Because of doubt, we decided to ask the Ministry if the pages reproduced in this earlier post were real and done with its knowledge and approval. The response:
Tēna koe Eva,
Thank you for your email of 23 August 2021 regarding the two extracts of questionnaires you have been sent that are said to be used in a girl’s school in the lower North Island.
The Ministry of Education has confirmed that there is harmful misinformation being spread on Facebook about a school’s use of the second document you have listed in their teaching programme. This is not the case, and the document itself appears to be an excerpt from a questionnaire developed by an American psychologist in the 1970s.
The Ministry of Education accepts the cultures, languages and identities, including gender, sex and sexuality identities, of all learners and is committed to supporting learners to ensure our education system delivers equitable and excellent outcomes.
In New Zealand, schools, kura and early learning services have the autonomy and flexibility to develop a local curriculum and marau ā-kura, guided by the National Curriculum. They are able to choose the resources and programmes that best meets the needs of their community of students. This means that they do not need the approval or endorsement of the Ministry when using particular resources.
When delivering health education in particular, which includes relationships and sexuality education, schools have a legal obligation to consult with their community at least every two years on their approach. This means that this learning looks different in every school, and is tailored to local community contexts and needs.
I hope this information has been helpful. Thank you again for writing.
Nāku noa, nā
Enquiries National Team | Ministry of Education ^MC
33 Bowen Street, Wellington
education.govt.nz | Follow us on Twitter: @educationgovtnz
It’s pretty clear, however, that the Ministry has no problem with the genders test sheet. For readers confused about the alleged multitude of different genders out there (and we certainly are!) this list may be of some help.
I think an apology is due to “Jeep” who questioned the the truthfulness and the implication of the original post.
A simple search on the internet to anyone capable or bothered to do a 2 minute search on the internet will find numerous postings of this story over the years going back to the 1970s e.g. https://www.uwgb.edu/UWGBCMS/media/pride-center/files/pdf/Heterosexual_Questionnaire.pdf
Perhaps it was Jeep’s challenge to “show us where this particular workbook or sheet is being used in New Zealand” was the prompt for Eva Churchman to write to MOE to express her doubts about the post and the claim from her source that it was from a girl’s school in the lower North Island. A pity that it wasn’t checked prior to posting.
1. No-one is ever due an apology if they don’t have the courage to use their real name.
2. There was nothing to suggest that the documents photographed weren’t real, even if they had been used elsewhere before.
3. We needed to find out what the stance of the Ministry is on the widespread Wokeist agenda being pushed by Labour and Green party members generally.