El Salvador drops 'gender ideology' from public school education materials

El Salvador Education Minister José Mauricio Pineda made a significant announcement on Tuesday, confirming that all education materials related to “gender ideology” have been removed from public schools in the country.

In a move signaling a shift in educational policy, the department expelled content from books and guides previously authorized by the country’s administration.

Pineda conveyed the decision to education ministry directors in a letter, outlining the directive to purge such materials from educational resources.

“It has taken care that all educational material and programming, didactic resources, plans, text and workbooks, administrative documents, websites, learning guides, multimedia objects, and other documentation related to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s daily work does not contain nor make allusion to said ideology,” stated the minister in the memo obtained by La Prensa Gráfica.

Pineda further warned that any school officials found violating the department’s directive would face legal consequences.

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The expulsion of “gender ideology” materials follows years of resistance from the education ministry to incorporate such teachings, according to Pineda.

Pineda said: “On this occasion, I allow myself to reiterate that this ministry, since the 2022 school year, established its official position surrounding all the related elements of gender ideology.

“In that sense, all the aforementioned content with this ideology has been excluded from the teaching and learning process of our students.”

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The education ministry’s decision coincided with the recent reelection of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, a conservative populist who has been vocal in his opposition to lessons related to gender identity.

During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference earlier this month, Bukele emphasized the significance of removing “gender ideology” from school curriculums, asserting that parents “have a say” in determining what their children learn, as reported by El País.

Notably, El Salvador failed to meet a deadline set by the nation’s supreme court on February 23, which ordered the creation of a gender recognition process aimed at preventing transgender discrimination, as reported by Human Rights Watch.