Maha Sabha says no to sex education in its schools

ACTING General Secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) Vijay Maharaj, in a media release on Monday, said including sexuality and sexual health in primary schools could interfere with Hindus' beliefs.

Maharaj said the proposal to introduce Health and Family Life into the school curriculum is an infringement of the rights and religious freedom as enshrined in the Constitution, as well as contravening the 1960 Concordat.

He added that since 2020 the government had held consultations on introducing sex education under Health and Family Life. Maharaj said there is a risk that teachers may “inadvertently raise unbridled curiosity and exploration among pre-pubescent and pubescent students,” since there are so many gender distinctions and gender fluidity.

“This is of crucial concern to us. The very training and differing attitudes of teachers in the delivery of sex education may have many parents or primary school age children feeling rather concerned of such education is not in alignment with what is being taught in the home setting.

"As a religious community therefore, we will spare no effort to ensure that these recommended religious tenets are not subverted by the avalanche of modern sexual norms and suggestions of sexual liberty as being part of the teenage experience.”

The media release comes a week after the First Wave Movement protested the sale of a book at the RIK Services Ltd chain of bookstores that told stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBT+) characters.

In his protest against the book, leader of the First Wave Movement Umar Abdullah said the book was not age-appropriate and would be used to sexually groom children. He called on the management of RIK to call the police after someone buys the book.

The sale of the book, I Am A Rainbow, by Mark Kanemura, created heated debate on social media last week, which prompted Abdullah’s protest.

In an interview with Newsday last week, Inter Religious Organisation of TT (IRO) president Pundit Lloyd Mukram Sirjoo called for the book to be banned.

“The book should be a no-no in this country. I haven’t seen it, but I have heard about it. I think we may have to call on the government to go a step further. I would support banning that book, as once a seed is planted, it could be very disruptive to our societies and communities and many of us could lose our children in the long term.”

While some erroneously argued that the book was going to be part of the school curriculum, Catholic School Board president Sharon Mangroo assured it was not, adding that the Ministry of Education’s curriculum is available for all to verify.

She said if it were part of the curriculum, “They (the books) will not be allowed in any Catholic school, and several of the other denominational boards will say the same thing.”