Public school principals are pushing to scrap Special Religious Education classes from government high schools as new figures reveal as few as 5 per cent of students at some Sydney high schools are attending scripture lessons.

The NSW Department of Education does not keep centralised data on SRE enrolments, so the Herald and Fairness in Religions in School (FIRIS) sought enrolment figures at 25 schools across Sydney under Freedom of Information laws.

In some Sydney high schools, as few as 5 per cent of students have enrolled in Special Religious Education Credit:Theresa Ambrose

That snapshot showed enrolments varied, but fewer than one-third of the schools had more than 33 per cent of eligible students enrolled.

The Secondary Principals Council has called for SRE to be dropped from high schools, saying the time should be used for teaching and learning, and the NSW Teachers Federation has also previously urged an end to mandatory religious education.