Sexual Education, where there is a Section on Gender-sensitivity, is Not Part of The Compulsory School Subjects

By spinning what is written in the Concept for reform in elementary education, it is falsely claimed that gender-sensitive education, as an element of broader Sexual Education, will be compulsory from the earliest grades and that children will learn that gender is independent of sex and can be fluid

A Facebook post in Macedonian manipulatively states untruths related to the education reforms conceived by the Ministry of Education and Science (MES), for elementary school students.

The focus of the manipulative announcement is on “gender-sensitive education”, in which it is claimed that it will be a “compulsory element in elementary education, starting at the earliest grades”:

Do you know that Gender-Sensitive Education, which is a component of the broader Comprehensive Sexual Education, is introduced as a compulsory subject in elementary education, starting from the earliest grades? Did you know that this type of education promotes teaching children from an early age that gender is fluid and independent of sex?

In support of the manipulation in the comments below the post, there is a link to the Draft version of the Concept of Elementary Education, which is published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science. When read in detail, it can be understood that the post we are reviewing is untrue and that this element is not in the mandatory curriculum for elementary education.

Namely, on pages 17 and 18 and further, in the Concept, where the curriculum for the part for compulsory subjects is described, it is not stated that Sexual Education, where gender-sensitive education would be studied, is part of the compulsory subjects.

Sexual education is placed as an elective subject in the group “The other list of elective subjects…” (p. 18) in item 1, where it is stated:

…elective subjects for expanding / deepening the teaching contents of the compulsory subjects (example: mathematical-logical reasoning, programming, painting/drawing, cultural history, sexual education)…

In this false post which we are reviewing, a graphic animation/photo is placed, which is also manipulative. The graphic animation on the right side quotes from the Concept, but the subject is presented as COMPULSORY.

But, what is compulsory in the Concept, is that in the part of inclusion in education, attention will be paid to the gender-specific socialization (p. 11), because “education encourages the inclusion of the gender perspective in the training of teachers, realizes teaching through contents in which there are no explicit gender stereotypes, uses a gender-sensitive approach that calls for a critical approach to gender inequality…” and that “The teaching content is chosen to ensure that both girls and boys are offered positive identification patterns that are not limited by traditional gender roles.”

Below is the text of the Concept (p. 12), where it is repeated that this subject is elective, and not compulsory:

It is extremely important for the provision of gender sensitive education that among the offered elective courses there are those that are at least partially committed to gaining knowledge that gender norms and roles are not fixed, as well as that gender stereotypes can lead to serious individual and social consequences, among which the most problematic is the high prevalence of gender-based violence.

As can be seen from the quotations from the Concept and especially if one reads in full pages 11 and 12 that talk about this topic, it will be understood that the post we are reviewing is manipulative content that spins with the Concept and is therefore untrue. Both in the text of the post and in the graphic animation published with the text, the words from the Concept are not accurately presented but are spun. Therefore, the whole post can be assessed as untrue.

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