Religious education should have the same academic weight as mainstream subjects like maths and chemistry, Archbishop of Canberra-Goulbum Francis Carroll declared, an article declared on this day in 1989.
He said all secondary schools should seek accreditation for their religious subjects through official channels.
If the schools' applications arc accepted by the ACT Accreditation Panel for Religious Education, the subject will have the same value of other subjects when determining what students study.
Daramalan College and St Clares' religious education courses had already been accredited.
Daramalan taught topics such as Christian living, marriage break-up, becoming a person, history of the Church, and Old and New Testament.
Of 16 religious topics on offer, senior students would select four over four semesters for assessment.
Daramalan's Religious Education coordinator Father Val Patterson said the subject's accreditation gave it status, instead of it being a "Cinderella" course.
He dismissed that it was a "Mickey Mouse" subject and said it was probably more important than traditional school subjects because it dealt with living, personal development and moral problems.
Children still needed firm back grounds in morality and principles if they wanted professions as doctors and stockbrokers, he said.
He declared that studying the topic of marriage break up was as complex and challenging as any maths subject.
It covered such sub-topics as modern medical problems like invitro fertilisation, personality types, maturity (physical and psychological), morality and communication skills.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122089194/12966001
