Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 April 2014
6. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he is considering reviewing the RSE programme schools are obliged to deliver to ensure what is delivered is based on evidence and best practice. [16441/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraRelationships and sexuality education, RSE, is one component of social, personal and health education, SPHE, in the existing junior cycle. As part of the new junior cycle student awards, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, is finalising its specification for a new short course in SPHE. The development of the specification, including consultations and reviews of existing data, is, therefore, based on evidence and best practice. The SPHE short course will be available to schools from September 2014.
Circular 20/14 clarifies the position for schools in respect of SPHE and other subject areas for the 2014-15 school year. Schools may choose to incorporate the SPHE short course into their junior cycle programmes either for certification purposes or not for certification. They may also choose not to offer the new short course and continue instead to offer the existing SPHE syllabus.
There are no plans to review the content of the RSE curriculum at primary level or at senior cycle.
RSE is part of the curriculum and schools are obligated to implement it, but the curriculum sets out that the programme must be delivered within the ethos and value system of each school. While this is all well and good and it is progressive that post-primary schools are implementing RSE programmes at junior and senior cycle, that it is being implemented on an ethos basis means that some LGBT students may feel isolated or may not be getting the information they require. One of the downfalls is that the programme is not based on life experiences. What criteria are used when deciding on who to invite to a school to discuss these matters? We have heard recent reports of people visiting schools to speak about abortion instead of, for example, contraception or LGBT issues, which are relevant to students.
I am aware of those reports. These concerns have also been raised by a number of people in my party and other parties in the House. I welcome this question.
Notwithstanding the independence and ethos of each school, I have been informed about the invitations to external visitors and agencies that are issued by such schools. According to my note, all programmes and events delivered by visitors and external agencies must use appropriate evidence-based methodologies with clear educational outcomes. Such programmes are best delivered by those specifically qualified to work with young people for whom the programmes are designed.
In the management notes to the schools in question, it is strongly recommended that parents should be consulted and made aware of any such people or agencies visiting classrooms and schools. This would address the concerns of parents who may have had no choice but to send their child or children to a particular school.
The miscellaneous legislation I will be bringing forward both here and in the Upper House fairly soon will provide for a parents' charter that will strengthen the communications and rights of parents in this and other matters.
I welcome that. I particularly want to focus on the LGBT sector. If we allow schools to teach sex education based on a particular ethos or value, students from an LGBT background or community will effectively be silenced or whitewashed. It is just not right in this day and age, so it will have to be addressed. The Minister has undertaken a lot of work on homophobic bullying and I compliment him on that. Great strides have been made in that regard. However, I do not want to see all the work the Department has done to tackle homophobic bullying being undone by schools where LGBT issues are effectively whitewashed from sex education.
I thank the Deputy for his concern and his comments, which I share. I propose to ask the Department to raise this matter in its regular meetings with the joint management bodies. Those are the groups responsible in post-primary schools, but we can also do it with the Catholic Primary School Managers Association or CPSMA.
