The national Department of Basic Education (DBE) is considering a set of proposed gender guidelines to combat gender discrimination and create a more inclusive environment in schools.
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The document allegedly circulated amongst a limited audience this week.
According to The South African, some of these guidelines include:
- Schools will soon be required to provide genderless/unisex toilets and changing rooms”.
- Individual stalls, gendered bathroom signs and more cubicles are touted as a solution.
- Teachers are to be told they must avoid gender-segregating, by splitting classes, lines, or groups into “boys and girls”.
- The provision of gender-neutral uniforms must also be made available to all pupils who require them,
- “Dead-naming” will also be outlawed. That means a student identifying with a different gender cannot be called by their previous name.
The proposed guidelines have already sparked controversial debates amongst conservative political groups represented in Parliament.
A series of tweets by the African Christian Democratic Party’s (ACDP) leader, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe conveyed the party’s concerns about these proposed guidelines that “will allegedly move communities away from the usual ‘gender norms’ in society”.
He expressed that the guidelines “will not solve challenges of discrimination in schools, but will exacerbate them instead”.
The @A_C_D_P notes with shock and disapproval that the @DBE_SA has proposed a set of new ‘gender guidelines’ encouraging schools to install unisex toilets. This set of radical rule-changes for schools will allegedly move communities away from the usual ‘gender norms’ in society.
— Kenneth Meshoe (@RevMeshoe) November 4, 2022
The so-called ‘dead-naming’ will also be outlawed in schools. This means that a student identifying with a different gender cannot be called by their previous name. @A_C_D_P @DBE_SA
— Kenneth Meshoe (@RevMeshoe) November 4, 2022
Some of the guidelines set out by the @DBE_SA include making provision of gender neutral uniforms available to all pupils who require them. This will not solve challenges of discrimination in schools, but it will exacerbate them instead.
— Kenneth Meshoe (@RevMeshoe) November 4, 2022
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Dr Wynand Boshoff of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) released a statement relaying similar sentiments towards the proposed guidelines.
“The FF Plus’s observation is that the ideology of radical individualism is hereby attempting to take control over education.”
“According to radical individualism, community norms restrict the individual – self-fulfilment can only be achieved once those norms are abolished. Moreover, the only appropriate response from the family and members of the community is to support the individual’s choices.”
Boshoff expressed that the view of the FF+ regarding a person’s place in the world differs.
“An individual person is inconceivable without the community – in fact, it is literally conceived by the community. Communities are made up of families and extended families, and ultimately form part of even larger communities, both cultural and political.”
“An orderly society cannot exist without community norms. And yet, within any community, there are exceptions, people whose personal identities do not conform to the general community norms.”
“In a caring and functional community, exceptions are recognised and respected, but still considered exceptions. Every aspect of the community, from marriage to bathrooms at school, cannot be re-conceptualised as if the exception is the norm.”
Boshoff concluded by expressing the party’s support for school governing bodies maintaining the community approach in their schools.
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