A new school year begins next month, but teachers still aren’t sure what they should be teaching when it comes to the new sex-ed curriculum.
The Simcoe County District School Board says it’s still waiting for more direction from the province.
The SCDSB, along with 25 other boards across Ontario is asking for clarification on how to teach sexting, consent, gender identity and same-sex families to students. These topics were not included in the 1998 curriculum.
“They’re important,” says SCDSB’s chair Peter Beacock. “Students need to be prepared for the new world we live in, and the 1998 curriculum certainly doesn’t do that.”
Beacock says that until it’s told otherwise, the school board plans to give teachers the right to include as much of the modern content as they see fit.
On Tuesday, a petition signed by nearly 1,800 health-care workers from across Ontario to stop plans to repeal and replace the province’s modernized sex-ed curriculum was delivered to the provincial legislature.
Premier Doug Ford made the promise to scrap the curriculum that was updated by his Liberal predecessors during his campaign. The new government has said teachers would reintroduce the 1998 version of the curriculum this fall.
The group of health-care workers who signed the petition says repealing the curriculum will put children's safety and mental health at risk by providing them with outdated information.
The government will welcome the feedback from the healthcare professionals, but says it wants to hear from parents.
Education Minister Lisa Thompson downplayed the mixed messaging the government has sent in recent weeks, saying there should be "no confusion" about what will be taught in the classroom by teachers this fall.
"I have every confidence in teachers that they'll prepare our students for the realities of today," she said.
- With files from The Canadian Press
