“What we are looking for is more acknowledgement of parental rights over what is being taught to children,” said Howland, whose group speaks for parents provincially on education issues and is regarded as a key education stakeholder in B.C. Parents should have the ultimate right to decide on teaching about sensitive issues, she added.
The ministry said it isn’t changing its policy but intends to clarify its limited reach by September. The policy says parents may withdraw their children when what the ministry calls personal issues are discussed during health segments of three classes: health and career education K-7, health and career education 8-9, and planning 10.
Parents who withdraw their children from a lesson must arrange to have them learn it in another setting — through home schooling, for example, or electronic learning. Students will be required by the school to demonstrate their knowledge of the health topics they have chosen to learn in an alternative manner, the policy says.
The ministry has promised to add a line to every other curriculum saying alternative delivery is not an option. The ministry’s Corinna Filion said that is because of an erroneous belief that parents had a right to pull their children from any lesson that was considered sensitive, controversial or objectionable — regardless of the subject area.
The policy clarification is the first promise in a six-page contract the government signed with Murray and Peter Corren, gay activists who have been fighting for 10 years to have non-heterosexuals represented in the K-12 curriculum. The Correns argued that the lack of such representation amounted to systemic discrimination.
Their complaint was to go before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal for a hearing this year.
The contract puts an end to that case and requires the government to take a tougher stand on the opting-out policy, review the entire K-12 curriculum to include non-heterosexual teaching, and create a new course called social justice 12 that will include a segment on sexual orientation.
In an interview, Murray Corren said he believes the opting-out policy is still too loose, noting it allows parents to remove their children from lessons about healthy lifestyles, healthy relationships, safe driving and drug-and-alcohol prevention.
“It’s much too broad in its scope, he said. Asked how the policy should be restricted, Corren replied: “I’m not even sure there needs to be one, however if there has to be one, I believe that it should be applied only to sex education.
“We feel that whole policy needs to be re-looked at. That’s what we’re hoping is going to happen in the course of this agreement.”
As part of the agreement, the ministry has promised to draft a letter to all school board chairs and superintendents that will clarify “the true nature and limited reach of the policy.” A draft of the letter and the policy clarifications are to be sent to the Correns by July 15 for their review.
They will have until Aug. 1 to provide a response, and the ministry will finalize the policy and send the letters to education stakeholders by Sept. 15.
Howland said her group will communicate its concerns to the ministry as part of that process. The confederation has been calling for more parental rights over “sensitive-content” teaching since a resolution was passed by members in 2000.
That resolution says “where ’sensitive issues’ are dealt with by a teacher in the classroom, the teacher’s responsibility to notify parents in advance and give them opportunity for input takes precedence over the teacher’s right to professional autonomy.”
Education Minister Shirley Bond was at a conference Monday in Prince George and not available to comment.
by: Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Source: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/index.html
