The Programme for Government states that ‘this Government will develop inclusive and age appropriate curricula for RSE and SPHE across primary and post-primary schools, including an inclusive programme on LGBTI+ relationships’.
For Junior Cycle, a revised Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) specification, which includes Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) has been approved by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), and is currently being considered within my Department. The intention is that it will be introduced in schools this coming September with revised specifications to follow at Senior Cycle and Primary.
The Junior Cycle specification follows on from the extensive public consultation which took place from July to October 2022. The report of this consultation has been published on the website of the NCCA.
For the draft Junior Cycle specification, the published consultation report tells us that there was a strong welcome from many consultation participants for the Learning Outcome that refers to understanding the influence of pornography. It is worth noting that the report states that, in focus group meetings, both students and teachers said that pornography is having a damaging impact on young people’s understanding of relationships and needs to be discussed.
In the consultation, a number of parents expressed deep concern that teaching about pornography might promote its use. I want to state clearly that promoting the use of pornography is categorically not the aim. The aim of the proposed Learning Outcome would be to create awareness of the prevalence and influence of sexual imagery across popular culture including pornography, and help students themselves look critically at how it is influencing their own expectations and understanding. All SPHE curricula will be taught in a way that is age and stage appropriate.
In relation to the specific topics of rape and sexual violence which are referred to by the Deputy, he may wish to note that the updating of SPHE specifications is a key action within Zero Tolerance, the third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV), which was published in June.
