Ms Firth said the report would be available for public comment before a decision was made. But the Premier, Kristina Keneally, said last month: ''If the trial returns with a recommendation that this can and should be implemented, we will do that.'' It is understood the government intends to adopt most of the recommendations and to have classes running next year. The decision will anger church leaders, particularly the Anglican and Catholic archdioceses of Sydney, which have campaigned against the trial. They argue that holding the classes at the same time as scripture classes would disadvantage scripture students, who would be unable to attend. Ms Firth said there were no plans to replace special religious education classes. ''That has never been our intention,'' she said. ''But parents who choose not to send their children to scripture classes have a right to see their children engaged in some type of meaningful activity. ''Any approval of ethics would simply provide an alternative, without diminishing in any way the importance of religious classes for other families.''

The release of the report will force the Leader of the Opposition, Barry O'Farrell, to clarify the Coalition's position. He recently said he did not favour the classes if they competed with religious education but the issue would be put to the Liberal and National party rooms to formulate a policy after the report was released. The government would not need to legislate to introduce the classes but would need to change the policy of the Education Department, which rules out ethics classes as an alternative to religious education. The report found that students participating in the trial ''improved in their ability to recognise everyday ethical issues'' and were more willing to discuss ethical issues than they had been before they did the course. But it found the classes did not significantly improve their ability to develop an argument. The authors recommended the curriculum be extended so that each topic was taught for at least two consecutive weeks. Starting ethics classes would require significant financial and organisational resources. It said the department had raised concerns about the extra workload for principals and ''additional and unsustainable organisational input would be required from the department''. The authors called for the department to be adequately resourced if ethics classes were introduced.

The principals of the schools in the trial were also surveyed. Five reported ''high levels of interest and enthusiasm'' from the school communities and parents' committees; four reported ''at least some degree of anxiety and concern'' about the impact of classes on religious education, and about the intense media focus. One noted ''polarised and emotive views among the parent community'' and had received ''extensive verbal and written feedback, some personal in nature'' from people opposing the trial.