Brazil's president and his senior officials have vowed to revise school textbooks to remove references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women.

Jair Bolsonaro has also said he wants the military to take over some public schools, as part of what teachers believe is a "nonsensical" approach to education reform.

“One of the goals to get Brazil out of the worst positions in international education rankings is to combat the Marxist rubbish that has spread in educational institutions,” Mr Bolsonaro tweeted on the eve of his inauguration last month.

Mr Bolsonaro, who once declared “I’m homophobic, with pride”, has further pledged to review the content of the country’s national high school exam to remove questions on gender or LGBT movements.

He made the announcement in a YouTube video after seeing a question from last year’s exam on a “secret dialect used by gays and transvestites”, called Pajuba, which mixes Portuguese and West African languages. It is mostly used in Afro-Brazilian religions but has also been adopted by the Brazilian LGBT community.

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any more questions like this,” the far-right leader said.

Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Show all 8 1 /8 Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency A man holds an inflatable figure of jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as supporters of far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro celebrate in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, after the former army captain won Brazil's presidential election AFP/Getty Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Supporters of the left-wing presidential candidate for the Workers Party (PT), Fernando Haddad, react in Rio AFP/Getty Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Police officers patrol the streets during a gathering of supporters of the left-wing presidential candidate for the Workers Party AFP/Getty Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Fernando Haddad, presidential candidate of Brazil's leftist Workers Party (PT), is kissed by his wife Ana Estela Haddad Reuters Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency epa07128316 Supporters of Socialist candidate Fernando Haddad react after he was defeated by far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 28 October 2018. With 99.4 percent of ballots counted, Bolsonaro won the second round of the elections with 55.1 percent of the votes, compared to 44.9 percent obtained by Fernando Haddad, successor of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and candidate of the PT, or Workers Party. EPA/JULIO CESAR GUIMARAES JULIO CESAR GUIMARAES EPA Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Supporters of the left-wing presidential candidate for the Workers Party (PT), Fernando Haddad, react in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil's presidential election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 28, 2018. - Far-right former army captain Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil on Sunday, beating leftist opponent Fernando Haddad in a runoff election after a bitter and polarized campaign. Official results gave the controversial president-elect 55.18 percent of the vote with more than 99.7 percent of the ballots counted. (Photo by Daniel RAMALHO / AFP)DANIEL RAMALHO/AFP/Getty Images DANIEL RAMALHO AFP/Getty Images Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Supporters of far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, celebrate in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, after the former army captain won Brazil's presidential election, according to official results that gave him 55.7 percent of the vote, on October 28, 2018. - Far-right former army captain Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil on Sunday, beating leftist opponent Fernando Haddad in a runoff election after a bitter and polarized campaign. Official results gave the controversial president-elect 55.18 percent of the vote with more than 99.7 percent of the ballots counted. (Photo by Sergio LIMA / AFP)SERGIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images SERGIO LIMA AFP/Getty Images Brazil election: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Presidency Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro gather outside the Federal Police headquarters where Brazilâ€™s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is serving a prison sentence, after Bolsonaro wins the presidential race in Curitiba, Brazil October 28, 2018. REUTERS/Rodolfo Buhrer RODOLFO BUHRER REUTERS

After Mr Bolsonaro took office on 1 January, the education ministry dismantled its diversity department and published a new set of guidelines for textbook publishers that eliminated references to topics such as violence against women and sexism.

Following an outpouring of criticism, officials backtracked on the revised texts. But education minister Ricardo Velez Rodriguez nonetheless vowed in his inaugural speech to end the “aggressive promotion of the gender ideology”.

He has also said he wanted to “enter the education ministry with a flamethrower to remove Paulo Freire”, one of Brazil’s most famous educators whose ideas have had worldwide influence.

Mr Bolsonaro and other conservatives have said Freire’s legacy in schools turns students into “political militants”. Conservatives believe the late socialist intellectual's teaching methods encourage students to challenge traditional values such as family and the church.

“We are still waiting to see how, in practice, all this is going to turn out,” said Nilton Brandao, president of one of Brazil’s largest teachers’ unions, PROIFES Federacao. “Right now, it does not make any sense.”

The far-right president quickly issued an executive order to remove the concerns of the LGBT community from consideration by the country’s new human rights ministry.

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He has also strongly criticised what he calls “gender-based ideology”, calling it a threat to Brazil’s Christian values.