Australia: Rubbish Education gender fluidity
According to reports in The Australian earlier this week, the recently-appointed Secretary of the Department, Mark Scott, has been ordered to investigate what, if any, scientific basis there is to Crossroads’ claims that gender is independent of biology.
The Australian Christian Lobby calls upon the NSW Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, to bring transparency to the Education Department’s review of the controversial Crossroads program in schools which tells children their gender is fluid.
Crossroads, purportedly designed to “address issues of health, safety and wellbeing”, is a compulsory part of the PDHPE curriculum for Year 11 and 12 students in NSW government schools.
According to reports in The Australian earlier this week, the recently-appointed Secretary of the Department, Mark Scott, has been ordered to investigate what, if any, scientific basis there is to Crossroads’ claims that gender is independent of biology.
Crossroads teaches students that, regardless of their physical attributes, they can identify as a “woman, man, two-spirit, genderqueer or genderless” among what are considered a limitless array of identities.
An example of what students are learning comes in the form of ‘The Genderbread Person’ infographic, which claims that gender is not a binary male/female concept but an amalgamation (to varying degrees), or negation, of the two.
The Australian Christian Lobby has contacted the NSW Minister of Education, Adrian Piccoli, to inquire as to the timeline of the review. In the Department’s response, it declined to outline a timeframe for the Secretary’s investigation. Furthermore, the ACL understands that neither parents, nor other external parties will be invited to provide submissions.
ACL’s NSW Director, Mark Makowiecki, is calling on the Minister to provide a more transparent process:
“Parents feel like they are being shut out of a system to which they have entrusted the education of their children. Parental frustration is growing and I am quite certain that if their concerns continue to be ignored, they will spurn public education and the major political parties in ever greater numbers. I call on Mr Piccoli to make known the due date of Mr Scott’s investigation, and to release the details of that investigation as soon as it becomes available.”
