Schools get set for gender sensitivity
Guidelines will address the fact that pupils can no longer be divided simply into boys and girls
A 12-year-old pupil at a Cape Town school who does not identify as exclusively male or female but wears a girl’s uniform faces constant bullying by classmates.
The grade 6 pupil at Kronendal Primary School in Hout Bay, who chooses to be gender nonbinary, was mocked and chased out of the boys’ toilet by grade 3 pupils on Wednesday after being called a “moffie”.
The incident highlights the need for the guidelines on gender issues, which the department of basic education will soon discuss with provincial school authorities.
The document containing the guidelines, “Socio-educational inclusion of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, expression and sex characteristics in schools”, has not yet been released publicly.
Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said discrimination perpetrated against children of diverse sexual and gender identities, “whether intentional or unintentional”, had prompted the move.
“It was also the litigation that provincial education departments had to deal with relating to this matter, as well as school governance issues faced by governing bodies.”
Mhlanga said it was clear that while there are inclusive education policies and legislation, “schools needed an instrument that would help them avoid violation of children’s rights”.
“We also needed to ensure children of diverse sexual and gender identities survive our education system like any other child.”
Mhlanga said that the bigger part of the document “is an exploration of how the education system supports schools to create a safe and caring environment so that all children may experience a good living and learning experience without discrimination or prejudice”.
“The guidelines are still undergoing district consultations as recommended by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) and will be published in 2023.”
Mhlanga said “intensive consultations” were about to start in provinces on the draft guidelines.
It is understood that they are widely expected to include advice on a dress code or gender-neutral uniforms for LGBTQI+ pupils, the provision of gender-neutral toilets and allowing pupils to choose a first name that they are comfortable with.
In June, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said the CEM, comprising herself and the nine education MECs, had endorsed “an intensive consultative process” on the guidelines.
She said as the constitution dictates, “noone is to be discriminated against due to being gender diverse”.
Melinda Swift, a parent who has been actively campaigning for drawing up the guidelines, said the document included an outline of clauses in the constitution and the law that require “active affirmation and inclusion of LGBTQI+ youth in education”.
“It also includes the existing DBE [department of basic education] policies promoting anti-bullying and anti-homophobia, as well as the principles that should underlie a school policy on inclusion. There is a list of practical top tips on how to do this.”
Swift said the guidelines asserted that the inclusion in education of children regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity was a right.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) told the Sunday Times that it was considering drawing up, in collaboration with the department, a “diversity and sensitivity” programme to assist pupils, parents and schools.
On August 16, Tiro Moalusi, 15, a grade 9 pupil at PJ Simelane Secondary School in Soweto, committed suicide hours after a trainee teacher allegedly called him a “sissy boy”.
On Friday, the Gauteng education department said the teacher had been relieved of her duties.
The Kronendal Primary pupil told the Sunday Times Wednesday’s harassment was the latest in a series of such incidents.
“I am not allowed to use the girls’ bathroom. It has always been obvious that I was not like a normal boy and I have always been bullied for not being normal.”
The pupil, who plays netball, said that while they were allowed to play against other grades at school, they were not allowed to compete against other schools.
According to the Western Cape education department’s draft guidelines on gender identity and sexual orientation, schools are encouraged to accommodate the dress code preferences of LGBTQI+ pupils and may introduce gender-neutral uniforms.
The guidelines were published in March 2020 for public comment but have still not been made official.
The guidelines say LGBTQI+ pupils can participate in any sport of their choice.
“A school may allow a LGBTQI+ learner to use the toilets and changing-room facilities which he or she feels most comfortable with but it is recommended that the sensitivity of other learners also be taken into account.”
The guidelines recommend that “sleeping arrangements be considered carefully” before school trips are undertaken and that pupils “should feel free to bring a partner of their choice” to the matric dance.
Ling Sheperd, spokesperson for the Triangle Project, a nonprofit focusing on LGBTQI+ rights, said that despite stipulations in the constitution, “some schools and governing bodies continue to enforce ad hoc discriminatory policies, often with the support of parents”.
SAHRC commissioner Andre Gaum said it wanted “diversity education” to become part of the school curriculum, “which means that children will be educated on the different kinds of diversities relevant to the South African society”.
Richard Tait, chair of the governing body of Kronendal Primary, said the school takes a firm stance against bullying. “The use of terrible disparaging terms often reflect prejudices that children learn at home and all the school can do is try to educate the children and foster diversity.”
Commenting on the pupil not being allowed to use the girls’ bathroom, he said it was a challenging situation “because many girls feel uncomfortable with someone they perceive to be a boy sharing their bathroom”.
Tait said they resolved at the last governing body meeting to build a gender-neutral bathroom “to avoid this situation and we are going through a planning and budgeting process”.
“Apart from gender neutral sports, the school has often allowed children to participate in any sports code during practice, but in terms of matches involving other schools we are bound by the Western Cape education department policy.”