In a move that has stirred international debate, British schoolchildren are now permitted to use gender-neutral pronouns during their GCSE French lessons, a decision that has sparked controversy with France.
The exam board Pearson Edexcel has introduced these changes to make language lessons more ‘inclusive’, a move that some have described as ‘outrageous’.
This adjustment to the curriculum is noteworthy because gender-neutral pronouns are not traditionally used in the French language.
Under the new guidelines, the French pronouns ‘il’ (he) and ‘elle’ (she) are being supplemented with ‘iel’, a newly coined neutral pronoun, along with ‘iels’ for a neutral plural form.
Additionally, students are now permitted to employ ‘alternative spellings’ and incorporate symbols such as full stops, asterisks, colons, and underscores to reflect gender neutrality in their writing.
Several left-leaning councils and universities have already embraced this ‘inclusive’ language approach.
But the new guidance, which is supported by the LGBT charity Stonewall, has been branded ‘unacceptable’ and ‘outrageous’.
Lucy Marsh, a spokesperson for the Family Education Trust, told the Daily Mail: ‘It is completely unacceptable for Pearson to promote an LGBTQ+ agenda to children.
Pupils will be allowed to use ‘alternative spellings’ and add full stops, asterisks, colons and underscores to words that express their gender neutrality (File image)
Jean-Michel Blanquer, The former French education minister (pictured), said the exam board’s gender-neutral guidance was ‘absurd’
‘The fact that these made-up “inclusive” words are not even used in France is a sign of how outrageous this is – proving yet again why Stonewall should not be allowed to influence education.
‘Considering that many Government departments have severed links with Stonewall, it’s unfathomable that the Education Secretary has not issued guidance to ensure that external providers also cut ties with the organisation.
‘The Government needs to get a grip and ensure that school content is not used to indoctrinate or sexualise children.
‘This is also an example of how gender ideology has crept into the whole curriculum, not just RHSE lessons.
‘A public inquiry is needed to examine how this pernicious ideology has been allowed to erode child safeguarding.’
And the former French education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, blasted the changes as ‘absurd’.
He told The Telegraph: ‘The use of “iel” does not correspond to any widespread usage among the French population.’
French president Emmanuel Macron has himself previously rejected inclusive language.
And L’Académie française, which is responsible for defining the French language through the creation of its dictionary, said in 2017 that gender neutral pronouns were ‘harmful to the practice and comprehension of the French language’.
An editor of the Larousse dictionary, Bernard Cerquiglini, said the changes were ‘nonsense’.
He said: ‘These militant pronouns are used by people who want the French language to neutralise the opposition between masculine and feminine. But you don’t find them in ordinary spoken or written French.’
The new guidance will come into force for GCSE exams being sat this summer after being drafted in 2024.
The exam board said it will recognise ‘students’ use of gender-neutral nouns, whether indicated by adding punctuation, asterisks or using alternative spellings’.
And the guidance for German and Spanish GCSE lessons has also been updated.
The German word for female drivers, ‘Fahrerinnen’, can include ‘alternative’ punctuations including colons, underscores and capital letters in the middle of the word to demonstrate gender neutrality.
Meanwhile Spanish GCSE students will be able to replace the word for parents, ‘padres’, with the inclusive phrases ‘xadres’ or ‘mapadres’.
A Pearson spokesman told The Telegraph: ‘Gender-neutral pronouns are not required as part of Pearson Edexcel GCSE French, German, or Spanish.
‘The specifications require students to learn and be assessed only on the standard masculine and feminine forms used in these languages.
‘The vocabulary list has over 1,750 terms and reflects the language students will encounter in everyday life, including references to men and women, him and her, boys and girls, mothers and fathers.
‘The specifications also include guidance for teachers on how student responses are considered in assessment. This does not add to the required content.’
‘Our membership of Stonewall ended over two years ago.’
A spokesperson for the Department for Education told the Mail: ‘Our expectations are clear: gender identity is an area of significant debate.
‘Schools should not endorse any particular view or teach it as fact – including the idea that all people have a gender identity.’
The Daily Mail has approached Pearson and Stonewall for further comment.
