Paraguay sex ed curriculum welcomed
Iain Taylor
Evangelicals and other Christians are expressing strong support for Paraguay’s first national sex education curriculum, to be rolled out in 2025.
The initiative is a response to the crisis by which the country has the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy in South America, surpassed only by Venezuela. Paraguayan government figures show that, in 2023, 10,697 adolescents aged 15–19, and 405 girls aged 10–14 gave birth in the country, which has a population of under 7 million.
Christian schools shutting down following VAT changes
Nicola Laver
Weeks after the government announced VAT will be imposed on private school fees, the first independent Christian schools have begun to close doors.
Cedars Christian school in Greenock, Inverclyde, closed in September after 25 years, partly because of the VAT move. The school, catering for children aged 5–18, had also experienced a steady drop in pupils on the roll.
Sutcliffe appeal lost
Nicola Laver
Maths teacher Joshua Sutcliffe has lost his appeal against a ruling banning him indefinitely from teaching.
Sutcliffe was dismissed after deliberately failing to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns in the classroom and on TV. He had also shared with pupils his views about gay marriage and homosexuality.
The case of JR87: Faith in education?
The role and place of religion in the education system in Northern Ireland is currently under scrutiny in light of a case currently being considered by the UK Supreme Court – the case of JR87.
The case centres on a child who attended a primary school in Northern Ireland with a Christian ethos. When the child in question started repeating a prayer at home before eating, one that she had learnt at school, and began asking questions about God and religion, her parents voiced their concerns to the school, namely that the education that their daughter was receiving did not conform with their own religious or philosophical convictions.