Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with that issue shortly. The Oireachtas has always left it to the NCCA.

I have spoken to many youth groups and local authority representatives, North and South, and I made a speech at a recent post-primary student conference in Newry, which was attended by other Members. They highlighted the discretionary time available at both primary and second level. Learning for life is just as important for me and for them as maths, English or other languages. I concur with them that discretionary time, particularly at primary level, has focused for the past number of years on improving numeracy and literacy. Every day, 50 minutes is set aside to call the roll yet there are only 30 minutes for SPHE and RSE at primary level. The clear message from pupils is that this time needs to be increased. The Minister has said that the NCCA will examine RSE and the resources being provided to it, but I am also interested in how much discretionary time is allocated.

The review of RSE should be carried out sooner rather than later. I ask the Minister to outline a timeframe for the implementation of actions to address the myriad issues affecting our young population. Students at the conference I mentioned also said they were more comfortable speaking to an external coach rather than dealing with their teachers. In an article published by Margaret Nohilly of Mary Immaculate College, entitled, Sexuality in the Context of Relationships and Sexuality Education, she says there are huge challenges facing schools. She has called for the teaching of RSE as part of the wider context of SPHE to include teaching children from the earliest age that there are different types of sexual relationship, including homosexuality.

In my teaching experience the family make-up has changed dramatically and that needs to be identified from a very early stage.

The availability of pornography to children as young as ten or 11 years has been referred to. It has contributed to a climate of lack of respect and muddied the waters on the issue of consent. These issues need to be included in any new curriculum in an age-appropriate manner. We need to promote healthy, positive sexual expression and relationships.

Currently, the upskilling of teachers is being provided for by the Professional Development Service for Teachers, PDST. We need to see how effective the continuing professional development opportunities are and how many are availing of these courses. It is vital that the teacher training colleges make changes to their modules in order that new entrants to the system will be fully equipped to teach all of them, including relationships and sexuality education, RSE. Upskilling should be mandatory, particularly for those coming into the secondary school system. There should be specialist courses for teachers to deal specifically with the areas to which I have referred, including RSE.

It is 19 years since the Department introduced the primary school curriculum. It had great strengths, but in the intervening years of reviews, evaluation and research, not to mention the technological advances of mobile phones, the Internet and instant communication, we have been presented with many challenges and need to enhance and improve the curriculum. Teachers constantly speak about curriculum overload. There is a need for resources, toolkits and further assistance. The national strategy, as referred to, has been to improve numeracy and literacy, but this has led to a lack of focus on learning life skills. Any new RSE programme to encompass the changes in a modern society needs to be mandatory, with adequate time allocated, even if it means using up what is currently discretionary time. We need to develop the child as a whole and I hope changes to the curriculum will happen now, not later.

In my time as chairman of the old North Eastern Health Board the board enlisted teachers to look at all of the issues relating to learning for life, whether smoking or mental health. The programmes are widely available to be adapted across the world. There was a programme related to healthy eating called Bí Folláin in the Mid-Western Health Board region. When people went to use it in other health board areas, they were told that it was subject to copyright. The reality is that endless amounts of programmes could be delivered and modified to suit the Irish curriculum if an effort was made. I do not believe there has been a sincere effort made to reform the curriculum in those 20 years with regard to learning for life.

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