Leaving Cert students to take mandatory course in mental and sexual health

Draft curriculum also proposes fully integrating  LGBTQ+ identities, relationships, and families into teaching and learning, as opposed to being addressed within stand-alone lessons.

Learning about physical, social, and mental health, sex and relationships, will become mandatory for all Leaving Cert students through a new, shared curriculum under proposals due to be published on Wednesday.

The updated, draft Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum for Senior Cycle also sets out to be “inclusive of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, religious beliefs, social classes and abilities/disabilities”.

The draft curriculum also proposes fully integrating LGBTQ+ identities, relationships, and families into teaching and learning, as opposed to being addressed within stand-alone lessons.

The subject is made up of three strands — health and wellbeing, relationships and sexuality, and 'into adulthood', which focuses on topics like developing skills needed to plan for the future, establishing and maintaining good habits, and setting goals.

With many schools currently not timetabling SPHE lessons during students’ final years in school, the updated curriculum proposes 60 hours of classroom learning to be taught across fifth and sixth year.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA)
found just 18% of schools held lessons in the subject for fifth-year students, and just 17.5% had lessons for sixth-year students.

Public consultation

The NCCA has today opened public consultation on the draft curriculum, which will run until October 18, 2023.

It wishes to hear from students, teachers and parents, as well as wider civic society on the proposed documents, which have been published on the NCCA website.

Building on the updated new curriculum due to be rolled out to incoming first-year students from September, the updated curriculum is planned to be rolled out for Senior Cycle from September 2024.

The new curriculum envisages students being able to “discuss the enablers and barriers to managing a healthy life balance” and to “critically analyse the origins and effects of social norms and attitudes to alcohol and drugs” among the learning outcomes.

It also plans for students to be able to “reflect on how their attitudes, beliefs, values and identity can influence the dynamics of friendships, relationships and sexual behaviour” and “identify and consider common signs of abusive relationships, including coercive control”.

It also proposes students learn about “sexual and reproductive health, including fertility, safer sexual practices, possible responses to an unplanned pregnancy, and how to access sexual health services”, as well as to “investigate the influence of pornography on attitudes, behaviours and relationship expectations”.

Parents will retain the right to request that their child opt out of any learning that contravenes their conscience, including SPHE. However, once a student turns 18 they have a right to decide for themselves if they wish to participate in learning.

Public consultation, which is now opened, will include online surveys with students, parents and teachers, focus groups with schools and stakeholders, as well as invitations for written submissions.