Ms Fidelma Joyce:

There are a few points to make regarding the compulsory aspect of CSPE. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child speak of a state's need to provide education that strengthens human rights. The committee on the convention on the rights of the child went even further and looked at what this involves. It said it is about more than knowing the facts about human rights and is about living and experiencing human rights in one's daily life. A big part of a child's daily life is the child's school life. CSPE is a very innovative programme, although it has limitations. We have always been concerned that it is not allocated sufficient hours, that there are timetabling issues, and we have always been concerned by the lack of teacher support.

That said, CSPE is an explicit example in the curriculum where every student has the opportunity not only to learn about human rights and equality, but to experience them through a creative process - the action project. This project is unique to CSPE among junior cycle subjects. CSPE is an excellent opportunity for young people to engage and develop skills and to apply these skills in their daily lives.

We have introduced a number of different guidelines, such as Traveller culture guidelines, intercultural guidelines and the homophobic bullying guidelines. All of these guidelines are wonderful, but they need a pitch or a place where they can be teased out and explored. CSPE provides an excellent opportunity for young people to deal with these issues in a human rights framework, and develop the skills to confront racism and prejudice. We have seen through our Express Yourself initiative how students are able to deal with these topics and relate a human rights standard to an issue that affects not only themselves but others in the community, such as their parents or grandparents. It is very important that this is a core subject in order that every student can benefit from a human rights framework.

In respect of the provision of holistic education, we support the fact that the framework is offering a more creative approach. There is potential with short courses, but we do not see CSPE as a short course. We see it as a compulsory part of the curriculum where we could have electives that would allow a student to go deeper on a human rights issue, development issue or a sustainable environmental issue. There are options where the short courses can be supportive to a core course, which is what CSPE is.

We see CSPE, social, personal and health education, SPHE, and PE as intrinsic to a person's mental and physical well-being, and to the development of his or her personality as an active citizen in our society. We believe CSPE should be a core subject as a result.