More than 20 years after God's bikies revved up my school, the Victorian Education Department still forces its primary schools to hold ''special religious instruction'' taught by volunteers. While other religious groups - including Jewish, Islamic and Hare Krishna - are accredited to run classes, 96 per cent are taught by Christian education provider Access Ministries. The education department says schools, by law, must offer religious classes if approached by accredited course providers. This is despite the fact that less than 10 per cent of the population goes to church each week. Proselytising is supposed to be forbidden in religious education classes, but the accounts of many students suggest it happens. One mother withdrew her children after her six-year-old daughter was taught that families who did not attend church would drown when the second flood came. ''She begged me to start going to church so we wouldn't die. She was so frightened she had nightmares and her siblings felt the fear too,'' the woman said. Volunteers are not educators. Too many are motivated by the desire to convert students to Christianity rather than teach religion in an impartial way.

The website, Religions in Schools, set up by concerned parents to gather views on the issue, has been bombarded by emails. Many say learning about religion is important, but object to the indoctrination of impressionable young children, who believe what ''teachers'' tell them. Professor Gary Bouma, an Anglican priest at Saint John's church in East Malvern and the UNESCO chairman in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations, has described the curriculum developed by Access Ministries as appalling. ''Now, unfortunately, most of the Christians out there trying to train the next generation are putting them off with the kind of crap they serve,'' he said. One of the most common explanations of why the government funds private schools is that parents have the right to choose an education for their children in line with their religious beliefs and values. Similarly, many parents choose government schools because they are not religious. However, instead of the secular education they rightfully expect, Victorian primary students at government schools must attend weekly half-hour religion classes, unless their parents specifically choose for them to opt out. Opting out is easier said than done. Most children are reluctant to do so because they do not wish to appear different. And families that come from minority groups are often loathe to withdraw their children in case they are ostracised.

A complaint before the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission claims children who opt out of religious classes are being discriminated against because they are denied a proper secular alternative. Unlike New South Wales, which offers ethics classes for students who opt out of scripture classes, Victorian students are not allowed to do other work. They are often forced to sit in the back of the classroom or in corridors or the library. The Victorian Education Department says core curriculum cannot be offered instead because the other students would miss out. In 1872, Victoria became one of the first places in the world to provide free, secular and compulsory education. Instead of upholding this proud tradition, we have allowed our schools to be infiltrated by evangelising volunteers. While I still get chills when I hear Hotel California played in the supermarket, I read years ago that the Eagles had repeatedly denied it had links to satanism. In 2007, Don Henley told 60 Minutes the song was about the ''dark underbelly of the American dream and excess in America''. Loading Mind you, it is still relevant to the special religious instruction program in Victoria. After all, ''you can check out any time you like . . . but you can never leave''.

Jewel Topsfield is education editor.