Al-Qalam 
As Government pushes to roll out its Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) curriculum next year, Muslims have been urged to protect their children by fighting back, writes an Al Qalam reporter.
South Africa’s Muslim community has joined the wave of public outrage at Government’s plan to introduce graphic sex education at public schools which many parents believe borders on pornography.
Plans are underway to roll out the UNESCO-sponsored Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) curriculum across South African schools in 2020.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has claimed that they have engaged stakeholders, from across the spectrum, but parents from all denominations, including teacher unions have rejected the proposed program, saying the content is too graphic for schoolchildren.
Now the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) has written to the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga and the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande and others in Government urging them to scrap this plan.
SAMNET and various Islamic institutions across the country have been inundated with queries on the new and controversial Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) program that the Department of Education plans to incorporate into the South African curriculum.
SAMNET undertook a study on what the controversial SCE Curriculum will look like.
SAMNET’s chairperson, Dr Faisal Suleman told Al Qalam: “The CSE curriculum has ignited public outrage due its graphic and age inappropriate content. By delving into the private realm of parenting, government is seen as crossing the line. Furthermore, the Department of Education has stated they have consulted widely on the curriculum, however there is no evidence to support this statement.
“We encourage the Muslim community to object to the introduction of Comprehensive Sexuality Education to South African schools by urgently writing to the authorities, expressing how they feel about it,” Dr Suleman said.
You can e-mail the Ministers of Education. Department of Basic Education on the following address: mabua.s@dbe.gov.za
You can also write to the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology: Siphokazi.Shoba@dst.gov.za
Sexual diversity
In its letter to Government, Dr Suleman wrote: “We wish to reiterate our community’s absolute and firm opposition to the introduction of some of these concepts, such as sexual desire, sexual diversity, sexual expression and enjoyment, motivations for having and not having sex and the way it has been proposed.
According to StatsSA, 88.7% of South Africans consider themselves to be people of faith.
The CSE program is known to demean religion and faith.”
People from all faiths have expressed their outrage to the Government on the CSE curriculum.
One father who did not want to be named told Al Qalam that all three of his children – two daughters aged 10 and 12, and a son aged14 attend Government schools in Overport.
“As Muslims, we are mostly conservative in the way we bring up our children. I will never allow my children to be bombarded with graphic sex orientation which almost borders on pornography in my opinion I would rather find the money to move them to a Muslim School next year – or even home-school them, but never will I expose them to this form of so-called sex education that they are shamelessly proposing – it’s shocking,” he said.
In an extensive research posted on its website, SAMNET detailed what the effects this shockingly graphic sex education would have on children from five-years-up.
According to the Government, CSE’s core message was aimed at educating children on ways to prevent or curb HIV/Aids infection, teenage pregnancy etc through abstinence. Children will also be taught that you have the right to say no to sex. High school children will be taught that if you cannot abstain, at least condomise.
But, outraged communities have pointed out to Government’s educational ministries that the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is one of the greatest assaults on the health and innocence of children. This is because unlike traditional sex education, comprehensive sexuality education is highly explicit and promotes promiscuity and high-risk sexual behaviors to children as healthy and normal.
One community study said: “CSE programs have an almost obsessive focus on teaching children how to obtain sexual pleasure in various ways. Yet, ironically, comprehensive sexuality education programs are anything but comprehensive as they fail to teach children about all of the emotional, psychological and physical health risks of promiscuous sexual activity.
“The ultimate goal of CSE is to change the sexual and gender norms of society, which is why CSE could be more accurately called “abortion, promiscuity, and LGBT rights education.” CSE is a “rights-based” approach to sex education and promotes sexual rights to children at the expense of their sexual health.”
*Also See SAMNET’s letter of protest to Government on Page 6.
