Petition signatures to allow religious instruction and exercises in school are coming together for the Hanover School Division board meeting on Tuesday.

Dave Dickey is the co-chair for the Steinbach and Area Ministerial. Dickey says each school requires 60 signatures on an annual basis and only one parent or guardian from each family is allowed to sign. 

He notes being able to have religious instruction is a privilege and by by-passing the opportunity to sign the petition the privilege could be forfeited. Dickey says collecting the necessary signatures requires a few leaders in each community.

"Things have been going reasonably well but it does take some parents that really believe in this to speak up and to work along with their local church to make it available to parents within the churches."

Dickey says being able to have religious instruction and exercises in school is a privilege and parents who want this opportunity for their children should be proactive in signing the petition for their child(ren)'s school.

"It's especially important for anybody who believes that faith is an impact for all of life. It's not just relegated to other religious communities on the weekends, but it's an opportunity for their children to identify that this is important in their everyday life, just like it is for an adult in their everyday life."

As of Friday Dickey says, from their count, all signatures necessary for the division to allow religious instruction and exercises in each school have been collected.