i think this is what cm was talking abt the other day
Parents, principals against evangelising in
schools
AT LEAST three teachers have been hauled up at St Joseph's
Institution (SJI) in the past 10 years - and each reprimanded for
evangelising their students.
The three teachers - all women in their 30s and 40s - were ordered
to stop inviting their students to church events and camps.
The school said it had been receiving complaints about their
activities from other teachers, parents and students.
After the warning, all three stopped doing it.
But their cases underscore the importance of an issue recently
thrown into the spotlight: What kind of latitude should teachers be
given when discussing religion with their students?
A letter to The Straits Times Forum page last Saturday told the
story of a Primary 6 pupil who was urged to attend a church service
by her teacher. When the 12-year-old said her Buddhist parents
would not allow it, she was apparently told that it was not up to
them to decide.
Naturally, it left her parents fuming.
The pupil's mother, housewife Shirley Ng, 40, said: 'It is not
within the teacher's role to persuade my daughter to go to church.
How could he tell her that it was not up to us to decide? And that
she was free to make up her own mind? She is only 12 and still
under my charge.'
The letter has sparked a flurry of other letters to the ST Forum
page - some complaining of similar instances, others simply eager
to air their views on the issue.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) said in a response published
yesterday that it was opposed to teachers converting those in their
charge.
'Our schools are secular, and teachers should not be engaged in
proselytising their students,' it said.
The episode has touched a nerve among parents, schools, teachers
and religious organisations. Most share the MOE's view.
Religious organisations such as the Singapore Islamic Scholars and
Religious Teachers Association (Pergas), the Catholic Church and
the National Council of Churches in Singapore unani- mously
rejected proselytising in school.
While all the 33 schools polled by The Sunday Times frowned on it,
four said they had no objections if done informally outside
school.
The four are Bedok North Secondary School, Anderson Junior College,
Methodist Girls' School (Secondary) and CHIJ Secondary (Toa
Payoh).
But they stressed that it is a 'yes' that comes with many
qualifications.
Said Madam Chou Weng Ha, principal of Bedok North Secondary: 'If it
helps delinquents and students' moral development, if it's done in
the teacher's personal capacity outside the school context, if the
teacher is sensitive to the student's family background and
religion - then I don't have major objections.' Other schools do,
however.
At the heart of their argument is the belief that a teacher's role
is to teach, not preach.
Said Meridian Junior College principal Esther Lai: 'Whatever we do,
we do it in a secular way, because we are a secular college and our
students have different faiths. We are not here to propagate
religion, we are here to teach.'
Brother Michael Broughton, deputy principal (student development)
at St Joseph's Institution, agreed and added that the school had an
obligation not to do it.
'The parents trust us. It's against the integrity of the children
confided to your care to do something to them that might turn them
against their parents' value system or culture.'
Many were also quick to point out that parents who send their
children to schools that are partly funded by a religious
organisation must expect some degree of religious influence.
Methodist Girls' School (Secondary) for example, has all its
students - Christian or non-Christian - attend the school's chapel
services, but those who are not comfortable can bring it up with
the principal.
Manjusri Secondary, a Buddhist school, has daily morning prayers
and Vesak Day celebrations that are attended by all its students.
The non-Buddhists at these events would watch and are not required
to do what their Buddhist schoolmates do.
Other government-aided schools do not even go that far.
At St Joseph's Institution and Catholic Junior College (CJC),
religious services are optional for non-Catholics and daily prayers
are made as inclusive as possible.
At some events like National Day, the schools have prayers done by
representatives of every religion. Last Wednesday, the morning
prayer at CJC included a mention of its Muslim students who had
started fasting.
In all the schools, the policy against proselytising is an
unwritten rule. Apart from that, teachers are reminded verbally
from time to time.
Still, some choose to defy it.
A 31-year-old English language teacher at a secondary school
admitted to The Sunday Times that she has invited about 10 students
to church events even though her principal had warned her against
it. Half of them went and one converted to Christianity.
Another teacher in her thirties, who teaches science in a junior
college, is more careful.
She would wait until her students have completed their studies and
left the school before approaching them. Over eight years, she has
invited about 10 former students to her church. Only three
went.
Students say these incidents - though rare - have been going on for
a long time.
National University of Singapore undergraduate Lin Jingyi, 19,
remembers her primary school teacher inviting her classmates to
church. Huang Peijun, 15, a Secondary 3 student at Peicai, also
said her primary school teacher used to tell religious stories at
the end of lessons.
While all this has parents worried, most are willing to give
teachers a little leeway outside school.
Housewife Urimila Misir, 48, who has three children in Christian
schools, said: 'It is all right for the teacher to ask the student
to go to church, just to have a look. But the teacher shouldn't
repeatedly ask them to go and get more involved in the
religion.'
Taxi driver Cheng Ah Huat, 57, agreed: 'If it's outside of school,
if the teacher is just informally socialising with the students,
then it's okay for the teacher to talk to the students about his or
her own religion. But not in the classroom.'
A spokesman from the Inter-Religious Organisation summed it
up.
'The teachers have to draw the boundaries. When the student is
still under their charge, there is an unequal relationship as the
child looks up to them. They can't take advantage of that to spread
their beliefs.
'In this situation, to proselytise is a real problem. As we are a
secular state and a multi-religious society, we must create and
respect the space for all religions.'
Additional reporting by Sarah Ng and Liaw Wy-Cin
