NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was among the speakers at a 'March for Education' rally on the lawn of Queen's Park, Saturday.
Several groups organized the rally to oppose the Ford government's controversial decision to scrap the updated sex-education curriculum and reinstate the 1998 version.
Politicians and teacher groups say the 1998 curriculum doesn't reflect the reality of a teenager's life in 2018 and doesn't accurately reference cyber safety, consent or gender identity.
Horwath, who addressed the crowd, has called the move ``reprehensible and irresponsible.''
"It's only because Mr. Ford is returning favours to Tanya Granic-Allen and to Charles McVety," she told CP24. "Radical, extremist, right-wing social conservatives who don't represent or show what the people of Ontario - I think - believe, when it comes to keeping our kids safe."
Horwath was asked if she believes teachers should keep teaching the 2015 curriculum regardless when school returns in September.
"[Educators] are obligated to follow the directives of the Ministry of Education and the school boards, but I know that many educators are talking about things like the charter of rights and freedoms, human rights laws, safety and all of those things. And they're going to do their best to protect our kids."
"It's shameful, though, that on a patchwork basis, educators [and] teachers are going to have to try to cobble together something to keep our kids safe, when that's the responsibility of the premier of this province," she added.
Also in attendance was Glen Canning, father of Rehtaeh Parsons - the 17-year-old girl who took her own life in April 2013 after being raped and bullied.
"My concern really is, to repel a curriculum that talks about consent, respect, healthy boundaries and healthy relationships - I do believe that would have made a huge difference in my daughter's life, and I believe it would make a huge difference in combatting the statistics around combatting sexual violence in Ontario."
Premier Doug Ford says people across Ontario will be consulted before a new sex-ed curriculum is drafted, but Horwath is wondering why he didn't leave the current curriculum alone while he was doing that.
"The reality is, they could have done things differently," she said. "They could have said 'well, we're going to leave the curriculum in place and while that continues to be in place, we'll do some further consultation' if that's what this is really all about - but it isn't."
- With files from the Canadian Press and CP24