Marianne Merten
A large number of the 10 000 objections by fundamentalist Christians to the proposed revised school curriculum appear dubious as the post office has so far returned 600 of the government’s acknowledgment-of-receipt letters marked “address unknown”.
The letter campaign was started by several Christian organisations that asked followers to submit their objections. Last month the Mail & Guardian received five faxes, addressed to Minister of Education Kader Asmal, objecting to the new curriculum “in the strongest possible terms”. The faxes are identical in wording and derive from the same fax number; the only differences are the unreadable signatures.
The faxes say the new curriculum is “as dictatorial as those of Communism and Neo-Marxism” and that it “repeatedly violates the constitutional rights of the individual”.
United Christian Action spokesperson Robert McCafferty said the number of returned letters amounted to only 6%, insisting there is “a huge groundswell of people that are not happy” with the revised curriculum. “It [the government] is not even listening to what the communities are saying. It’s completely undemocratic.”
But Asmal queried whether the letter campaign was not just “a lack of alignment” with the current democracy. “There’s no value in these 10000 letters. Where have the letters come from?”
The minister chaired Tuesday’s public hearings on the draft revised national curriculum statement (NCS), aimed at streamlining and overcoming weaknesses in Curriculum 2005. The hearings were held at Parliament to conclude the public comment that began in July when Asmal unveiled the draft NCS.
Although the tone was largely measured inside the Good Hope chamber, outside scores of Christian protesters jeered the curriculum revision proposals, particularly those on sex and religion education.
“We don’t want our children to be taught about sexual intercourse. Children as young as seven will be taught how to put on and insert condoms,” said Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, MP and leader of the African Christian Democratic Party. “Children will be expected to experiment … Christian parents must take a stand.”
Outside the gates of Parliament some protesters held wooden crosses while others vigorously waved posters: “Don’t use our children for socialist ideas = Abuse”, “Down with secular humanism, Up with the word of God” and “Jesus Christ is the answer to your troubled education”.
Tempers rose at Parliament when the United Christian Action presentation turned into an attack on Asmal accused of “deep-rooted prejudice of Christians” the Department of Education and the draft NCS, which goes against the group’s desired “academic pluralism” where parents and teachers determine what is taught.
“All education is religious. There is no neutrality … The religion of the NCS is secular humanism. The United States Supreme Court has declared secular humanism a religion,” said McCafferty.
Arguing that children are first and foremost under God’s authority and then the family/parents, he said: “Teaching children the worship practices and values of other religions through a multi-faith system from pre-primary, against parents’ wishes, is a gross violation of freedom of religion, conscience and belief.”
However, after he claimed 12-year-olds are being taught how to perform oral sex as part of Curriculum 2005, Asmal intervened: “Where does it say in the NCS that children will be taught oral sex?”
When McCafferty referred to an NGO-drafted teacher-training manual, Asmal asked again: “Don’t give us that. What we want to know [is] where does it say in a particular grade they do oral sex? It’s a very simple question.” And the United Christian Action representative had to admit “that may not be stated” in the curriculum. “There is no basis for what you say,” the minister concluded.
Asmal voiced his appreciation for the 200 written submissions made by interested parties such as trade unions, education policy developers, NGOs and academics.
On Tuesday most welcomed the revisions. But concerns were raised over the lack of fully qualified teachers and learning support materials and the best way to implement the curriculum. Others pointed to weaknesses in the natural sciences, technology and arts and culture learning areas.
The revision process should be completed early next year. The revised Curriculum 2005 will be binding on all of South Africa’s 29 000 schools.