After slides from a controversial presentation containing misinformation about members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community presented to Secondary 4 students were spread online, Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) said on Monday (Jul 18) that the counsellor who made the presentation has been suspended.
The school claims that the presentation had not received prior approval and that the views it contained did not reflect those of HCI or the Ministry of Education.
“We are aware of the incident which took place during a presentation on sexuality where a staff member incorporated content outside the scope of the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Sexuality Education curriculum into his slides,” an HCI spokesman told The Straits Times.
“The views presented were the individual staff’s personal perspectives and not representative of the position of the school or MOE.”
The incident has sparked backlash, however, and activist groups, as well as some HCI alumni, are asking a lot of questions.
Slides from the presentation on sexuality, which was held on Wednesday (Jul 13), were shared on social media.
One of them, which was posted on Reddit, bears the heading “COMMUNITY HEALTH.”
It contains misinformation such as “58% of homosexuals have problems with intestinal worms” and “1 in 15 homosexuals is a pedophile.”
The counsellor who made the presentation has been reprimanded and suspended from delivering sexuality education lessons.
“We take a serious view of this incident and have met up with our students to address their concerns,” the HCI spokesperson said.
This response may not be enough, however.
One HCI alumnus, Mr Gary Lim, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday (Jul 17) that he found it “incredibly disturbing to read that blatant misinformation was presented to students at a school assembly by their student counsellor, no less, who is supposed to be someone the students turn to for proper guidance.
I feel totally disgusted and embarrassed that outright untruths (taken from a satirical account on Twitter) were cited as facts.”
Mr Lim also asked how the presentation was made without proper vetting.
In an Instagram post, @heckin.unicorn wrote, “No meaningful action appears to have been taken by the school….
We are deeply disappointed at the school’s decision to protect one of their staff members, instead of protecting the youths under their care.”
LGBTQ+ activist group Pink Dot wrote in a public statement, “Beyond the staff’s suspension, we would like to know how the school will be preventing the recurrence of such an incident.
Students deserve access to science-based sexuality education that is free from personal beliefs and biases. Counsellors and teaching staff have a professional and ethical responsibility to help our most vulnerable youth, not perpetuate further harm to their mental health.
To chalk this up to the actions of one rogue counsellor ignores systemic issues of inadequate sexuality education and the fact that schools in Singapore have repeatedly evaded accountability on matters of sexuality.”
/TISG