Overview of Buddhist Scripture (SRE) in Schools

The Buddhist Council of New South Wales is recognised by the Department of Education and Training for the appointment of volunteer Buddhist teachers in government schools to teach scripture, or Special Religious Education.

The Department distinguishes between Special Religious Education (SRE) taught by volunteers and General Religious Education (GRE) taught by professional teachers. GRE includes the Studies of Religion course for HSC students.

By the latest count the Buddhist Council has approximately 80 volunteer teachers who go to a government school on a weekly basis to teach Buddhist SRE.

Our approach to teaching Dharma to young people is based on the theme Values and Life Skills. This means that there is less emphasis on memorising what’s in a book and more on teaching the basic values exemplified by the Buddha’s life. Class time shows how the Buddha’s teachings can be used as life skills in day-to-day situations to solve “life problems”.

The success of our SRE program is reflected by the ever-growing waiting list of schools needing a Buddhist teacher. We currently need another 40 volunteer teachers to join the teachers already active.

If you know someone who could be a teacher, please encourage them to contact us and we will provide induction, teaching materials and even a contribution towards out of pocket expenses where required.

Our SRE Programme covers schools throughout New South Wales, but most of our classes are located in the Sydney metropolitan area.