Ananova:

Two Christian schools in the Australian state of New South Wales say they have biblical backing for using corporal punishment on students.

Sutherland Shire Christian School and Nambucca Valley Christian Community School face deregistration at the end of the year for going against a 1995 State Government edict banning it.

Both schools claim biblical backing for their policy of administering the strap, cane or a lightweight wooden paddle to wayward pupils and they've even taken out newspaper advertisements challenging Education Minister John Aquilina to come up with a better way of disciplining children.

"Mr Aquilina, in which government manual are we to look for appropriate advice which supercedes biblical counsel on matters of discipline and nurture," the letter reads.

Parents are said to support moves to keep the paddle as a form of discipline at the Sutherland school. One mother, Lisa North said she took her five children out of the public school system because of the tougher discipline offered at the school.

"If there is a reason for the school to use corporal punishment on one of my children, I would not have a problem with it at all. It's part of being brought up as a Christian," she said.

Mrs North said none of her five children had received the paddle in their five years at the school and none had seen it in action., reports the Australian news.com website.

Other parents said yesterday they fully supported the school's discipline policy, and had actively sought it out when looking for schools. The benchmark for using corporal punishment is unclear and one student is reported to have said that it depended on a teacher's mood.