Lessons in Australian values ‘should be adopted’

A call for a debate on how schools can better embrace Australian values is gathering support.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes. Picture: Richard Dobson.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes’s call for a debate on how schools can better embrace Australian values is gathering support. The call was made after a demand for a global Islamic caliphate was identified in a teacher handbook.

Bella d’Abrera, director of the Institute of Public Affairs’ Western Civilisation Program, yesterday praised the efforts by Mr Stokes to call for a vigorous public discussion on values.

“This is an extremely positive move by the NSW government, and it should be adopted by other state governments,’’ Dr d’Abrera told The Australian.

The call for a core set of values by Mr Stokes for all NSW schools follows a NSW Education Standards Authority investigation into a Bellfield College teacher handbook in Sydney that demanded the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

Teachers were required to inform students that secularism was the “worst enemy of mankind” and that “peace, stability and justice can only be achieved through the establishment of Islam”. Following the investigation in June, Bellfield College, in Bringelly in Sydney’s west, agreed to remove the references in its new teacher handbook.

But as schools across the ­nation confront the threat of ­extremism, Mr Stokes said there was a need to enshrine basic values, such as upholding democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, equality and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Any set of values would not limit existing civil and religious freedoms.

Dr d’Abrera said Mr Stokes clearly understood that it was ­“essential for all members of Australian society to share fundamental values’’.

“All Australian schoolchildren should understand and be taught about values such as equality ­between men and women, religious toleration, and economic and social freedom,’’ she said.

“Teaching our children these values will ensure that they are passed on to the next generation.’’

Victorian schools have introduced a statement of values. Each school’s statement outlines the roles and responsibilities of the school community, including principals, teachers, parents, students, community members and the Victorian government.

Victorian opposition education spokesman Tim Smith said “anyone that’s teaching radical Islam contrary to Australian values shouldn’t be teaching our children’’. “Every kid should leave school with an appreciation of the enormous opportunities that exist in a country like Australia that enshrines freedom and democracy at its core,’’ he said.