The announcement that the role of chaplain would vanish by the end of this year was made by the education minister, Yvette Berry, back in March.

At the time, Ms Berry said religious chaplains were incompatible with the secular operation of public schools under the Education Act.

This meant the government would no longer accept federal funding for the positions, and would instead replace existing chaplains with youth workers funded by the territory.

The point was made at the time that there was a misunderstanding on the part of government of the nature of the role chaplains play in schools.

Chaplains have themselves maintained that the national program already forbids them from preaching their beliefs or conducting religious education.

This may well be the case, but the principle behind the move was and is sound. Religion should play no role in secular schools; this is a fundamental tenet of our education system.

Under the existing program, schools can opt in for grants of up to $20,000 a year for a chaplain, usually providing pastoral care about two days a week.

The chaplains are already required to be qualified youth workers but, after controversial changes brought in by the Coalition in 2015, they must also be associated with a religious organisation.

While chaplains do not have to be Christian, they are required to prove they can support a school community "within a Christian framework" and build relationships with churches and community groups.

It is the thinking behind this requirement, not the men and women who practice in schools as chaplains, that should give all of us pause.

However, the fact remains that the essential role of chaplains in schools - the youth worker aspect - is an important one that could well be left empty next year.

Young people should always have a safe and neutral space in schools to seek counselling and help resolve personal problems.

Chaplains can also have an important role in the school community, and the gap they have left could be detrimental to students, teachers and families.

The Canberra Times ran a story this week about the first female bishop to be appointed in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

Archdeacon Carol Wagner made a plea for the role of God in schools, saying there was a "chasm" between entrenched views on both sides of a wider debate between secular groups and religious people.

"The intolerance is on both sides," she said.

Herein lies the problem - the lack of middle ground.

If parents want to nurture the spiritual life of their children, a public school might not be the way to go about it.

But dismissing an entire service - one that is federally funded, costing the territory nothing - without anything solid to replace it is short-sighted.

Yvette Berry needs to provide a solution to this looming problem as soon as possible, or risk leaving schools untethered, to the needs of students and teachers, and to the spiritual wellbeing - Christian or otherwise - of entire communities.