To pray or not to pray

Thanusha Ramphal, a parent of a seven-year-old boy, was slightly taken aback when during one of their Hindu prayers, her son told her that they were worshipping the devil. Naturally alarmed Ramphal decided to question her child about where these thoughts were coming from. She found out that it had come from his class teacher who was teaching scripture from the Bible during the course of her classes at school. 

Furthermore, the music teacher at the school had been teaching the classes religious hymns, which the child was singing around the house. Ramphal says this would not have mattered if he hadn’t reacted so aggressively toward their own religion, which was Hinduism and was refusing to go to his Saturday Hindu classes as well. 

The school in question is a multi-cultural one, but when Ramphal approached the principal to find out why she wasn’t notified about these religious lessons in class and the school assembly,  she was told that it was the policy of the school and had been so for 50 years, and that the Indian children were in the minority so she would simply have to live with it. 

Muzi Mahlambi from the KZN Department of Education says that teaching religion in a school straddles  a nebulous line. He cites the old phrase “majority rules” as a defence to any school subscribing to one kind of religious sect in the majority of the children are from that religion. However, he does point out that infringing on a child’s constitutional right not to have religion foisted on him is an issue the Department will take very seriously. 

The fact is: Point 7 of The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 expressly outlines Freedom of Conscience and Religion at Public Schools. The Act says: “Subject to the constitution and any applicable provincial law, religious observances may be conducted at a public school under rules issued by the Governing Body, if such observances are conducted on an equitable basis and attendance at them by learners and members of staff is free and voluntary.” 

Do you think religion should be taught at school or is that something that should be the exclusive preserve of parents at home? 

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