Labour has criticised the Department for Education’s move to drop feminism as a topic within its new politics A-level syllabus, saying the decision will harm the education of both male and female students.
In a letter to the education secretary and equalities minister, Nicky Morgan, Labour accused the government of telling students to study “the ideas of 15 different male political thinkers and just one woman”, and called on Morgan to reconsider.
“Just this week you said that you were committed to ensuring equality of opportunity is at the core of this government’s agenda so that every woman and girl has every opportunity to reach their potential,” wrote Labour’s shadow education secretary, Lucy Powell, and shadow minister for women and equalities Kate Green.
“We struggle to see how removing these topics from the curriculum helps to achieve this worthy aim.
“We also feel it is just as important to provide the space for young men to discuss the issues that can arise from gender and increase understanding of feminism, as it is for young women.”
The letter follows protests over the removal of a dedicated section on feminism and equality in the revised politics course put out to consultation by the Department for Education at the start of this month.
The draft names only one woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, in a list of liberal thinkers that includes Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who once claimed that “a woman’s education must be planned in relation to man”.
Instead, the politics of feminism appears relegated to a section on pressure groups, with the draft content suggesting “how far pressure group methods and influence have changed over time, including the suffragists and suffragettes” as a topic.
The consultation on the proposal for the AS and A-level content runs until 15 December, and campaigners and students are urging the public to oppose them.
Earlier, June Eric-Udorie launched a petition urging Morgan against approving the changes, and asking her to add more women writers and thinkers.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, took to Twitter to voice his concerns.
Just like you can't teach maths without numbers, you can't teach politics without women. This must be rethought: https://t.co/xqpdvkHxnJ
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) November 20, 2015
Powell and Green said they were unhappy that the Department for Education had justified the move on the grounds of giving more choice to schools.
“It strikes us as odd that the department is content for this freedom not to extend to requiring students to know and understand the ideas of 15 different male political thinkers, and just one woman,” they wrote.
“As a result, the decision to drop these topics comes with the real risk of sending a message to the next generation that government thinks issues of equality are not a priority.
“We’re calling on you now to reconsider and reinstate these vitally important topics in the final draft.”
A spokeswoman for the department said that feminism would still be studied within A-level sociology – a subject far more popular among female than male pupils.
“We want schools to highlight the issues faced by women from all walks of life and ages in history, including the work of key female political thinkers within the ideologies covered and in UK and global politics,” she said. “We are carrying out a consultation on politics A-level, and as always we will listen carefully to the views of the sector.”
Last year there were nearly 14,000 entries for politics A-levels compared with more than 30,000 for sociology – including 23,000 entries by women.
The current A-level syllabus includes a dedicated section on feminism and ethnicity. Last year’s AQA politics and government A-level paper asked candidates: “Explain the term patriarchy in the context of feminism,” and to discuss the idea: “Legislation has failed to deliver equality of outcomes in respect of gender and ethnicity.”
After the consultation is concluded it will be up to the examination boards to submit papers for approval by Ofqual, the exam regulator. The boards may choose to include specific questions on feminism within optional sections on political ideologies.
