Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
166. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education the person or body that produced the homophobic materials recently removed from post-primary school teaching resources; the person or body that made the decision to include the materials as teaching resources; the actions she will take against those responsible; and the steps she has taken to ensure there can be no repeat of this. [57319/21]
View answerThe development of Relationships and Sexuality Education, Post Primary Junior Cycle' (1998) and 'Resource materials for Relationships and Sexuality Education, Post-Primary Senior Cycle’ (1999) was co-ordinated by the RSE Training Support Service for Schools. This service, with responsibility for supporting the implementation of RSE in primary and post-primary schools nationally, was set up in October 1995. The resources were based on the interim curriculum and guidelines for Relationships and Sexuality Education developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
In April 2018, the then Minister for Education and Skills Mr. Richard Bruton T.D. asked the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to undertake a major review of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools across all stages of education to ensure that it is fit for purpose and meets the needs of young people today in modern Ireland. The NCCA advises the Department and Minister in relation to the curriculum to be taught in schools.
The Final Report on the Review of RSE in Primary and Post-primary Schools was published by the NCCA in December, 2019.
Following on from the publication of this report, the NCCA has established two development groups, one for primary and one for post-primary, to oversee the work in this area and support the development of guidance material for schools. The immediate focus of the work is on creating support materials for teachers for publication online as part of the Interim Guidance Toolkit. The toolkit's purpose is to support effective teaching and learning of SPHE/RSE linked to the current curriculum. This work is progressing well including sections of the toolkit (a portal repository of teaching and learning resources linked to the Primary SPHE Curriculum, the SPHE Junior Cycle Short Course and Senior Cycle SPHE Framework).
The resources are no longer used in continuing professional development (CPD) training which the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) provides to teachers, and clearly do not reflect the inclusive standards and ethos which the education system seeks to uphold. The team of advisors and associates involved in RSE CPD were instructed prior to the beginning of the current school year that the resources in question were not to be referenced, promoted or advocated and that at every juncture teachers should be directed to the new resources in the NCCA toolkits. The NCCA resources section has been superseded by resource portals which can be found at www.pdst.ie/post-primary/health-wellbeing/sphe and on the NCCA SPHE toolkits at www.curriculumonline.ie . The Council has been collaborating with the PDST, Junior Cycle for Teachers and the Health Service Executive to see how these resources can be used to support CPD provision in this area.
All interested parties, including the Department will endeavour to ensure that resources for teachers are reviewed on an ongoing basis so that they are kept relevant, aligned with the curriculum and meet teachers' and students' needs in today's world.
