To date, a significant amount of progress has been made to facilitate the introduction of relationships and sexuality education — RSE — into schools. A training and support service has been established by my Department at the Drumcondra Education Centre and a national co-ordinator and an assistant co-ordinator for RSE have been appointed. All 21,000 primary teachers have completed a three day training programme in RSE and approximately 1,700 post-primary teachers have attended special training programmes. Curriculum guidelines were issued to all teachers in the context of the training programmes and a policy development pack on RSE for use by schools in preparing their policy in this area has recently been issued. Copies of an information booklet for parents on RSE have been issued to schools for dissemination to all parents throughout the country.
Support for the coming school year includes the retention of the RSE training and support service, the putting in place of a freephone helpline and the provision of seminars to assist schools and parents in the development of a school policy on RSE.
A representative sample of schools was chosen to pre-test certain aspects of the RSE programme and classroom materials as they were developed. I have arranged for officials of my Department to forward details of the schools involved to the Deputy.
Overall, there has been a favourable reaction to the introduction of RSE from both parents and teachers. All training events were evaluated as they were delivered and this allowed for concerns or difficulties raised to be addressed as training progressed. A number of teachers and some parents have expressed apprehension about the teaching of RSE in the classroom. These concerns centred mainly around the relative roles and responsibilities of parents and teachers in relation to RSE and the manner in which teachers and parents, having conscientious objections to the delivery of RSE in schools, could be accommodated.
Minimising the apprehension of teachers and parents in relation to RSE is crucial to the success of the initiative. In this context, the first task for each school is the development of a school policy on RSE which will outline how Relationships and Sexuality Education is to be delivered in the school, using a co-ordinated whole-school approach and involving extensive consultation with parents. The values inherent in the school policy should, of course, be consistent with the core values and ethos of the school and the school's programme in RSE should be developed accordingly. The majority of schools will be initiating this process early in the new school year, with a view to introducing an RSE programme during the 1997-98 school year.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is currently finalising a programme of Social Personal and Health Education — SPHE. Following its introduction, RSE will form one module of that programme.
An extensive process of consultation at national level, involving all of the Partners in Education through their membership of a special implementation group, is an important element in the introduction of RSE to schools. This implementation group, which includes the management authorities of Catholic primary and post-primary schools, continues to meet regularly.
The total cost of the training and support programme for RSE during 1996 was £1.8 million. It is estimated that the cost for 1997 will be of the order of £1.5 million.
