Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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149. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of designing and implementing an updated relationship and sexuality education curriculum across all primary and secondary schools. [33666/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government states that ‘this Government will develop inclusive and age appropriate curricula for Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) across primary and post-primary schools, including an inclusive programme on LGBTI+ relationships and make appropriate legislative changes, if necessary’.

In April 2018, then Minister for Education and Skills Mr. Richard Bruton asked the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to undertake a major review of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools across all stages of education to ensure that it is fit for purpose and meets the needs of young people today in modern Ireland. The NCCA advises the Department and Minister in relation to the curriculum to be taught in schools.

The Final Report on the Review of RSE in Primary and Post-primary Schools was published by the NCCA in December, 2019.

The NCCA has established two development groups, one for primary and one for post-primary, to oversee the work in this area and support the development of guidance material for schools. Both the primary and post primary SPHE/RSE Development Groups have been meeting virtually on a monthly basis since the groups were convened in October 2020.

The immediate focus of the work is on creating support materials for teachers for publication online as part of the Interim Guidance Toolkit. The toolkit's purpose is to support effective teaching and learning of SPHE/RSE linked to the current curriculum. This work is progressing well and with sections of the toolkit (a portal repository of teaching and learning resources linked to the Primary SPHE Curriculum, the SPHE Junior Cycle Short Course and Senior Cycle SPHE Framework).

In tandem with the development of the online Toolkit, preparation for the broader redeveloping and updating of the SPHE curriculum as recommended in the NCCA Report has begun, with an initial focus on Junior Cycle. The review of the current Junior Cycle SPHE course has been completed and will be considered by the NCCA Council in June. This review contains a brief which will inform the work of the subject development groups in formulating an updated Junior Cycle SPHE specification, which will begin in September. A draft of the updated Junior Cycle SPHE specification will be available for public consultation in Q1 of 2022.

Excluding the cost of staff, the NCCA has spent €65,000 on the review of RSE and on the follow-on curriculum-related actions that were set out in the 2019 report.

Based on the NCCA’s  2021 Plan of Work, there will be an additional spend of approximately  €50,000 this year which is related to our ongoing work on the RSE Toolkits and the work on updating Junior Cycle SPHE.

The current estimated cost for 2022 is approximately €50,000. This will support ongoing work on the Junior Cycle SPHE specification, the online toolkits for primary and post-primary schools, engagement with stakeholders, work with schools, research, consultation, and work with NCCA structures.

It is more difficult to estimate costs beyond 2022 as work on the new primary SPHE/RSE curriculum and work on senior cycle SPHE/RSE will take place in the context of the wider redevelopment of the primary curriculum and the redevelopments at senior cycle.

My Department promotes the quality of teaching and learning through the provision of continuing professional development (CPD) and supports for teachers and principals. The majority of this support is provided by the national teacher education support services and by local education centres. The national teacher education support services are the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT), National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) and the Centre for School Leadership (CSL). Funding provided to the main teacher education support services and education centres for continuous professional development for teachers and Principals in 2020 was €22.454m.

Given the range of areas and bodies impacted by design and implementation of an updated relationship and sexuality education curriculum across all primary and secondary schools, as well as the difficulty of disaggregating certain cost elements, it is not possible to provide a figure for the overall costs of its introduction in advance of the NCCA review being completed.