New Zealand To Axe Gender Ideology From National Curriculum In Schools

Good principals, teachers, and school boards want parents involved. They want parents to know what books their kids are reading and what’s being taught in their classrooms. (Jose Luis Pelaez Inc./Digital Vision/Getty Images)

New Zealand’s tri-party coalition government has agreed to overhaul the existing gender, sexuality, and relationship guidelines in schools, aiming to shift the focus towards academic achievement rather than ideology.

This decision will include the removal and replacement of the relationships and sexuality-based guidelines.

This agreement has gained a mix of support and criticism from various sectors, including parents, educators, members of the LGBTQ community, and advocacy groups.

Support for the decision comes from Resist Gender Education (RGE), a group advocating for factual and age-appropriate education.

RGE argues that the current Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide (RSE Guide) is scientifically inaccurate, promotes an ideology not held by a majority of parents and caregivers, and is not age-appropriate in places.

There is also concern that certain concepts being taught, such as the spectrum of sex and the fluidity of gender identity, are more ideological than factual and potentially confusing for young students, and can promote body dissociation in young children.

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With topics like ‘gender identity’ being introduced to children as young as five, RGE also believes it is too early for such complex discussions.

RGE stated that schools are currently teaching children that sexist stereotypes are what determine their sex.

“As a consequence, would-be lesbian and gay children are learning that if they don’t conform to feminine or masculine stereotypes, their bodies ought to be medically altered,” RGE said in a media release, on Nov. 25.

Instead, RGE sees the need for education about consent and healthy relationships, but as a non-biased approach to the content of Relationship and Sexuality Education lessons.

“We are a non-partisan and non-religious group who advocate for the right of children to be their authentic selves without discrimination, labelling, or medical intervention to ‘fix’ them,” RGE said.

The Pushback

Critical of this removal and rewrite proposal, Education Professor Katie Fitzpatrick from the University of Auckland has been public in her warning that removing these guidelines could result in regressive schooling.

Ms. Fitzpatrick, a lead writer in the 2015 documents for sexuality education, argues that omitting these topics could be seen as withholding essential knowledge and education from young people.

New Zealand’s largest Education Union, the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), echoed the sentiment, urging the government to consider teachers’ and parents’ views before implementing any radical educational policies.

“My initial reaction was dismay,” said NZEI’s president Mark Potter, a Wellington-based primary school teacher.

“The one thing our children don’t need is less education in the area of relationships and health.”

The recent results of the Programme For International Student Assessment (PISA) which assesses the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students and insights into educational systems, showed contributing background factors such as rising rates of food insecurity and anxiety among students.

NZEI wants to see the government write policies that support student well-being and a sense of belonging, rather than cherry-picking parts of the curriculum for political agendas.

The Epoch Times has contacted New Zealand’s Minister of Education, Erica Stanford for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.