Call for Education Department to hold more consultations on toolkit

Call for Education Department to hold more consultations on toolkit

Calls have been made for the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to conduct further consultations following mixed reactions over its Gender Responsive Pedagogy Toolkit for Early Childhood Education (ECE).

The controversial document, also known as the ECE toolkit, has sparked debate and concern especially among religious and cultural groups.

In attempts to address “misconceptions”, the department said the toolkit was not promoting any particular ideology, including being transgender.

It said the purpose of the document was to provide guidance to early childhood education practitioners and foundation phase educators on how to create learning environments that are free from harmful gender stereotypes and biases.

“The Gender Responsive Pedagogy Toolkit for Early Childhood Education is not aimed at dividing children from their parents or undermining family values.

“The toolkit encourages the active involvement of parents and caregivers in their children’s learning, and provides evidence-based tips for reinforcing positive gender attitudes and behaviours at home.

“It is also important to note that the toolkit does not seek to erase or devalue the differences between boys and girls.

“We maintain that these differences should not limit the life opportunities or potential of any child.

“Every girl has the right to grow up believing that she is just as capable as the boys around her. Every boy has the right to embrace his full humanity, including qualities like gentleness and empathy, without fear of stigma.

“In practice, it involves taking a proactive approach to promoting gender equity in all aspects of the early childhood education environment. This includes ensuring that learning materials, toys and visual aids are free from stereotypical depictions of gender roles,” said the department.

However, Freedom of Religion (FOR SA) executive director Michael Swain said the toolkit contradicted the department’s view.

“It states that ‘both sex and gender exist across a continuum of possibilities’ on page 5.

“It says that state-trained teachers must ‘ask’ learners from a young age for their preferred name and pronoun and to use ‘they’ and ‘them’ to ‘let children know that we cannot assume someone’s gender identity’ just by looking at them, on page 39.

“It also says that teachers should ensure that ‘children have access to toilet facilities that correspond with their gender identity’, which is on page 17,” said Swain.

The Governing Body Foundation (GBF) national CEO Dr Anthea Cerese said the DBE claimed to have consulted widely, but they were aware of stakeholders, including it, that were not consulted.

“The GBF is a governing body association recognised by the DBE as an organisation which represents the governing bodies of 800 diverse schools across the county.

“As an organisation which espouses the human rights enshrined in the South African Constitution, the GBF advocates the need to ensure that the rights of all children in schools, whether they belong to the LGBTQIA+ group or not, are protected and respected, irrespective of their gender or their belief regarding gender. We are therefore concerned.

“In the light of this, the GBF urgently calls on the DBE to undertake bona fide consultations with all relevant stakeholders on this programme as well as all policy documents which deal with gender issues in schools and to revise them to reflect a diversity of views,” she said.

The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) said it was aware of the document and that it spoke to promoting gender equality in ECD.

Naptosa’s executive director Basil Manuel said the vast majority of what was contained in the guide was harmless and things people should generally know.

“It is true there are children who identify differently or do not have the same genitalia as either a boy or a girl, now when such stuff is mentioned there are people who get all worked up and excited assuming you want to teach children more about that. There is a lot of legislation saying we should be doing things differently, now how far we go is the big issue.

“As Naptosa we have taken the route of saying when we have seen the proper publication only then will we deal with it,” said Manuel.

Cape Times