Dr. Martin Gormley:

On behalf of Education and Training Boards Ireland, ETBI, I thank the members for their kind invitation to address them. As mentioned in our submission, we welcome the opportunity to engage and collaborate.

For the purposes of the presentation, I wish to outline the underlying characteristic spirit of the schools under ETB patronage that informs our delivery of the relationships and sexuality education, RSE, in our curriculum and the role of the boards of management of our schools in its development. Each ETB, as the patron, appoints a board of management to manage the particular school or college.

I would like to highlight the functions of the school as outlined under section 9(d) of the Education Act 1998, which defines the functions of a school as to "promote the moral, spiritual, social, and personal development of students and provide health education for them, in consultation with their parents, having regard to the characteristic spirit of the school." I believe this is a key point.

ETBs are statutory education authorities with our own corporate identity. They manage and operate community national schools, some second-level provision, education and training centres as well as a plethora of adult education and training programmes. While an ETB is the body corporate for all schools, colleges and centres established and maintained under our patronage, ETBs delegate many management functions and responsibilities to its boards of management.

The characteristic spirit and core values of ETBs are important. Our schools are State, multi-denominational schools. This has a significant impact on the core values and characteristic spirit of our sector. At primary level, with the ETB as patron, the core values of our community national schools, CNSs, are: excellence in education; multi-denominational; equality-based; and community focused. All members of our CNS boards of management receive extensive training to enable them to participate fully in their role as board of management members and to promote the core values of the schools.

There is currently a significant piece of work being carried out across ETBs at post-primary schools, and this is to enable us to clearly articulate our core values and characteristic spirits. Although this work is ongoing, we can say with confidence that all of our schools are committed to equal respect for all of our students, regardless of their faith or belief, nationality or other aspect of their identity. Our approach to the curriculum is influenced by this.

Our approach to RSE is not through any particular religious or belief lens. Therefore, RSE is embedded in social, personal and health education in the curriculum at all levels. The content of the RSE programme is delivered in an objective and critical manner that avoids any particular religious bias. In line with our core values and characteristic spirit, we believe that all children and young people have a right to a high quality, holistic and inclusive RSE. The ETB position, as communicated to the boards of management of our schools, is that RSE is about relationships, emotions and well-being. This has been central to our roll-out of well-being within the context of the new junior cycle. This holistic approach considers not only the sexual health of young people, but does so by informing them in a holistic, balanced and factual way.

ETBs also have designated schools under its remit. They manage these community colleges under what we call a model agreement. This is an ETB school where the management of the school is governed by a specific agreement between the ETB - formerly the VEC - and a co-trustee, possibly the local diocese or a religious congregation or other recognised school patron.

The model agreement refers to the agreement between the ETB and the co-trustee – an agreement that as well as giving the co-trustee a role in the management of the school, gives the co-trustee a role in determining the school’s characteristic spirit. This is consistent with the Education Act 1998.

While designated model agreement colleges have a co-trustee, the ETB is the patron. In regard to this type of designate school, that is, a community college, the characteristic spirit can have some impact in terms of the methods chosen to deliver aspects of the RSE programme. It may also have a bearing on what resources are chosen to assist delivery. However, designated schools do not cherry-pick or omit aspects of the RSE programme.

It is important that the board of management within non-designated schools communicate and consult with the key stakeholders about the RSE policy. They include students, parents, teachers, school management and, in the case of community colleges, the co-trustee. These stakeholders have much to contribute to ensuring a successful and highly effective RSE programme is implemented in a school. The characteristic spirit of a school should not preclude children and young people in any way from acquiring the key messages within an RSE programme.

An extensive training programme to board of management members has been delivered by a cascade model through the ETBI structures. This is to help members to carry out their role within the boards of management effectively. It is useful to highlight that the quality assurance aspect of the RSE programme is the responsibility of the Department of Education and Skills, through its inspectorate. Quality assurance is possibly through subject inspection. In this regard, I refer to SPHE. There is a robust process. It is also addressed within the management, leadership and learning aspect of the whole-school evaluation. The board of management is central to this inspection.

The review of RSE by the committee is welcomed by ETBI. We very much look forward to seeing the deliberations and findings positively influencing the outcomes of the overall review process. It is important to ensure the review of the RSE curriculum will identify the changes necessary to meet the needs of young people in a very much changing Ireland.