- Public schools have recorded a rise in the number of Muslim and Hindu students
- NSW Department of Education survey finds there are 50,000 Muslims students
- The number of Hindu students are also on the rise at 20,000 from 18,600 in 2016
- Almost 30 per cent of students in NSW identify as having ‘no religion’ in 2017
Public schools in Sydney have recorded a huge rise in the number of Muslim and Hindu students with Christianity on a sharp decline.
A New South Wales Department of Education survey found the number of Muslim and Hindu students were standing at 52,000 and 20,000, respectively.
Last year, enrollment for Muslim students in public schools was at 50,000 while Hindu students were standing at 18,600, the Daily Telegraph reports.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of Muslim students in NSW schools (stock image)
The newspaper reports that more than 230,000 students did not identify themselves with any religion at all.
There was also a sharp decline in the number of Christian students with the number of Anglicans falling from 105,300 students last year to 99,000 this year.
Other forms of Christianity such as Presbyterian, Protestant and Baptist were also on the decline, according to the newspaper.
However, the number of Catholic students were unchanged at 103,000.
Parents and teachers have also called for ethics classes to be more readily available across the state after the data showed 230,000 students identified with ‘no religion’.
Education survey also finds Hindu students in NSW public schools are rising (stock image)