Sukers calls on government to come clean with details of proposed sexuality education curriculum

The ACDP calls on the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to unequivocally state in detail what Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) will entail.

ACDP MP Marie Sukers said in a media statement yesterday that representatives from the DBE are not singing from the same sheet when it communicates about CSE, which the DBE plans to roll out in schools from next year.

Sukers said: “The ACDP stands resolute, and will continue in its fight to have the roll-out of CSE scrapped.

“We are not against basic sex education which has been taught in schools for a number of years. Teaching children about changes in their bodies, like with menstruation for example, is not what the ACDP is fighting against. We are protesting against the department teaching children about masturbation, anal, and oral sex.

“I have been listening carefully as to what representatives from the DBE have been saying about its plans in some detail. During a radio interview, the DBE spokesperson, Elijah Mahlanga, confirmed that the department’s plans will include teaching some of the things the ACDP has objected to, such as anal and oral sex teachings, to children from Grade 7 onwards.

“This week, at a Basic Education Portfolio Committee meeting in Parliament, Dr Granville Whittle from the DBE, responded to a question I posed to him, by saying that, “Sexual Education is nothing new, and that it has been taught in schools for over 20 years.” There is however, “only one small change, and that is teaching children about menstruation.

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“In our view, the department’s spokesperson and other representatives are either misaligned in its messaging about CSE, or the department is not truthful with the nation.

“The ACDP is of the opinion that the department’s plan to roll out yet another ill-conceived project, like it did with Outcomes Based Education, will only do more harm than good. The DBE must not overstep parental boundaries and use our children as guinea pigs to please its globally-aligned partners.”

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“We are closely scrutinising plans regarding CSE, and we are also awaiting the DBE’s response to a memorandum which the ACDP handed over last week during a protest march against CSE,” Sukers said.