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Education Minister: Parents in Wales won’t be able to opt children out of sex or religion lessons

21 Jan 2020 2 minute read
Kirsty Williams AM Education Minister. Photo National Assembly for Wales and licensed under CC BY 2.0

Parents will not be able to prevent their children from learning about religion, relationships and sexuality under the new curriculum in Wales.

The announcement was made following an eight-week Welsh Government consultation on ensuring access to the full curriculum, including the teaching of relationship and sexuality and religious education.

‘Religious Education’ wil also be re-named ‘Religion, Values and Ethics’.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams made the announcement today and said there would need to be “careful and sensitive implementation” of the decision.

“Our responsibility as a government is to ensure that young people, through public education, have access to learning that supports them to discuss and understand their rights and the rights of others,” she said.

“It is essential that all young people are provided with access to information that keeps them safe from harm.

“Today’s decision ensures that all pupils will learn about issues such as online safety and healthy relationships.”

 

‘Balanced’

Kirsty Williams also outlined plans for implementation of the new policy which include the creation of guidance and resources for schools and the creation of a Faith/BAME Community Involvement Group to hold its first meeting this February.

The group will engage in the development of religious education guidance, develop a “shared understanding” of the new curriculum and “address concerns” raised by faith and community groups during the consultation.

“It is vital that we continue to work with communities across Wales to ensure parents have the right to develop, care for and guide their children into adulthood while allowing our schools to provide a broad and balanced education,” Kirsty Williams said.

“We will build on the community engagement which accompanied the consultation with a long term investment in listening to our communities and finding ways to address the issues which concern them.”


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max wallis
max wallis
4 years ago

My Anne Greagsby compiled the following prior to her sudden death. Inserting transgenderism into the curriculum, together with traditional RE, breaches UN Convention rights on freedom of thought, conscience and religion, protecting children from indoctrination. I fundamentally reject the officials perversion of the required Equality Impact Assessment in respect of the protected sex of girls/women. The Minister’s officials, steeped in Stonewall-transgender ideology, appear unable to face legal argument. Nor could they face the international conventions to which the UK subscribes. ## Anne wrote to the ‘consultation’ ## As a humanist and feminist, I endorse RSE reflecting the internationally recognised World… Read more »

Ifan Dafis
Ifan Dafis
4 years ago
Reply to  max wallis

Respect Sir!

Gareth Westacott
Gareth Westacott
4 years ago
Reply to  max wallis

I am so sorry to hear about Anne’s passing. I had no idea. Please accept my deepest condolences.

Ifan Dafis
Ifan Dafis
4 years ago

Who the hell does this woman think she is to attempt to forcefully impose something on our children!

See you in court public servant………

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Ifan Dafis

As a Catholic, I fear St David’s Day will be next for banning.
Other than that, thank heavens we have such as Max!

Simon Gruffydd
Simon Gruffydd
4 years ago

In a nutshell, these proposals sum up the problems with representative democracy composed of a cartel of political parties who themselves are influenced, bribed or bullied into passing unpopular measures by big money and/or special interest groups. We need a democracy fit for the 21st century. A democracy that reflects the will of the people. Party political middlemen are not only unnecessary but damaging to our body politic. Is Plaid Cymru supporting this perversion of compulsory education?

Ben Digedig
Ben Digedig
4 years ago

Ohh great! Sex is a reality – just like STD’s – so this is useful factual information for all. Religion is not. My kids are sick of hearing of religion and not being able to drop it in their subject choices. Other schools locally permit the pupils to drop it – choice. It depends how much of a God botherer the head is i suppose? Its contentions to not let the kids decide to drop religion – schools, like politics, should be secular. I’d FAR rather they learnt a language than memorise how many times people march round the Kaaba.… Read more »

MAX WALLIS
MAX WALLIS
4 years ago

The Minister Kirsty Williams signed up to be a ‘Stonewall ally’ and runs a department whose Equality Impact Assessment was based on Stonewall’s bastardisation of the Equality Act. It conflates Sex and Gender and redefines Gender Reassignment as “the act of transitioning and Transgender people”. It adopts Stonewall’s fiction of LGBTQI+ and states quite wrongly that “the rights of LGBTQI+ people to be treated with equality are protected in law”. In fact, the Equality Act gives the LGB group the right to recognition of their Protected Characteristic, uncontaminated by TQI+. So what did Kirsty Williams do in view of trenchant… Read more »

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  MAX WALLIS

Not to greatly interfere, but new kid on the block is the term Pan-

Alwyn J Evans
Alwyn J Evans
4 years ago

I doubt the minister has done any research into the long term affect of a child losing trust in education at such an early age. When there is a disagreement on “facts” the child must choose parent or school.

School says “there are x number of genders, isnt that lovely”. Parent says “There are 2 genders, here’s all the evidence, you’re teachers a liar”. Then 20 years later, were all stuck with a flat earther on a bus.

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Alwyn J Evans

Are you denying the earth is flat, Sir?!

John Ellis
John Ellis
4 years ago

‘Education Minister Kirsty Williams … said there would need to be “careful and sensitive implementation” of the decision.’ Right from my young days when I daily witnessed the trooping into school assemby,. once the ‘religious bit’ had ended, of assorted Roman Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, one or two Jewish and, later, the odd Muslim kid, I’ve always been dubious about parental opt-outs from sections of the school curriculum, on the ground that even as a teenager it seemed me me that compulsory state-provided education should be providing an all-round education for all. But ‘Religion, Values and Ethics’ will always be contested… Read more »

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  John Ellis

” C of E, R.C, and fancy buggers” used to be descriptions in Army. Up to a certain point in Welsh history, being Catholic it’s easy to identify. You’ll have a heck of a job not wanting to think of the Saints!
And of course with Western Europe, the monasteries being the internet of the day, takes off from the Greeks and Muslim scholars .For people confused about trans. I recommend Conundrum by Jan Morris, and any other work of Hers.

John Ellis
John Ellis
4 years ago
Reply to  j humphrys

Every reason for school religion classes to teach about the saints of Wales, because they’re a focal part of the nation’s history. Our village bears the name it does because one of the monks from Bangor is y Coed is said to have fled over the Clwydians and settled here after the Northumbian army destroyed the monastery in around 613.

So I’m all for teaching that history; I’d just draw the line at bringing a statue of him into the local school and getting the children to venerate him!

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