Education Minister says ‘big work’ is being done on sex education in NI schools –

Education Minister Michelle McKelvin has defended Continuing Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools in Northern Ireland, saying that “a lot of work has been done to ensure that resources are available over many years”.

During questions about education at the assembly on Tuesday, the DUP minister faced criticism from some MLAs.

While RSE is already mandatory here in schools, there is a minimum content ranking, some schools may act on their ethics in what you learn.

Kara Hunter, MLA at SDLP East Derry, requested approval to join RSE, arguing that many young people “learned or learned sexual consent in college.”

Minister Mulvin replied: “I think this subject is often studied in schools of various levels. If it were referring to the (Northern Ireland) Education (Minimum Curriculum Content) Ordinance 2007, you would see that it is part of the minimum content in our schools. This was signed by the board of directors and the school management. Therefore, the approval is part of the curriculum and the post-primary curriculum.”

Ms Hunter said: “I have been asking questions about CSR in our schools for a long time and was very disappointed by the refusal of DUP Secretary McIlvin when I told him that no approval had been given to teach our youth schools.

Although the minister claims that approval was foreseen in the 2007 decree, it was never mentioned.

“The fact that this request from 2007 says it all: It is completely useless for its purpose and is very outdated in 2022. We need an RSE that reflects the society we live in today and I think everyone realizes that our view of relationships has changed significantly. After That request has been posted.

“If we are ever to adequately deal with issues relating to men’s attitudes toward women and girls, we must begin to educate them as young as possible about these issues.

“We should not expect outside groups to do this work, the Ministry of Education should take responsibility and ensure that our young people are educated about these issues while they are in school.

Ms Hunter added: “We’ve heard a lot of discussions lately about how we can change the cliched attitudes that unfortunately still prevail in our society. By teaching consent and healthy relationships to young people, we provide them with the tools to build positive relationships with the women in their lives.”

“The younger we get from this message, the more likely men and boys are to consider harmful behavior and confront their peers when they are wrong.”

Last March, an advisory panel of experts on gender equality strategy concluded that CSR in schools in Northern Ireland was “inconsistent and inadequate”.

The commission, appointed by the Stormont Community Department, said age-appropriate ESR should be mandatory in schools and “including all young people with experience”.

A separate committee from Sexual Orientation Strategy also recommends that CSR should not “rely on school ethics.”

Ms McIlvin told MLA that although “a lot of work has been done over many years to ensure resources are available in schools,” she acknowledged that “work needs to be done to give teachers the confidence and support they need. To teach these.” (RS) .

“My department, along with its partners, is doing important work to help schools deliver RSE,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Education officials are participating in an educational outreach working group with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to implement the Gülen Review’s recommendation on sexual offenses in school.

One of Sir John Gillen’s main recommendations was regarding sexual and relationship education for primary school students.

Speaking to North Down, MLA of the Greens, Rachel Woods said the education system “can’t handle harmful beliefs and behaviors” and added that “there is no lack of knowledge about what a healthy relationship is.”

Woods told Belfast Live: “Our education system needs to make the changes we need to build a community based on respect, consent and a healthy relationship.

“Young people are receiving confused messages about what constitutes a healthy relationship – this can be seen in the prevalence of misogyny, domestic and sexual violence in Northern Ireland, the lack of RSE in schools and access to online pornography by young people.

“Our young people are telling us that CSR is not enough. We know that the current RSE regulations are not enough. Young people have told us that they do not consider it useful and in some cases they do not teach RSE at all,” he added.