The FF Plus takes note of the fact that the Department of Basic Education has labelled a recent document about gender-neutral bathrooms in schools as no more than a consultation document in its early stage of processing.
The party was ready to act in case these guidelines were implemented at schools at short notice.
The document does indeed deal with much more than toilets – as the Department indignantly indicated.
It encompasses everything at schools that relates in any way to the two traditional genders of male and female – from preferred names to names on registers, pronouns, sport participation and the hot topic of unisex toilets.
The point is that, according to the document, transgender children's right to quality education can only be exercised if there are absolutely no references to gender in the entire school system.
It puts the exception above the rule, and makes the rule seem derogatory.
In the meantime, the FF Plus determined by means of a parliamentary question that more than R30 million, mainly from the Human Rights Commission and foreign donors, was invested in developing this "consultation document".
It raises the question of how the money was spent. The "guidelines" comprise 23 typed pages without any design features.
The large amount can only be justified if learning materials were indeed prepared and printed and are ready to be distributed. Moreover, the FF Plus also set eyes on an educator's guide, aimed at preschool children, in electronic format.
The FF Plus welcomes the distance that the Department of Basic Education has put between its "guidelines" and the 2023 school year, but the party still thinks the Department is not laying all its cards on the table.
Thus, the Department should expect that the FF Plus will keep a close eye on the matter.
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