Vol. 565 No. 4
96 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will report on the total number of schools providing the relationships and sexuality education programme; and the steps he is taking to ensure that all school children have access to it. [11194/03]
RSE is an integral part of the social, personal and health education curriculum at primary and junior cycle post-primary level.
A survey conducted in May 2002 indicated that 50% of respondent primary schools offered the RSE programme. It is intended that every primary school will implement SPHE by September. The primary curriculum support service has organised, on a phased basis, comprehensive in-career development programmes for all teachers in SPHE.
A survey of post-primary schools in 2000 showed that 81% of post-primary schools were implementing RSE in some or all classes. A support service for SPHE up to junior cycle was established in 2000. Since then it has provided training and support to post-primary schools in all aspects of SPHE. The target is that all schools will have begun the implementation of SPHE, which will include RSE, by September. Extra training and support in the RSE element of SPHE is currently being offered to schools by the RSE support service, in conjunction with the SPHE support service.
It is the policy of the national council for curriculum and assessment to carry out a rolling review of all curricula at primary and post-primary levels. The interim curriculum guidelines for senior cycle RSE will be reviewed as part of its inclusion in the broader curriculum for SPHE at senior cycle currently in development. An evaluation of all aspects of the SPHE junior cycle programme, including RSE, is currently under way.
