken from the mandated educational outcomes which apply to that religion at that particular stage of learning. The exam will apply to Catholic, Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Buddhist schools, as well as any other school which nominates adherence to a particular belief system and receives funding from the government.
In order to secure continued funding, 80% of students at each school will have to score 65% or above in the exam. Students below year 3 will not be subject to the exam, and students in year 11 and 12 will not participate, so as to minimise disruption to their final year studies.
“If a religious school fails the exam, their allocated funding will be sent to a government school. The government school is then free to spend that money in any way they see fit. They might, for instance, choose to spend it on a music program, so that they don’t have to wait for Guy Sebastian to visit before they can teach music,” explained a spokesperson for the group behind the exam.
Like NAPLAN, the exam is expected to create an informal ranking system of schools. Unlike NAPLAN, it is unlikely to determine which school parents choose for their children.
Observers expressed their surprise that the current prime minister, Scott Morrison, himself a devout Pentecostal Christian, would allow the roll out of an exam which is likely to reveal that most Australian students at Christian schools know very little about Christianity. Other critics have pointed out that Mr Morrison’s approval of the exam indicates his belief that every Australian Christian shares his devotion, and is a further sign of his detachment from the reality of modern Australia.
Religious organisations are yet to comment on the plan, as it has only just been announced. Experts have suggested that students at religious schools are likely to be put through practice exams in the same way that students are being prepared specifically for NAPLAN tests.
The exam is set to be implemented in 2021, and students have been told to start studying, or start praying.
Image: Ruben Rodriguez
