RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

Mr Lim Boon Heng asked the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education how his Ministry will ensure that religious knowledge classes in schools will not be turned into conversion sessions.

Dr Tay Eng Soon (for the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, teachers of religious knowledge will be selected from those who belong to the established churches in the case of Christians. Those who are members of fundamentalist sects (which have a record of evangelical excesses) will not be selected. Teachers of Islam will be approved by MUIS. Buddhist and Hindu teachers will be those accepted by the Singapore Buddhist Federation and the Hindu Advisory Board respectively.

The syllabuses and textbooks which have been or are being prepared for the four religious knowledge courses, namely, Bible Knowledge, Islamic Religious Knowledge, Buddhist Studies and Hindu Studies, are aimed primarily at informing the students about the religion, its founder or its origins and the universal moral teachings and main beliefs of the religion. For example, in Bible Knowledge, the textbook is the synoptic Gospels which are an account of the life of Christ and his teachings.

The 'O' level examination at the end of the two-year course will be based entirely on the context of the set books. Students are not expected to provide theological interpretations.

More importantly, although some rituals are mentioned in the four subjects, the students are not permitted to practise the rituals nor to carry out religious practices in the class. The purpose of the course is therefore to inform and to explain the teachings and beliefs of each of the religions and not to produce converts.

It should be noted also that two of the courses, namely, Bible Knowledge and Islamic Religious Knowledge, have been aught for many years to thousands of students in Singapore. There have been no complaints on record that any of these classes were being used for conversion.

Nevertheless, the Schools Division of my Ministry will closely monitor the teaching of the subjects to ensure that no teacher makes use of such classes for conversion purposes.

As a final safeguard, parents who have fears of religious conversion of their children may ask for exemption from attending these classes. They can opt for Confucian Ethics instead.