As reported by The Telegraph, transgender issues in schools have been excluded from the Department for Education’s revised safeguarding guidance for the autumn term
MPs and campaigners have raised concerns that updated guidance published this week contains no reference to the dangers of schools allowing pupils to switch gender without informing parents, nor of the risks of teaching contested gender ideology.
Tracy Shaw, of Safe Schools Alliance, said: “It is deeply disappointing that the new safeguarding framework, which schools and other educators rely on to keep children safe, has not been updated to include advice on how to deal with children experiencing gender incongruence.”
Research by Policy Exchange published in March found that schools are neglecting to safeguard by affirming pupils’ preferred pronouns without informing parents.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, and Women and Kemi Badenoch, the equalities Mminister, are jointly overseeing a draft of detailed guidance on how schools should respond to pupils questioning their gender. The government has pledged to publish a draft for consultation before the end of the summer term.
Miriam Cates, a Conservative MP on the Commons Education Select Committee, said: “The Department for Education keeps assuring us that [trans] guidance is coming, but given that this is one of the most significant safeguarding issues right now, it does seem remiss of them not to even mention it in the [safeguarding] document.”
Caroline Ansell, another Conservative MP on the committee, said: “It could have been an opportunity for government to highlight their awareness of issues with gender ideology being promoted in schools by activist groups, and the importance of parental involvement when it comes to safeguarding.”
Nick Gibb, the schools’ minister, told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the draft guidance “will be published shortly”.
He said: “We are consulting experts on drafting comprehensive guidance on a very sensitive matter, and we need to get it right.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said the guidance will be “based upon the overriding principle of the wellbeing and safeguarding of children, and it will consider a range of issues”.
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