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There was lively discourse on social media over the past week after a screenshot of a book titled, “I am a Rainbow” began circulating. The book is available at a local bookstore and soon assumptions went viral that it was endorsed by the Education Ministry and would be introduced in schools.
Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Education Board of Management (CEBM) Sharon Mangroo told The Catholic News that under the 1960 Concordat, “In denominational schools, no books or apparatus to which the denominational authority formally objects, will be introduced or imposed.”
Mangroo said the Ministry has always maintained this and regularly consults with denominational Boards of education about changes to the curriculum.
The Health and Family Life Education curriculum has always been a focus of interest, but she said there are other areas of religious significance such as the Visual and Performing Arts.
“The onus is of course on the Boards to advise, monitor and support their schools on the respective positions with regard to all aspects of the written and implemented school curriculum,” Mangroo said. The CEBM always actively responds to consultation requests by the MoE and provides comprehensive feedback.
Regarding concerns about a questionnaire for the TT National Learning Assessment (TTNLA), Mangroo commented, “There are fears, based on the Barbados experience of inappropriate questions being included.”
Last October, a “pre-test in Computer Science” administered to Form One Students in Barbados caused a furor when it was revealed that children were being asked personal questions including if they thought about suicide or wished they were of the opposite sex.
The Barbados Education Ministry and the Inter-American Development Bank, under whose auspices the test was presented, subsequently apologised.
The TT questionnaire to Standard One and Three pupils covers demographics; family background e.g., how many parents do you live with, how many people live in your house; Home Resources e.g., how many books are in your home, how often are you absent from school. Questions also cover School Climate—children are asked to indicate if they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements such as ‘I usually work hard in my school’, Social and Emotional Learning Skills, and Attitudes about Learning, Mathematics and Reading.
No change to curriculum
Over the long weekend persons were incensed that I am a Rainbow by Mark Kanemura, described online as a professional dancer, LGBTQIA+ advocate, and social media star, and Let’s Talk About Sex by Robie H Harris and Michael Emberley was targeting children.
A release issued by the Education Ministry on Friday, June 16 titled, ‘No change in the Health and Family Life Education Curriculum’ said claims of a change were “entirely inaccurate”.
The release also referred to “several unsubstantiated allegations” circulating on social media, linking routine parental consent forms for the conduct of the TTNLA with consent for medical procedures to be carried out on students.
“This claim is completely false, and flies in the face of common knowledge about the permissions required by medical institutions for the conduct of medical procedures on children.”
The Ministry was referring to a TikTok post that a meeting was held at Rosary Boys’ RC concerning gender rights and consent forms for parents to sign. These forms were alleged to give teachers the right to “look at children to see who is in need of a gender change”. The post was quickly dismissed by the school’s PTA as “fake news”.
The Ministry stated these attempts to incite unwarranted panic among the population are ill-conceived, and “must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
The release informed that any changes to be made to school curricula or operational procedures are widely publicised on the Ministry’s official social media platforms. It advised the public to exercise caution “when presented with spurious and unsubstantiated information in the public domain.”
The Ministry’s release did not stop a petition circulating in the name of ‘LADYD Moses’ on Wednesday, June 21 calling on persons to “ban and oppose the MOE book You are a Rainbow, Too! from schools in Trinidad and Tobago”.
There was both support and criticism from the public toward RIK Services Ltd, which is selling I am a Rainbow. It issued a statement Wednesday stating it does not discriminate and serves all. It noted the “robust discussion” on the items it stocked.
Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly had to reiterate there were no changes to the curriculum or HFLE taught in schools. “Principals were reminded this term that there was to be no change to their school’s booklist and so the question that arises now of books being introduced in September onto the
school booklist, that is simply not true,” she told the Trinidad Guardian Wednesday.
The Minister said of the controversial books, “These books that have been seen in RIK or wherever they have nothing to do with the school booklist.”
