New changes to sex education for Junior Cycle students being finalised
Minister for Education Norma Foley Norma Foley said the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is now finalising updates to the draft proposal.
Public consultation on revamped sex education for Leaving Cert students should begin by the end of September, with changes expected to be rolled out in schools by September 2024.
Meanwhile, the new changes to Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) for Junior Cycle students are currently being finalised following feedback from teachers, students, and other parties through public consultation.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is now finalising updates to the draft proposal. The changes should be implemented for Junior Cycle students in September, the Minister for Education Norma Foley confirmed.
A draft review of the RSE syllabus for Junior Cycle proposed covering consent, gender stereotyping, relationships, online pornography, and the sharing of sexual images.
A recent report by the NCCA, complied following the public consultation process, said that in general this draft specification was “very well received”.
However "valuable" critical feedback was also received, including from a “sub-set of parents” who expressed strong criticism of the proposed curriculum. Among these concerns were the references to gender identities and to pornography.
“In most instances, objections to this learning outcome were grounded in a concern regarding how teachers will approach this topic in the classroom and a fear that students would be exposed to pornography as part of classroom teaching and learning.”
Some parents were also "concerned about the lack of reference to morality, moral teachings or family values".
Students who took part in focus group meetings welcomed the proposed learning outcomes which they said no longer ‘tip-toed’ around important topics.
"Teachers and students both liked that this strand was not overly focused on biological aspects of sexuality."
The reference to pornography as an influence on young people’s understanding and expectations also received a "strong welcome".
"In all focus group meetings, both students and teachers said that pornography is having a damaging impact on young people’s understanding of relationships and needs to be discussed."
Via recent parliamentary questions, Norma Foley confirmed that 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."
