‘Woke ideology’ education code approved by Senedd in Wales

The Welsh Government has been accused of following a “woke ideology” by erasing biological sex from the education curriculum after publishing guidance that makes no mention of the terms male or female.

The Relationships and Sexuality Education Code also did not explicitly reference “boys”, “girls”, “straight” or “heterosexual”.

The code was debated for 30 minutes in the Senedd before members voted to make it mandatory teaching for children aged three to 16.

Conservative MS Darren Millar said the code would restrict the rights of parents to educate their children in these issues and had been influenced by a “woke ideology”.

“I regard parents as the primary educators of their children, not the state, and I believe that the Welsh Government’s removal of the parental right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons was a massive retrograde step for parental rights and choice,” he said.

“What is clear is that the Welsh Government is trying to disguise a controversial set of ideas over which there’s a great deal of debate as some sort of settled catalogue of truths that all pupils should be taught.

“The code is very heavy on respect but it’s clear that that respect it does not seem to extend to many Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, members of other faiths, members of the LGBTQ+ community, or those whose views may be at odds with those espoused by the Welsh Government.

“The evidence suggests that the code and the draft guidance have been influenced heavily from a particularly woke ideological viewpoint and the draft guidance in particular screams woke.

“Out of the 4,000 words we see the words male mentioned just once, female twice – both in relation to female genital mutilation.

“Men doesn’t appear at all and neither do the words girl, boy, straight or heterosexual. Any relationships and sexuality education code that seeks to avoid these words simply isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow education minister Laura Anne Jones criticised the amount of time Members of the Senedd had to scrutinise and debate the code.

She told Plenary: “They need to be the right content, the right messages delivered by fully trained teachers or outside bodies that adhere to strict guidelines.

“Even the title concerns me – removing the word sex and replacing it with sexuality – as does removing all references to girl, boy, woman… it is ridiculously confusing and strikes me the Government is more concerned with promoting ideology than teaching our children facts and protecting them.

“The emission of any gender in the code is quite frankly staggering. What has been presented is not fact-based biologically accurate sex education but an indoctrination of children in gender identity ideology.

“The erasure of sex undermines safeguarding and erodes the concepts of privacy, boundaries and consent putting girls particularly at risk.

“A code where girls and women are invisible, apart from a reference to their bodily functions, is more than counter-intuitive.

“Girls and women exist, and it is staggering a small minority are trying to erase us from society.”

Plaid’s Sioned Williams said opposition raised during the consultation to the code earlier this year “often masked prejudice and discriminatory attitudes against transgender people”.

“I would like to go on record and reconfirm mine and my party’s commitment to ensure LGBTQ+ pupils’ responses and experiences need to be heard and affirmed and our continuing promise to actively promote LGBTQ+ pupils’ rights,” she said.

Education minister Jeremy Miles urged MSs to support the code.

“If we are truly committed to giving our children and young people an education which allows them to see themselves at its heart and keep themself from harm and equip them to develop healthy relationships, then lets take that next step on that journey today,” he said.

“For some of us an inclusive Wales is more than a political objective – it is an essential precondition to wellbeing and safety.

“These reforms help make that a reality for all our children today and for our future generations.”

MSs voted 48 to 16 to accept the code.