The government should review all public holidays of a religious nature, the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) said on Tuesday.
It made the call at a media briefing in Cape Town, hosted by the Congress of South African Trade Unions, on the controversy over religion in schools.
NAGSB deputy general secretary Martin Jansen said his organisation believed the state should review all religious public holidays, such as Good Friday, to ensure fairness and equity in religion for the general population”.
He said that even though Christians formed a clear majority in South Africa, there was no reason why Christmas should be recognised as a public holiday when Jewish or Muslim holy days were not.
Two Christian holy days — Christmas and Good Friday — are official public holidays in South Africa, while Easter Monday is celebrated as a holiday under the name Family Day, and the day after Christmas as the Day of Goodwill.
Tuesday’s briefing came in the wake of calls by fundamentalist Christian groups, the New National Party, and some educationists, for the retention of religious observance in schools.
The council of education ministers is scheduled to meet on June 9 to finalise a policy on religion in education. Jansen said the NASGB believed denominational relgion should not form part of the school curriculum, and that teaching about religion should be incorporated into learning areas such as social sciences or religious studies.
Provincial education convener for the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union Tsedi Dipholo said the union supported the view that all religion had a standing in South Africa’s diverse society, and governing bodies should manage assemblies in a way that ”promotes diversity”.
She said the comments the NNP had made on the issue were ”filled with the kind of rhetoric that fans religious fundamentalism”.
Representative for the Western Province Council of Churches and the Muslim Judicial Council said more time was needed for debate and grassroots consultation on the issue. – Sapa