James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and allowing me to address the matter. The Minister for Education regrets being unable to attend the debate because she is fulfilling a long-standing commitment to speak at the annual conference of the Joint Managerial Body Secretariat of Secondary Schools.

Access to relationships and sexuality education is an important right for students. This is reflected in the programme for Government, which states the Government will develop inclusive and age-appropriate curriculums for RSE and social, personal and health education, SPHE, in primary and post-primary schools. Social, personal and health education is a mandatory curriculum subject in all primary schools and in the post-primary junior cycle, while RSE is required at all levels in schools, from primary through to the senior cycle. All schools are required to have an RSE policy that has been developed in consultation with the school community, including school management, parents, teachers and students, as appropriate. A school's programme for RSE is developed and taught in the context of the school's RSE policy. In addition, schools are required to teach all aspects of the RSE programme, including family planning, sexually transmitted infections and sexual orientation. The ethos of the school should never preclude learners from acquiring knowledge about these issues.

The NCCA was requested to conduct a review of RSE provision in our schools, focusing on a range of topics including healthy and positive sexual expression and relationships and LGBTQ+ matters. The NCCA published a report on the review of relationships and sexual education in primary and post-primary schools in December 2019. This report resulted in the NCCA establishing two development groups, for primary and post-primary, to oversee the work of the developing and updated curriculum materials in this area and supporting the development of guidance materials for schools. The immediate focus of the NCCA’s work has been on creating support materials for teachers as part of an interim guidance toolkit.This toolkit aims to support effective teaching and learning of SPHE and RSE and to deepen teachers' understanding and skills in addressing important and sensitive topics. The NCCA toolkit will be expanded in 2022 to include further age- and stage-appropriate guidance for teachers on how to address these topics within the SPHE classroom.

In tandemwith this work, preparation for the broader redeveloping and updating of the SPHE curriculum has begun. Updated curriculums will be developed for primary, the junior cycle and the senior cycle. A draft revised junior cycle specification is due to be agreed at the NCCA council in early summer, with a public consultation to follow when schools return in September. The final revised specification is due to have been completed by the end of 2022 and rolled out in schools from September 2023. In redeveloping the SPHE curriculum, the NCCA will make explicit the importance of fostering young people's self-awareness and self-esteem and developing the foundational skills and dispositions needed for building caring and healthy relationships, including respectful communication, showing empathy and appreciating difference.

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