PARENTS are stepping up pressure on the Education Department to end religious education in state schools amid claims it is making children isolated and fearful.
A massive billboard has been erected in Bulleen claiming state schools "are not church playgrounds".
It says: "Special religious instruction divides our children".
The billboard was erected by parent-run lobby group FIRIS (Fairness in Religion in Schools), which is calling on education authorities to change the law so that "special religious instruction" is no longer offered in state schools.
Victorian state school children have to attend 30 minutes of special religious instruction unless their parents decline on their behalf.
Those who do not attend have to be supervised by another teacher outside the classroom where the religious lesson is taking place.
It comes ahead of a VCAT case challenging the validity of religious classes in state schools.
Kathy Walker, a leading educational consultant from Early Life Foundations, said dividing children on the basis of their parents' religious beliefs was a form of discrimination.
"For some children the impact will be minimal, but others might feel isolated, anxious or fearful, and being separated would be a blow to their self-esteem," she said.
Parents are also being told the scheme is not workable in its current form.
Julia Brotherton, of Canterbury, said her daughter's school principal told her it was difficult to find staff to supervise children who did not attend religious classes.
This meant her daughter remained in the religious classroom even though she was legally required to be supervised elsewhere.
A spokeswoman for the Education Department said it received several hundred letters and emails on the issue.
A spokeswoman for Access Ministries, the main provider of volunteer religious teachers, had no comment.
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