AQW 8391/22-27
Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford
Tabled Date: 07/03/2024
Answered On Date: 20/03/2024
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Education what measures his Department is taking to ensure that pupils, parents and governors have sufficient opportunities to contribute to the preventative curriculum.
Answer:
My Department requires all grant-aided schools to have a Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) policy and taught programme that has been developed based on the ethos of their school and in consultation with staff, governors, parents and pupils. This policy should be kept under review through consultation with parents and pupils whose views should be sought and reflected in it. The RSE policy and content to be taught should also be made available to parents and pupils. Schools are required to deliver the statutory minimum content of the Northern Ireland Curriculum; however, they have flexibility in how they develop and deliver the curriculum including their taught RSE programme. It is important that a school satisfies itself, through its self-evaluation and review process, that its RSE programme meets effectively the needs its pupils through consultation with them. This includes the teaching of sensitive topics, such as consent, as well as building healthy and respectful relationships. In April 2023, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) published an evaluation of the Preventative Curriculum in Schools and Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) Centres. The report found that there has not been sufficient and consistent consideration across the education system to tackle in a meaningful and timely way more sensitive and, for some, controversial issues. My Department has therefore established a task and finish group that is considering currently how best to respond to the ETI findings. Further guidance on RSE in schools will be considered by my Department in due course. Further to this, RSE is included in the statutory safeguarding guidance that applies in all schools.
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