Mary Moran (Labour)

I even went as far as to bring the SPHE textbook to work with me today. All of the books on the curriculum are fantastic and there are some excellent publications available. I hope more time can be devoted to educating our children in the non-academic subjects. The latter is extremely important.

It is the implementation of the policies relating to SPHE which provides the key to successful teaching of the subject in schools. As already stated, I was previously a secondary school teacher. I never taught SPHE but I am of the view that it is vital that teachers of SPHE should be willing to teach the subject. Too often, teachers are given SPHE classes to teach simply to make up their hours on a school timetable. Such teachers may have no interest in or might not want to teach SPHE. In order to implement a successful SPHE department within a school, it is essential to choose SPHE teachers wisely. Not every teacher would be suitable for providing instruction in SPHE. It is a very personal subject and, in order the interests of efficiency, those who teach it should be in a position to form close bonds with their pupils. In addition, the timetable should be organised in such a way that an teacher will not have a class for an examination subject in the period before he or she is due to take the same class for SPHE. It should not be the case that a teacher might have a class for mathematics, that he or she might become angry because the pupils had done their work incorrectly and that he or she would then expected to teach that class SPHE in the period immediately following. More care should be taken in devising SPHE programmes and a whole-school approach should be adopted.

It is often new teachers or those with the least experience who are given the task of providing instruction in SPHE. Imagine what it is like for teacher with little or no experience of general teaching to be obliged to provide instruction in the difficult and sensitive issues surrounding relationships, puberty, etc., that arise in the context of SPHE to a class of rowdy 15 year adolescents. In my opinion, and speaking as a former teacher, the more experienced individuals on a school's staff should take the lead in the context of teaching SPHE. I would be much better at teaching SPHE now than would have been the case 20 years ago. This is mainly down to the experiences I have had in the classroom in the intervening period and also since I became a mother.

I am not at all stating that all SPHE teachers should be experienced or married but those who co-ordinate the subject in schools should have experience. As is the case with other subjects, some individuals are more suited to teaching SPHE than others. I reiterate that teachers of SPHE should above all want to teach the subject. It is essential that an SPHE teacher should have in-service teaching before they begin to teach it. Teachers often provide instruction in SPHE for months and sometimes years before they receive any formal training in it. I ask the Minister to consider making in-service training for SPHE compulsory before a teacher may begin to provide instruction in it.

Every school should have an SPHE policy that is regularly updated. SPHE inspections which liaise with the student population as well as the teacher should be encouraged. The SPHE department in a school should also liaise not only with the religion and career guidance departments, but also with all teachers. This would provide an opportunity for the latter to be updated on issues arising. It is vital that the SPHE should not just be seen to be delivered in an efficient manner. There must be a policy in place and this must be followed through in an active way. Schools should also have anti-bullying and substance abuse policies in written form. There should also be definitive systems of reprimands in respect of such policies. There is no point in someone teaching a class on bullying and then watching as a pupil tells one of his or her peers that he or she cannot sit on a particular chair because the former's bag is on it. If a student behaves in such a way, he or she should be subjected to some form of definite reprimand.

I commend the motion to the House.