BBB leader wants to scrap sex education "madness"; Interest group, teachers unnerved

BBB leader Caroline van der Plas wants to get rid of what she called, "all the craziness that children are told when they are five or six years old" in sexual education. In an exchange with D66 leader Rob Jetten, she made claims about the substance of existing sex education. "You know, how they have to do certain sexual acts at the bottom of the body of the other person, that isn't normal, right? We aren't going to tell children that, right?"

Sexual health expertise center Rutgers denied that children aged five and six are learning about sexual acts. A spokesperson said that the teaching materials are "age-appropriate."

The new coalition agreement from the PVV, VVD, BBB, and NSC states that targets related to sex education should be "neutral and more suited to the age of the students."

Jetten asked Van der Plas to explain her quote further. "That sentence gives the impression that we are continuously giving children non-neutral education. Why was it necessary to write it that way?"

Van der Plas responded, "Because we think that it should stay as 'normal' sex education." She added that she was shocked when she personally learned about sexual acts for the first time. She said she did not want to know that when she was 11 or 12. "Let alone when you're five."

Jetten thinks Van der Plas is spreading unproven rumors and nonsense. "Sexual education at Dutch schools has been very professional for years." There has been more attention to various sexual orientations and identities in the last few years. He added that substandard sex education which is not comprehensive also leads to unsafe situations.

VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius initially stayed out of the discussion but got involved later. She emphasized that her party fought hard for children to learn about diversity and that teachers do that "in good conscience."

She had been annoyed about the atmosphere around the discussions, and warned that the "words we use, the images we conjure up" are important.

Yeşilgöz-Zegerius reacted furiously to a comment from far-right FVD leader Thierry Baudet about what he called LGBTQIA+ propaganda at primary schools. "I will always resist these types of narrow-minded ideas," he said, alleging that it is more akin to indoctrination. He complained that there are teachers doing their utmost to convince children, "you need to be able to love who you want to love, and be who you want to be."

The LGBTQIA+ interest group COC Netherlands is concerned about the coalition agreement. The parties want to change a lot of the education in schools. "The most vulnerable people will be affected by this," a spokesperson said.

The agreement states that the goals for relational and sex education should be "neutral" and "better suited to the age of the students, especially in primary school." COC Netherlands wonders what they mean by that. "Those rules currently state how you should be respectful regarding diversity. How much more neutral do you need it to be? I cannot imagine how it can be more neutral," the organization added.

COC also said, "Children should be allowed to be themselves. Everybody should learn at school that it doesn't matter who you fall in love with and whether you have two fathers, two mothers, or a father and a mother, that you shouldn't bully kids." They added that they would keep a watchful eye on whether this remains the same.

The organization is also worried about LGBTQIA+ people from other countries. "Imagine that you are fleeing from the death penalty in Iran or you are resisting the anti-gay laws in Russia, Uganda, or Ghana. You will be affected by the strict asylum policies. You lose that last little bit of support from the Netherlands. Very concerning and extraordinarily unwise."

Tamar van Gelder, who is on the board for the AOb, the largest education union in the Netherlands, does see some "positive starting points" in the coalition agreement but also fears several cuts, she said via the AOb's website.

She is referring to the cuts in higher education and science, the Research and Science Fund, and the subsidy schemes for broad transition classes and school and environment. "These cuts are unacceptable," Van Gelder added.

She is also concerned about "unnecessary interference" from the politicians when it comes to sex education. "The choices concerning this are up to the teacher," Van Gelder added. She is also worried about the consequences of research into the representativeness of interest groups.

The union CNV Onderwijs sees "a lot of nice words about education in the coalition agreement that bring up many questions." The union is very intrigued by how the new Cabinet sees the education recovery and would like to be involved in this thought process. "Empty phrases are the last thing the education sector needs right now. We will only reach our goals with actions."