Vol. 401 No. 6
3 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Education the reason the AIDS Education Programme which she is informed Dáil Éireann on 31 January 1990 would be finalised by the end of the school year, has not yet been published; when it is intended to publish the programme; the status the AIDS Education Programme, published by the Roman Catholic Bishops will have in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The revision of the set of educational resource materials on AIDS has been completed. The package is being prepared for printing at present — it has gone to the printers — and it is planned to have the materials available to schools in September. Any guidance which the Catholic bishops wish to give on AIDS education is a matter for the bishops themselves.
The educational resource materials prepared by my Department make it clear that the programme should be in accordance with the school ethos and should take account of the wishes of parents.
It is great to hear that the package has been finalised and is with the printers. As we are now only six weeks from the opening of the new school year, will the Minister say when it will be in the hands of the teachers and in the schools? Will there be a programme of education for teachers in this regard? While the Minister said that AIDS education is a matter for the bishops themselves, will she define the status of their education programme in the schools? Will it be used in the schools?
I have no idea. That is a matter for individual schools. I look after my own area of responsibility, which I set out to do and which I am glad to be bringing to fruition. It involved a pilot programme in 20 schools and issuing resource material to all post-primary schools, which will be done during September. In-service courses for teachers have already been held and more will take place shortly. The resource materials will also a have a formula which schools may adopt to encourage parents to come to the meeting which I requested to be held in each school at which the whole objective of the programme will be thoroughly discussed.
I am sure the Minister recognises the vital importance of this because of the increased incidence of AIDS which will probably be the health issue of the nineties. When this programme comes back from the printers — and somebody screams on reading its contents — will the Minister give an assurance that it will not collapse and that it will go to the schools?
I welcome the Deputy's question. I have no doubt there will be reverberations but the report went out to 11 groups who have come back with their observations. Various textual amendments were made as a result of the observations but the essential aim of the resource material remains the same. I assure Deputy Mac Giolla, the House and the public that I regard this as a very serious issue which required a very clear statement of policy, which I was very glad to give.
