Summarised by Centrist
Education Minister Erica Stanford has announced an overhaul of the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) curriculum, citing an Education Review Office (ERO) report that found the current framework inconsistent and unfit for purpose.
Advocacy group Resist Gender Education (RGE) welcomed the review but criticised the ERO report itself for perpetuating confusion around “gender identity” and its conflation with sexual orientation.
RGE spokesperson Fern Hickson argued, “Gender identity is not a sexuality. It is a belief system that teaches young gay and lesbian people that if they don’t fit sexist stereotypes, they are really the opposite sex and ought to modify their bodies to match the stereotypes.”
Draft topics for the revised curriculum, the first in nearly 20 years, will be available for consultation in early 2025. This will coincide with the government’s decision to pull the current guidelines on gender, sexuality, and relationships.
While ERO reported that 87% of parents support RSE being taught in schools, division arises around topics like gender identity and sexual identities.
RGE is advocating for a curriculum that is “scientifically factual and age-appropriate,” focusing on universally accepted topics like consent, boundaries, and respectful interactions. Hickson expressed hope that “unscientific gender identity beliefs” will be excluded from the draft curriculum to restore trust and meet the needs of students and parents alike.
Read more over at Resist Gender Education and The Beehive
