Written by: Michael Swain, FOR SA Executive Director
Article source: JOY! Magazine
Parents were up in arms in 2019 when the Department of Basic Education (DBE) revealed that it had developed Scripted Lesson Plans (SLPs) in accordance with the revised UN International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education (ITGSE). Parents and teacher bodies expressed concern about the lack of consultation and engagement, as well as the testing of this content in over 1500 schools with a view to a wide-ranging roll out.
The state says that parents are failing
As the start of the 2022 school year approaches, the DBE is again pushing their CSE content, citing teenage pregnancies, HIV infections, and gender-based violence as the motivation. DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga states that parents are “failing dismally” when it comes to talking to their children about sex and that is “why we need to step up as government”.
Parents are the primary educators of their children
The government is empowered to identify and define areas where they believe education is necessary and to set the educational outcomes it wishes every learner to achieve. This is balanced by the right of the School Governing Body (SGB) – representing the parents, teachers and learners of the public school – to choose the content to be taught to meet the curriculum requirements. Of particular importance is the DBE’s White Paper, which confirms that parents are the primary educators of their children with the right to be consulted. They have the right to have their children educated according to their values and in what they, as parents, believe to be in the best interests of their children.
What many parents don’t know…
A major concern of many parents regarding CSE is that it is impossible for the topic of sex and sexuality to be taught from a value-neutral perspective. What children are taught about sex will have a life-long impact on their own views and values. The SLPs (and other content being tested and promoted by the DBE) have a very liberal bias which conflicts with the values held by many parents and teachers. Parents should therefore take note that the DBE has recently affirmed that, while they are strongly encouraging the use of the SLPs which they developed, these are not the only source that teachers and/or schools can use to achieve the mandatory minimum CSE educational outcomes set by CAPS.
Where does this leave us and what is the way forward?
Concerned parents who want a say in the sexuality education content to be taught to their children should become involved in their local SGB and also write to the School Management Team (SMT) to:
1. Alert them to the fact that the DBE’s SLPs are not mandatory, and that schools and teachers are free to choose the source / material they want to use to teach the Life Orientation and Life Skills subjects; and
2. Suggest alternative sources of CSE content for teachers to use – for suggestions, contact Cause for Justice (info@causeforjustice.org).
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Date published: 19/10/2021
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