Displaying items by tag: Education

Voice for Justice hope to raise 20,000 signatures on a petition calling on the National Union of Teachers to withdraw its motion to promote teaching lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) issues to children, starting at nursery. The first paragraph of the petition says, ‘The current campaign actively to promote LGBT+ issues starting at nursery is part of an ideological agenda to undermine and ultimately destroy the traditional values on which our society is based. While lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults may see the cultural and social normalisation of their sexual preferences as top priority, we maintain that to force such consciousness onto children, who by definition lack the emotional maturity to assimilate and process such behavioural “norms”, is a form of child abuse. This will inevitably encourage them to experiment with behaviours that wouldn’t normally occur at such an early age, but which carry the potential for enormous and long-lasting harm, both physical and mental.’ See also Prayer Alert world article 7, below.

A Catholic school district in Ontario has cancelled a gender identity play, ‘Boys, Girls and Other Mythological Creatures’ aimed at children aged 5 to 10. The play was booked for five elementary schools, but school officials raised concerns and cancelled the showings. The artistic director said the cancellations were based on misinformation, intolerance, transphobia, homophobia and misogyny. The play centres on an eight-year-old boy, Simon, who believes he’s a girl named Simone. Pope Francis expressed outrage, saying, ‘Today children - children! - are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex.  And this is terrible!’ See also Prayer Alert British Isles article 7.

‘Sex and relationships’ education is to be made compulsory in all schools in England. All children from the age of four will be taught about safe and healthy relationships. Children will also be taught, at an appropriate age, about sex, but parents will continue to have a right to withdraw their children from such lessons. Until now, sex education has been compulsory only in council-run schools. Now all schools across the system will have to provide age-appropriate lessons on what constitutes healthy relationships, as well as the dangers of sexting, online pornography and sexual harassment. Schools will have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects, to develop integrated approaches sensitive to the local community, and faith schools will continue to teach in accordance with the tenets of their faith.

Jadine Louissaint is a second-generation Haitian born and raised in the USA. While growing up, she experienced the stigma associated with her culture and ancestry, and tried to escape from that social disadvantage through education and a good career. She trained as a nurse and did an MBA in healthcare, but in 2015 realised that something was missing from her life. She began to seek God through prayer and fasting. He showed her that His will and purpose for her life was not only to embrace her culture and heritage for herself, but to seek to empower young Haitian women and girls to effect positive change in their country - spiritually, socially, and culturally. In response, she founded TransforMe Ayiti (Transform Haiti), which seeks to provide the next generation of women leaders and innovators with tools for success. Jadine’s vision is to help Haiti become a self-sustained country, by investing in its most precious resource: the youth, specifically young women.

‘One of the most important issues of our time is how to integrate refugees into German society. Integration works best by involvement in everyday life - in a day-care centre or school, in learning a trade or in a place of work. Here the refugees can come into direct contact with the German language and culture and can also become familiar with the social norms and customs of our society. Integration into the job market however takes time; this might be because of lack of qualifications, or few opportunities for apprenticeships or vocational training. Many refugees remain in temporary accommodation for a long time, with no prospects for work or a more permanent place to live. The ready availability of social housing is an essential component of a successful integration plan: but a home of your own must be affordable not only for refugees but also for the low wage earners, the unemployed and pensioners. These also should not be forgotten! Much patience is often expected also from them. To ensure the keeping of peace and harmony in communities, the task of effective integration requires our constant prayer.’

Social studies textbooks for grades 1-4 were recalled after an outcry from concerned parents over a page illustrating two Christian churches. The books had been introduced by the new management at Gateway International School, without official approval from the appropriate Maldivian ministry. A local news website accused the school of being ‘a gateway to turning Maldivians into Christians’. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, commented, ‘That the mere picture of a church is seen as promoting Christianity and potential proselytism shows how deeply ingrained the fear of the Muslim majority is. The appointment of a radical cleric to the highest Islamic Council (reported last month) also fits this pattern and will lead expatriate Christians to exercise even more caution, and indigenous Christians to take the utmost care in remaining undiscovered.’

Many Christian children in Pakistan face discrimination, abuse, hostility and even violence at government schools. A class of schoolgirls in Pakistan were taking an exam in Home Economics. The examiner was tasting the food they had cooked. But when she got to the Christian girls she refused to touch what they had cooked, saying it would make her unclean. She tipped the food in the bin, and the girls failed the exam. Four Christian girls at a Punjabi high school were forced to bring their own drinking glasses and water bottles to school after Muslim students complained they were unclean. There are also many who cannot go to school at all because their parents cannot afford the fees. Instead, children are forced to work as menial labourers, often in high-risk jobs.