As religious leaders representing millions of families across SA, we stand united in our commitment to the wellbeing of our children and the future of our nation. We recognise and appreciate the government’s efforts to improve early childhood development (ECD), including increasing access, enhancing infrastructure and raising educational standards. These steps are commendable and essential to fostering a generation of informed, capable, and compassionate citizens.
However, we must express our deep concern over the introduction of gender pedagogy in ECD. According to the department of basic education, the early childhood education toolkit aims to “un-gender and re-gender” children. While respect for diversity is a fundamental value that we wholeheartedly support, we strongly believe that imposing complex and contested theories about gender at such a young age is neither appropriate nor necessary.
The families we represent form the bedrock of our nation. They are deeply concerned about both the content and direction of this curriculum. As faith leaders, we are invested in the moral and spiritual development of children, understanding that the family is the primary place where values are instilled.
For over a year, we have engaged with the department on this matter, yet remain alarmed by the government’s unwillingness to engage meaningfully with families and faith-based communities on an issue that profoundly impacts the upbringing of children.
The proposed content is deeply problematic because it promotes a perspective that stands in stark contrast to the religious and ethical frameworks upheld by millions of South African families.
As faith communities, we are not merely requesting to be heard. We are asserting our right to educate our children in accordance with our deeply held beliefs, which include our perspectives on human dignity, the purpose of life and the moral and spiritual ideals that shape our homes and our communities.
The state has no right to impose an ideology that undermines these values or disregards the voices of parents and faith communities. The introduction of gender pedagogy at the ECD level is not a neutral educational initiative — it is an ideologically driven intervention that touches on fundamental convictions about family, identity, and human dignity. While we support teaching children to respect all individuals regardless of background or identity, we reject the notion that gender ideology should be embedded in early education.
Children should be nurtured with kindness, empathy, and understanding, not subjected to social theories that are largely untested in long-term educational and developmental contexts. This toolkit — and the broader approach taken by the department — is deeply divisive and undermines social cohesion by alienating millions of South Africans whose deeply held beliefs are being dismissed.
Our children are not blank slates for ideological experimentation, nor should they be used as test subjects for theories lacking rigorous scientific scrutiny or broad societal consensus
Our children are not blank slates for ideological experimentation, nor should they be used as test subjects for theories lacking rigorous scientific scrutiny or broad societal consensus.
Education should be grounded in well-established pedagogical principles, not in speculative social constructs that may well have unforeseen psychological, emotional, and developmental consequences. By introducing such contentious material at the formative stages of childhood the government is failing to act in the best interests of our children. Instead, it is taking a reckless gamble with the minds and identities of our nation’s youngest learners without ensuring that this approach aligns with the needs and beliefs of South African families.
There is a growing and troubling trend in which the department assumes it knows better than parents and communities, imposing foreign perspectives on family, gender and sexuality without genuine consultation. SA faces urgent educational and social challenges, including gender-based violence and teenage pregnancy.
However, the department's imposed “solutions” continue to fail because they are not rooted in the lived realities of South African families or informed by the voices of the communities in which children are raised. Instead of working alongside parents to find contextually relevant and effective approaches, it bypasses them, treating the state as the primary authority over children’s development.
This undermines the fundamental principle that parents — not the state — are the natural guardians of their children, with the state stepping in only when parents evidently fail in their duty.
Any policy that disregards the role of families will alienate the very people it seeks to serve and waste taxpayer money. Families have a right to question and challenge the curriculum, especially when it shapes their children’s understanding of fundamental concepts of identity and family.
We therefore call for a transparent and meaningful consultation process that ensures South African families are heard and respected in curriculum decisions. It is imperative that the government engages with faith leaders, parents, and community organisations to create an educational framework that aligns with the values held by South African families.
Studies consistently show that when families are actively involved in a child’s education, academic and social outcomes improve significantly. In a country already struggling with educational shortcomings, the department must prioritise strategies that genuinely serve the best interests of our children.
Our children are our greatest treasure. It is our duty to ensure they are protected, nurtured, and educated in ways that honour their dignity, our shared values, and the fundamental rights of parents.
We call on the department to engage in open, transparent, and inclusive dialogue that fully involves the families and communities who are raising the next generation of South Africans.
• Co-authored by the United Ulama Council of SA (UUCSA), the Inkululeko Yesizwe Association (IYA), and the South African Community of Faith-based Fraternals and Federations (SACOFF).
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