School to review policy on sexuality education

A SCHOOL which decided not to give students relationship and sexuality education is to review its policy following criticism in a Department of Education inspection report.

The board of management at Mount Saint Michael Secondary School in Rosscarbery, Co Cork, decided about three years ago to cease teaching RSE in response to parental concerns.

RSE is part of Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE), a compulsory subject for primary pupils and students up to Junior Certificate level, but schools are also required to teach RSE to senior-cycle students.

The topics covered within RSE for second-level students include hygiene, puberty, reproduction, pregnancy, peer pressure and relationships, with greater focus for those in senior cycle on family planning, contraception, implications of sexual activity, sexually transmitted infections, accepting sexual orientation and relationship issues.

A department inspector who evaluated the teaching and learning of SPHE at Mount Saint Michael before Christmas found that RSE is not provided to junior or senior-cycle students.

“The school should review its decision not to provide RSE in either junior or senior cycle as a matter of urgency,” says the inspector’s report.

The report just published by the department also urges the prioritisation of training for teachers in the area of RSE in the short term.

Mount Saint Michael’s principal Bart Kerrisk said the school’s management will review the policy on RSE teaching in light of the inspector’s recommendation.

He said the decision that RSE should no longer be taught followed views expressed by some parents about whether teachers or parents were best-placed to inform students on some aspects of sexuality and relationships.

“While RSE covers many of the moral questions around these issues, many of the factual aspects of sexuality are covered anyway in other curricular subjects such as science, biology, and home economics,” said Mr Kerrisk.

The 400-student school caters for almost equal numbers of boys and girls.

It was formerly run by the Sisters of Mercy and is now under the auspices of the Catholic schools trust CEIST, which took over the trustee role of five religious orders in 2007.

The inspection report was otherwise largely positive about SPHE provision, noting the high level of training among most teachers of the subject and stating that some very good practices were observed during the two- day visit, particularly in relation to the level of student participation which was sought by teachers.