Written answers

Wednesday, 7 December 2005

Department of Education and Science

School Curriculum

9:00 pm

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 222: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when her Department will introduce meaningful sex, relationship, gender and gender-based components into mainstream education programmes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38352/05]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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All recognised primary and second level schools are required to offer relationships and sexuality education, RSE. It is an integral part of the social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum at primary level and at junior cycle second level where it has been made mandatory for all schools with effect from September 2003. In addition, all schools are required to have an agreed school policy and a suitable relationships and sexuality education programme in place for senior cycle pupils. Comprehensive guidelines for junior cycle and senior cycle have also been published and provided to schools by the NCCA to support the RSE aspects of the curriculum.

An integrated SPHE programme at senior cycle incorporating RSE is being developed. The overall aims of the SPHE curricula are to foster the personal development, health and well-being of students and help them to create supportive relationships and become responsible citizens, to develop a framework of values, attitudes, understanding and skills that will inform their actions and decision making and to establish and maintain healthy patterns of behaviour.

At primary level, SPHE is one of the seven curriculum areas in the revised primary school curriculum that was introduced in 1999. SPHE has been implemented in all schools since September 2003 and is taught to pupils from junior infants class upwards to sixth class. One of the three strands within SPHE is Myself. The strand units within this include taking care of my body; growing and changing; safety and protection. This means that pupils from the beginning of their primary schooling learn, in an age-appropriate way, how their bodies develop, the importance of caring for one's body and that of others with dignity and respect and how to identify people, places and situations that may threaten personal safety.

The SPHE modules at junior cycle in second level schools deal specifically with belonging and integrating, handling conflict constructively, dealing with peer pressure, influences on decision-making, relationships and sexuality in terms of values, reproductive system, tackling myths about sex and pregnancy, personal safety, substance use and the impact of teenage pregnancy. Two of the SPHE modules relate specifically to relationships and sexuality and personal safety. The aims of these modules include bringing students to an understanding of the physical changes that take place during adolescence and exploring with them procedures for protecting their personal safety along with appropriate responses when their safety is threatened. In third year, an awareness of help agencies is promoted and students' skills for obtaining access to them are developed.

For senior cycle students, all schools are required to have an agreed school policy and a suitable relationships and sexuality education programme in place. The RSE programme at senior cycle deals further with these issues and, in addition, addresses issues such as pregnancy, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and accepting sexual orientation. My Department has developed two sets of resource materials that are particularly relevant to this area for use with transition year and senior cycle students as part of an SPHE programme. These are BALANCE — Who cares? and Exploring Masculinities. These resources use a variety of materials and strategies to explore and discuss issues of gender equality.

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