Scotland makes history
June is the month of pride throughout the world, and, although this year cannot be celebrated as usual, new reasons to rejoice come from Scotland: the implementation of a law that includes in the curriculum of the country's students the teaching of the history and rights of the LGBTQ+ collective.
With this measure, Scotland becomes the first country in the world in offering their children and young people this type of content, delving into a work that has been carried out for years in many of the country's centers and turning it into a cross-cutting subject for all subjects.
"We want to show the good practices that exist in schools that already include LGBTQ + history," explains the Scottish Department of Education to Traveler.es. "This work will further embed LGBTQ+ education across the curriculum, rather than in specific lessons, in order to improve the learning environment for all children and youth. The implementation of the LGBTQ+ Task Force recommendations will allow educators provide LGBTQ+ awareness, understanding and learning in any subject within the curriculum".
The working group to which they refer, promoted by the NGO Time for Inclusive Education, aims to work to end homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in schools.
Furthermore, according to the Scottish Government, LGBTQ+ history and rights are an area that students constantly ask to be strengthened on the resume. "As we do not take a prescriptive approach to the Scottish curriculum, the end results of this work will enable schools and individual education authorities to develop and deliver relevant and engaging classes that meet the needs of all students", explain the Ministry's experts.
GREAT WELCOME
With the current configuration of the Spanish Parliament, in which one of the groups, Vox, proposes to implement a 'parental pin' with which parents can decide if children should attend activities on affective-sexual diversity, it does not seem easy for a measure of this type would go ahead with ease.
In Scotland, however, the reception of this law, which was approved in 2018 but is now being implemented, was massive. " There was an overwhelming consensus within the Scottish Parliament regarding the recommendations made by the LGBTQ+ Task Force, and we have also obtained a positive response from the Scots . However, we know that much remains to be done to further strengthen Scotland's reputation as one of the most progressive countries in Europe in terms of LGBTQ+ equality. While we are currently focused on responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are committed to continuing this work and building on our strong track record in this area."
"We believe it's important to support everyone to reach their full potential, and it's vital that the curriculum is as diverse as the young people learning in our schools. All children have the right to receive an education that reflects the world we live in and the world we want to live in ", they conclude from the Ministry.