Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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418. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of submissions to the NCCA Junior Cycle social personal and health education curriculum consultation received from parents who disagreed with the draft specification (details supplied). [4058/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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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, the Department of Education’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.

The NCCA published a draft revised Junior Cycle specification for consultation in July last year. The consultation process ran from 18 July 2022 to 18 October 2022.  Consultation is a key aspect of NCCA’s work whereby advice is shaped by feedback from schools, education settings, education partners, wider stakeholders and the general public.

The consultation on the draft Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum included multiple modes of engagement during the three-month consultation process:

- Online surveys – one each for parents/guardians, teachers and students

- Written submissions

- Teacher focus groups

- Student focus groups

- Roundtable consultation event

- Online consultation meeting.

Opportunities to participate in the consultation were promoted in several ways. Notices were placed on ncca.ie, in the NCCA newsletter and on social media platforms as well as being sent to education partners for dissemination to their members. In addition, two information webinars were hosted by the National Parents Council Post Primary to provide an update on SPHE/RSE developments and invite parental participation in the consultation.

In the case of the school-based focus group work, the NCCA did not employ the services of a polling company. Instead, an open call inviting schools to participate was posted on the NCCA website and disseminated through education partners’ organisational communications. Fifteen schools responded expressing interest in participating in the student and teacher voice aspect of the consultation, and five schools were chosen from this list of applicants to reflect a diversity of school types and locations.

Within each school, separate meetings were held with a focus group of 10-12 Transition Year students and with three to five SPHE teachers. In total, 56 students and 22 teachers participated in 10 focus group sessions across the five schools.

Online survey responses were received from 4,343 parents, 142 students and 102 teachers. In addition, written submissions were received from 40 organisations and 55 individuals. 317 emails and letters were also received.

NCCA hosted a round-table consultation event in Collins Barracks on October 6^th, which was attended by representatives from over 40 agencies and organisations who work directly in the area of SPHE as well as representatives of groups/agencies who have specific expertise in a particular aspect of SPHE.

In addition, a meeting was held with nine HSE experts working in the areas of youth mental health, physical health, alcohol and substance use, and sexual health, to gather feedback on how these topics are addressed through the learning outcomes within the draft updated course.

The use of a broad range of consultation modes ensured that anyone who wished to contribute to the consultation could do so and led to breadth and depth of feedback on the draft SPHE curriculum. The survey and written submissions facilitated the collection of data from a wide cross-section of respondents, while the face-to-face events supported deeper discussion and exploration of the issues for consideration. 

The majority of respondents, across all groups who engaged with the consultation, affirmed the overall direction of the updated junior cycle SPHE curriculum. This is also the case regarding feedback from respondents to the parents’ survey. A minority of parents expressed a range of critical perspectives, all of which are currently under consideration as the NCCA completes its work of finalising the Junior Cycle SPHE Curriculum. 

Based on a careful thematic analysis and cross-analysis of all the data received in the consultation, NCCA has concluded that there is a consensus, where ‘consensus’ is understood as meaning ‘a generally accepted opinion: wide agreement’ and does not suggest unanimity. 

The NCCA is 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.