A delegation representing the Board of Education of North York today called on Ontario Provincial Minister of Education William Davis, asking for a re-examination of religious education in the province.
The delegation, which included Saul Cowan of the Canadian Jewish Congress, asked in a memorandum that such religious education comprise “commonly held beliefs which should be taught to our children.” “We feel the emphasis should be on shared values with our society and not on differences, ” the memorandum declared. It stressed that “we do not wish to abolish religion from our public schools.”
A resolution was adopted unanimously by the Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations, asking the Ontario Department of Education to set up a committee of teachers, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists to study the religious instruction course in public schools which, the resolution stated, has “generated strife and tension in many communities.”
Declaring that “we neither advocate nor oppose this religious instruction in our public school curriculum, ” the resolution expressed concern over the “strife and tension which have been generated in many communities. ” “Obviously this is not the kind of atmosphere most conducive to the welfare of our children, ” the Federation stated. “What we seek is a solution capable of alleviating the strife and at the same time, achieving the objective of developing the moral character of the pupils in our public schools.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
