Sex education to primary and secondary students will spoil society - Parents

British government legislates to teach Sex Education from September 2020

The parents of the children in Pakistan schools affiliated with western countries have expressed their grave concern over the sex education and curricula being provided without their consent and any approval from government authorities and the parliament.

In this regard they referred the British government’s legislation that from September 2020 it will teach Sex Education in primary schools and Relationship & Sex Education (RSE) in secondary schools. The new legislation would require all students of 4 to 16 years age to attend these classes. Their schools do not have to wait for September 2020 however, to start teaching RSE and many have already come to do so. RSE would cover a range of issues, however many parents in UK were also concerned for exposing children to sexualize concept and graphics.

It may be mentioned here that up until September 2020 parents have rights to withdraw their child from all aspects of RSE. From September 2020 onward the parents would have no right to withdraw their child. It is said that RE refers to Relationship Education and will become a mandatory part of the school curriculum in all primary schools across the country.

There are widespread concerns that the mandatory introduction of RE/RSE into all schools across England from September 2020 would spread in Pakistan too. Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is a sexual rights based initiative that aims to implement its teachings into all schools there. The legislation is currently vague about what will be taught in ‘Relationship Education’ in primary schools. Whilst the government has not yet published its finalised guidelines for teaching RE/RSE, the parents are concerned about the inclusion of certain aspects that may find their way into the new curriculum.

The parents are afraid that RE/RSE will be used to introduce controversial and unscientific theories such as gender ideology that will teach children that gender is fluid and differs from biological sex. Schools should not be made to teach such ideas, especially as they lack any empirical basis and are based solely on a subjective feeling. If such concepts are taught then young children especially will become confused about gender identity as well as about the differences between boys and girls.

That RE/RSE will be used to teach concepts such as same-sex relationships being equal to heterosexual relationships. Such teachings promote a lifestyle at odds with all major religions and will conflict with the views of many parents. Whilst concur on the need to protect children from sexual abuse, the parents are concerned that talking directly to young children about sexual abuse will affect their innocence and that it may lead children to worry that such an act will occur to them.

There have been protests by parents in England as they feel classes about LGBT rights were age-inappropriate and incompatible with Islam. Under the new curriculum, schools would be legally obliged to teach RSE, but the guidance on which areas schools should focus on would be advisory. LGBT, or GLBT, is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which was used to replace the term gay in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Sex education has been compulsory in England since 2017, but there has been a public consultation about what should be on the curriculum. All pupils will now learn about menstrual health and the menstrual cycle starting in primary school. Pupils will also learn about relationships, starting in primary school, and relationships and sex, starting in secondary school. The curriculum will also be LGBT inclusive.

Children in primary schools will have relationships education and this will be broadened to relationships and sex education in secondary schools. Health education for all ages will also be part of the curriculum in England. Parents will still have the right to withdraw their child up to age 15. However, head teachers are expected to talk to parents who wish to exclude their child from these lessons, "discussing with the parents the benefits of receiving this important education and any detrimental effects that withdrawal might have on the child".

The guidance says that pupils need to understand "that some people are LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender], that this should be respected in British society, and that the law affords them and their relationships recognition and protections". Secondary-age pupils will also be taught about female genital mutilation (FGM) - focusing on awareness, the availability of support networks and reminding them that it is illegal.

There are certainly groups who have concerns about what issues are covered in RSE and who feel some topics should not be taught by schools. The Parent Power advice website says parents should be able to educate children in line with their own religious faith. Recently, a group of Muslim parents in Birmingham protested over their children being taught about LGBT rights and homophobia. Also, a petition calling for parents to have the right to opt their child out of sex education lessons has attracted more than 106,000 signatures.

It says: “We believe it is the parent's fundamental right to teach their child RSE topics or to at least decide who teaches them and when and how they are taught”. We want the right to opt our children out of RSE when it becomes mandatory in Sept 2020. We have grave concerns about the physical, psychological and spiritual implications of teaching children about certain sexual and relational concepts proposed in RSE and believe that they have no place within a mandatory school curriculum, they added.

  By Nasir Mahmood