...By Gift BADEWO for TDPel Media.
New Rules Require Schools to Record Children’s Sex as on Birth Certificate
In a move to clarify the recording of pupils’ gender identity, all state schools in England are now required to log children’s sex as recorded on their birth certificate.
This data will be sent annually to Whitehall.
The Department for Education has advised that schools should only provide options for male or female on their records, and that officials do not require information on self-described gender, although teachers may request it if they choose to.
The announcement precedes the release of new guidelines for headteachers on transgender issues, scheduled to be published during the summer term.
Heather Binning, of Women’s Rights Network, commented that, while all pupils should be treated with compassion, they welcomed the move for the protection of girls.
Department for Education’s New Guidelines
The Department for Education (DfE) acknowledged that its current data on pupils conflates the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ in a way that creates ambiguity and confusion.
Growing numbers of children identify as a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth, and institutions are seeking departmental guidance on how to record this data.
From the autumn term, schools must now record a pupil’s sex as either female or male using the common basic data set system.
Tory MP Miriam Cates stated that data is worthless if it is not based on fact.
