Written answers

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Department of Education and Skills

School Curriculum

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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733. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will reassess the primary and secondary education system modules to incorporate a way to include education on cultural and institutional misogyny and the importance of gender equality in society; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63891/22]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The curriculum at primary and post-primary is for all learners, from all backgrounds, regardless of gender, socio-economic background, race or creed. It aims to foster inclusivity, equality and diversity.  The education sector has a vital role to play in addressing discrimination based on gender, including through the updating and redevelopment of Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curricula including Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). Currently, SPHE is a mandatory curriculum subject in all primary schools and in post-primary Junior Cycle. RSE is required at all levels, from Primary through to Senior Cycle.

The issue of discrimination, including gender based discrimination, features across the SPHE curriculum both primary and post-primary. For example, in the primary curriculum under the strand ‘developing citizenship’, the child should be enabled to ‘examine the traditional roles that may be assigned to boys and girls in school because of their sex and become aware of ways of counteracting this stereotyping’.

Discrimination also features in the Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) and Politics and Society courses which cover citizenship and provides students with an understanding of their human rights and social responsibilities.

As set out in the Programme for Government, this Government is committed to developing inclusive and age appropriate curricula for RSE and SPHE across primary and post-primary schools.

In giving effect to this commitment, my Department's first focus has been on the development of inclusive and age-appropriate curricula and it continues to work closely with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in that regard.

A draft revised Junior Cycle specification was published by the NCCA and a consultation process was run from 18 July 2022 to 18 October 2022. The consultation took feedback from teachers and students as well as other interested groups and individuals. The NCCA are finalising the Junior Cycle specification for presentation to the NCCA Council for approval early in the year. The aim is that it will be implemented in schools in September.

In relation to Senior Cycle, preparation to update the SPHE/RSE specification has commenced. In October, a background paper was published for consultation on the NCCA website. The NCCA intends that the Senior Cycle draft specification itself will be available for public consultation by next summer, with a view to being ready for implementation in schools in September 2024.

Following publication of the new Primary Curriculum Framework, expected in early 2023, NCCA will establish a development group for the curricular area of Well-being in primary schools.

In tandem with this work, the NCCA has created support materials for teachers published online as part of an Interim Guidance Toolkit, to support effective teaching and learning of SPHE/RSE linked to the current curriculum and to provide guidance on how SPHE/RSE may be approached in a more holistic way. The NCCA online SPHE toolkits were expanded during 2022 to include age and stage appropriate guidance for teachers on how to address issues of consent, gender and sexual discrimination and violence, and related topics within the SPHE classroom.

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