The attention of this newspaper was first drawn to the distribution of a publication called The Book of Hope in the public school system by a correspondent from Region Six. The work in question contains simplified stories from the Gospels, some of them in lurid comic-strip form, with exercises based on the material provided. They are published by the Assemblies of God church, and are designed for three age groups - 3-5 years, 6-11 years and 12 years and over. In other words, their content is directed at nursery, primary and secondary levels.

When Stabroek News contacted the Region Six Education Office to find out who, if anyone, had authorized the distribution of this work in that region's schools, we received the reply that they had heard about it, and were investigating. Either the official to whom this newspaper spoke was genuinely in the dark about the matter, or they weren't, and were just temporizing. Whatever the case, we heard nothing further from that quarter indicating what the investigations had produced.

The reason for this soon became apparent when reports started coming in that all the nation's schools, and not just those in Region Six were being targeted, and that the Ministry of Education itself had granted permission for the distribution, although the distributors still had to secure the agreement of the various departments of education and the school heads thereafter. Some of the heads, we were told, refused to comply. That, it must be said, is to their great credit; they obviously have more understanding of the context in which they operate than the bureaucrats in their Ministry.

An Assemblies of God spokesman informed Stabroek News that Guyana was one of several countries being visited by a team distributing The Book of Hope; the team, he said, had remained for two weeks, and their work would be continued by a local group. When asked whether his church was not engaged in a campaign of conversion, he denied that it was so. The very best that could be said about that denial was that it was disingenuous, since what other interpretation could be placed on the indiscriminate distribution to children as young as three and of all faiths, of a book of proselytization representing one religious viewpoint alone.

Guyana is a secular state. It can be nothing else, because its population is multi-faith, and all religions are equal under the constitution. By extension, the public school system has to be secular too. If one religion, or in this case, one denomination of a particular religion is allowed to promote its cause in the schools, it is to do violence to those who do not subscribe to those beliefs. And if the Assemblies of God are allowed to distribute their literature throughout the education system, then everyone else would have to be allowed to do so too. And would not the Assemblies of God be among the first to complain if Islamic material were to be distributed in the schools, including to the children of their adherents?

Furthermore, there are no circumstances in which a religious group should be allowed to promote its views directly to children, by-passing the parents of those children. If the Assemblies of God want to mount a conversion campaign directed at adults, then so be it; an adult is a thinking being who can weigh arguments and accept or reject what he or she hears. Not so a five-year-old. It is a parent or guardian who decides the faith in which a child should be raised, until the child reaches an age when he or she can decide for himself.

There are many parents, not just of other faiths, but also of other Christian denominations, who have been offended by this campaign. How the Ministry of Education arrived at the conclusion that there was no problem in allowing a single religious group to proselytize to minors in its schools, is truly amazing, and it needs to try and rectify the damage as far as that is possible, as soon as possible.

The first thing which should happen is that the permission to the Assemblies of God to give out The Book of Hope in state educational institutions should be immediately withdrawn. Secondly, all those books already in the hands of the school authorities but not yet shared out in classrooms, should be returned to their source. Thirdly, the Ministry should make a public statement on the matter, assuring parents that this will not happen again. Fourthly, the Ministry should revisit the sections dealing with religion in the proposed Education Code to cater for eventualities such as this. And lastly, all parents offended by the books who have not thrown them away, could, if they wish, hand them in either to the nearest education office or to a head of school, so they can be returned to the Assemblies of God.