Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 November 2020
532. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education if the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, primary and post-primary development groups for relationship and sexuality education have begun meeting; and the number of meetings that have taken place to date. [38862/20]
View answerAccess to RSE is an important right for students. Schools have a responsibility to provide for this vital aspect of education to young people. Importantly, a school’s RSE programme should be planned in consultation with parents.
The NCCA conducted a thorough and transparent review, and published its report, “Report on the Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in primary and post-primary Schools” on 11th December 2019.
The Report was developed on foot of extensive consultation which was conducted between June 2018 and March 2019.
The NCCA report makes a number of recommendations. This includes primarily the development of a single integrated curriculum for RSE and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) in schools.
Both the relevant primary and post primary development groups have met twice, first on the 20th of October and then on the 11th of November. They will meet again before Christmas and meetings are scheduled for 2021 at a similar pace.
The immediate task being addressed by the groups is the development of interim guidance material for SPHE and RSE across primary and post-primary. These support materials will be made available in the form of an online toolkit. In addition, the groups will be doing some preparatory work in advance of beginning the work of updating the curriculum. The curriculum development work will begin with Junior Cycle in early 2021.
