The Ministry of Education says there has been increased disinformation around what students are learning in Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). Photo / 123rf
The Ministry of Education says there has been increased disinformation around what students are learning in Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). Photo / 123rf
The Ministry of Education is warning of increased misinformation and disinformation around sex education in schools, including cases of doctored images using ministry colours and logos.
Examples have included a fake ministry post on social media, which included disinformation such as a “pronoun name-tag day”, and stated that 5-year-olds were being “made to question their own gender”.
Education Minister Erica Stanford says she is committed to ensuring every child feels included, safe and respected at school – and emphasises the agreement to replace the guidelines, which will include retaining some of its current elements.
A ministry briefing to Stanford, released under the Official Information Act, provided requested information about the background of RSE in December 2023.
According to the document, “the ministry has seen an intensification and proliferation of misinformation and disinformation relating to RSE and the ministry’s guidance over the past year”.
“The ministry is aware of several cases of doctored images which use ministry logos and colours that have been widely shared on social media.
“Many of these contain information that is factually inaccurate and designed to provoke anger or disapproval.”
Former Education Minister Jan Tinetti is now Labour's education spokeswoman. Photo / Andrew Warner
An example from last year showed a fake Ministry of Education guide for sexuality education, which included disinformation such as schools having “on-site ‘gender clinics’ to aid a child’s transition”.
The ministry told Newstalk ZB that the spread of inaccurate information made it difficult to quantify.
Jan Tinetti, Labour’s education spokeswoman and former Education Minister, said she noticed the increase of disinformation in the leadup to the 2023 general election and knew of cases of doctored images and logos.
“They were on the ministry letterhead, and they were talking about things that were in the curriculum or in the guidelines that would have been age-inappropriate material for young people to see.
“It was basically saying this is what schools are teaching in this area – it was completely not true.
“But of course you can’t tell people that when they see something like that and they think that it is true. They see it on a letterhead and that becomes their source of truth to them.”
The Ministry of Education says disinformation about RSE is often "designed to provoke anger or disapproval". Photo / 123RF
She believed there was a “sinister agenda” behind the disinformation but it then became misinformation for the people who kept repeating it.
“I had one incident in an election debate where I was told that the current Government – the Labour Government at the time – was trying to ‘transify’ kids.”
The current RSE guidelines were introduced in 2020 and are an updated and more focused version of guidelines published in 2002 and revised in 2015.
The ministry briefing notes the University of Auckland was contracted to refresh the guidelines and that the writers used an international advisory group made up of Australian professors.
“That is of huge concern for all of society, but especially our young people.”
Education Minister Erica Stanford says it's important to note the guidelines are not compulsory, and schools are free to use them at their discretion. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Stanford said the Government would review and replace the guidelines in its first term but “there is important content in the current guidelines that is critical to retain, such as consent and healthy relationships”.
She said it was also important to note the guidelines were not compulsory and schools were free to use them at their discretion.
“The legal requirements for school boards are set out in the Education and Training Act 2020 and require schools to consult with their community every two years on their health curriculum. This includes what they incorporate under RSE.”
She said that, under the act, schools had to inform their school communities about the content of their health curriculums and ascertain their wishes about how they should be implemented.
The RSE background information provided to Stanford notes there is no requirement as to what this consultation process looks like.
Ministry of Education curriculum centre hautū (leader) Ellen MacGregor-Reid said the consultation was an excellent opportunity for parents and caregivers to understand more about a school’s RSE programme and to provide their views.
“Parents and caregivers can also write to the school to withdraw their young person from all or any part of RSE.”
MacGregor-Reid said good communication between homes and schools helped to ensure the importance of topics such as RSE was highlighted and that misinformation could be clarified.
The ministry has not taken any legal action against those sharing incorrect information or doctored images online.
