BBCJersey’s minister for education and lifelong learning is standing by trans guidance in schools after a petition called for it to be revoked until parents were fully consulted, he says.
In a response to the 1,062-signature petition, Robert Ward said the guidance was an “important resource for schools” when children were questioning their gender.
He said it would not be revoked and was only for the use of teaching and non-teaching staff when a child disclosed to them “their thoughts around their gender”.
He said this would be “a very small proportion of the school population and most children and families will not be affected by the guidance”.
Open dialogue
He added that the guidance stressed the “vital role” of working with parents.
The petition raised concerns that parents “should be involved in any discussions on the issue of their child’s gender identity”.
Ward said: “The guidance makes it clear that open dialogue with parents is our goal.”
He added that information about a child’s gender identity would only be withheld or masked in “exceptional circumstances”.
Ward said: “We won’t be ‘outing’ them to anyone on the sole basis of their identity.”
He said staff do not need to tell parents if a child who was exploring their gender identity did not ask the school to “facilitate any social transition”.
If they do, “schools cannot simply choose to not include parents”, he said.
Petitioners also objected to books parents may consider “unsuitable” placed in school libraries and in the children’s section of public libraries.
Ward said the three books recommended as part of the guidance were professional education resources and were not recommended for children.
