A comparative analysis between the religious and comprehensive sexuality education policies in South African schools

Abstract

With the dawn of a constitutional democracy, South Africa has enacted contentious policies, such as outlawing capital punishment and legalizing same-sex marriage. Within the educational environment, the religious education (RE) and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) polices remain the most controversial to date. A comparative analysis of their overriding objectives suggests the two policies coincide in terms of their purpose (e.g. protecting the rights of religious and sexual minority groups), reform (conscientizing learners about the oppression of othered groups), and action (instilling inclusivity and diversity in religious and sexuality education). Yet, despite the two policies’ corresponding position toward oppression encountered by minorities, the analysis shows some schools privilege the implementation of one policy over another. For example, the orthodox position taken by some faith-based schools in removing the teaching of sexuality diversity, and replacing it with religious studies. On the other hand, the analysis also shows that learners from both religious and sexual minority groups (e.g. queer Muslim youth), outside of faith-based schools, may face compounded forms of oppression based on religious, gender and sexual minority status. The analysis explores this sometimes conflicting intersection of religion, gender and sexuality, while suggesting new directions for future studies in RE and CSE.