Poland’s education minister has sided with parents seeking to wrestle sex education out of schools, promising that it would now be easier to give “morally corrupting” voluntary programs the boot.
From now on, it would be easier for parents to request that sex education programs are not taught in school, Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek announced on Friday, citing a decision adopted at the last cabinet meeting.
“At the request of parents, the education superintendent will be able to block … the introduction of content into schools that is morally corrupting for children,” Czarnek said.
The minister singled out one of the programs, dubbed ‘Healthy Love’, that was rolled out by the authorities in the northern city of Gdansk in 2017, but suspended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Healthy Love’ provided sex education to secondary school pupils as part of a “procreation support program.” Participation required the consent of parents, who were able to pick the specific classes their children could attend.
“If the mayor wants to provide this type of education to children in Gdansk, she can do it in premises that belong to the city, but not at school,” Czarnek said.
The conservative minister has repeatedly criticized sex education in school. Earlier this year, he floated the idea of teaching children about sexuality – as well as business – using writings penned by the late Pope John Paul II.
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