AQW 28732/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 26/01/2022
Answered On Date: 25/02/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education for her assessment of the provision of sex and relationship education in Northern Irish schools in relation to that of (i) England; (ii) Scotland; (iii) Wales; and (iv) the Republic of Ireland.

Answer:

The school curricula across all Areas of Learning including RSE are very different across each of the United Kingdom jurisdictions and the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland has a world-class curriculum. Greater flexibility and less prescription are key features allowing schools autonomy to offer and deliver suitable curricular approaches matched to needs of their pupils and develop the skills that young people need for the modern world.

Such flexibility in curriculum delivery and pedagogical autonomy is a consistent feature of high performing school systems, where school-level flexibility and teacher collaboration become the drivers of improvement because they lead to innovations in teaching and learning at a time when issues are important to young people.