The guidance to help schools in Scotland support transgender children and young people has been updated. The refreshed guidance takes account of recent court decisions while also providing greater clarity for schools on provision of toilet facilities and support for pupils.
The Education Secretary met with COSLA, ADES, and teaching unions throughout the summer as part of engagement on supporting transgender young people in schools.
As a result, Equality Impact Assessments and Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments have been completed and will be published in due course.
The Scottish Government is committed to enabling all young people to reach their full learning potential, recognising the importance of their health and wellbeing. This aim is supported through policy and legislative frameworks which support equality, equity and excellence in education.
Together, these provide the framework of support to enable all young people, including those with protected characteristics, to realise their human rights, experience equity and excellence, and to receive support for their learning.
This non-statutory guidance is framed within the legal framework of the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant education and children’s legislation.
The Equality Act 2010 places specific requirements upon education authorities, managers of grant-aided schools and proprietors of independent schools, to prevent unlawful discrimination in their schools. The protected characteristics of disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation apply in relation to schools.
The guidance document has been updated in light of the Supreme Court’s judgement in For Women Scotland Limited v Scottish Ministers, which clarified the definition of “sex” and related terms for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, and the decision in Hurley v Scottish Borders Council which clarified that primary and secondary schools are required to provide separate toilets for boys and girls.
Councils have statutory responsibility for the school estate, including provision of toilet and changing facilities.
The guidance states that it is essential that education authorities and schools consider in detail the individual needs of transgender pupils, in light of their local circumstances, school context and the need to balance the rights of all, in light of the information that they have about those matters.
And that it is not possible for the Scottish Government to provide advice on the outcomes for individual pupils as a result of these individual needs assessments as Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Government do not have the necessary information to do so.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “The Scottish Government has made clear it accepts the Supreme Court ruling and since April has been taking forward the detailed work that is necessary as a consequence of the ruling. That work is ongoing.
“The rights of all children and young people must be respected in our schools. We have brought forward updates to guidance to provide clarity and confidence to teachers and staff as they work to support the mental, physical and emotional health of transgender young people in our schools following recent significant legal and policy developments.”
Supporting Transgender Children and Young People: Guidance for schools.
