Providers of ethics classes will be given the same tax deductions as for scripture classes, alleviating the threat of the lessons becoming financially unviable.

The federal government will announce on Monday that it has reversed its decision not to grant deductible gift recipient status to ethics providers, which means they will now be able to collect tax deductible donations.

Primary Ethics, which provides the classes in NSW schools, said the decision would enable it to train more volunteers and reach more students.

Last month Fairfax Media reported that the Labor government had rejected Primary Ethics' request for gift recipient status and the organisation warned that lack of funds threatened the future of its program.

The decision was criticised by the NSW Greens and Verity Firth, who, as Labor education minister, introduced the classes in 2010. But in a surprising turnaround, the government said it will expand the gift recipient categories to include organisations approved by state or territory governments to provide ethics classes in public schools.