Punish schools that don’t teach LGBT tolerance: Dutch parliament

The vast majority of Dutch parliamentarians wants the government to punish schools who do not teach LGBT awareness and acceptance lessons. Almost the entire Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, supported the motion filed by SP parliamentarian Jasper van Dijk, NOS reports.

According to the Education Inspectorate, about 20 percent of primary- and high schools don't teach their students about sexual diversity, despite this being mandatory since 2012. The same is true for about 40 percent of the ROCs.

Van Dijk wants schools who consistently refuse to teach their students about sexual diversity to be fined or face administrative action. According to the SP MP, providing kids with this type of information contributes in the fight against discrimination.

The only parties to vote against this motion were the VVD, SGP and FvD. According to VVD parliamentarian Dilan Yesilgoz, her party does not want to act ahead of the Education Inspectorate. The VVD would also rather evaluate a curriculum as a whole than focus on one part.