Over the last two years more than 50 state schools have cancelled religious education. David Hines of the Secular Education Network has conducted a survey of state primary schools in New Zealand. He determined that from the more than 1400 schools that responded, 38 per cent have held some kind of religious instruction during school hours this year.
Organisations running religious instruction have not been willing to identify which schools are participating in their programs. The Ministry of Education and Education Review Office were similarly unable to provide information about which schools were conducting religious instruction. Last year there was a call from the Secular Education Network for schools running these religious instruction classes to practise informed consent. This message is getting through to schools who are increasingly dealing with a multicultural and diverse community.