Review Report on Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) of NCCA, Dec 2019

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) issued the final Review Report on RSE for Irish Secondary and Primary schools on 11th December 2019. The NCCA Review takes a very liberal approach to Sex Education leading to the sexualisation of Irish children from a young age, which could result from a new RSE Curriculum based on the NCCA Review. The RSE Report is on the NCCA website – www.ncca.ie – if you click on the Resources button within that website, you will find the Review Report. The link is as follows:

https://ncca.ie/en/resources/report-on-the-review-of-relationships-and-sexuality-education-in-primary-and-post-primary-school

Summary of the approach adopted in the NCCA RSE Review Report:

The “Holistic Sexuality Education” approach recommended by the NCCA is focused on sex as a source of satisfaction and pleasure without a moral dimension and with little references to relationships
Children would be instructed on this approach from a young age – “a holistic approach to RSE starts early in childhood …” (p.72)
School Ethos would be no protection against explicit RSE curriculum – “there is a broad consensus that school ethos should not be a barrier to students receiving a comprehensive curriculum on RSE” (p.60). Amending the Education Act 1998 would enable this.
Focus is on – ‘the positive, healthy and enjoyable aspects of relationships as well as the challenges …… moving towards a more holistic and positive approach is desirable‘ (p.71)
LGBTQ sexuality etc. would be treated on the same basis as sexuality between a man and a woman, and gender fluidity would also be included
Rights of school children to RSE – ‘It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge ……that will empower them…..and understand their rights‘ (p.72)

The Review Report can be downloaded in the Reading Background section below (pdf format).

Public Consultation on Sex Education Review Report of NCCA – Oct 2019

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has issued a draft Review Report on Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) for Irish Secondary and Primary schools which is open to public consultation until the 25th Oct 2019. The NCCA Review takes a very liberal approach to Sex Education and it’s important for anyone with a Christian viewpoint to make a submission to the NCCA before the 25^th Oct 2019 on the draft RSE Review Report to avoid the sexualization of Irish children from a young age, which could result from the new RSE Curriculum based on the NCCA Review. Anyone can make a submission to the NCCA on the draft RSE Report using the Submission Template or the Online Survey on the NCCA website www.ncca.ie – click on RSE section which also has the Review Report.

Summary of approach adopted in the NCCA draft Review:

Sex is for pleasure without a moral dimension and with little reference to relationships
The ‘Holistic Sexuality Education’ approach recommended by the NCCA is focused on sex as ‘a source of satisfaction and pleasure’ (p.23, Review Report) with children instructed on this approach from a young age
The NCCA approach would result in the sexualization of children from a young age with explicit sex education classes
LGBTQ sexuality etc. would be treated on the same basis as sexuality between a man and a woman, and gender fluidity would also be included
While the language in the NCCA Report may seem innocuous, it adopts the very liberal UN approach to RSE, notably in the WHO Report ‘Standards for Sex Education in Europe’ which recommends ‘early childhood masturbation for 0-4 year olds’ etc. (p.38)
Parents and interested parties need to respond to the NCCA draft Report as a matter of urgency before 25^th Oct 2019 to avoid the sexualization of our children which would result from the liberal approach to Sex Education taken in the NCCA Review

Briefing note on NCCA Review of RSE in Irish Schools

The draft Relationship and Sexuality Education Review report by the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) and a summary of the Review are now available on the NCCA website, with a public consultation round which ends on 25th Oct. 2019. Attached are the NCCA Reports and relevant documents on the approach taken by the NCCA to Sexuality Education:

NCCA Template(6 pages) for written submissions re draft NCCA RSE Review Report (anyone can make a submission)

Online survey on draft NCCA RSE Review Report – see link on RSE section of NCCA website : www.ncca.ie/en/updates-and-events/consultations/review-of-relationships-and-sexuality-education-rse

NCCA Summary of draft RSE Review Report (15 pages, see esp. p.11)

NCCA draft Report on Review of RSE in primary and post-primary schools (95 pages; see esp. pages 73-78 on NCCA Approach to RSE)

Holistic Sexuality Education Approach – extract from NCCA RSE Research paper (2 pages)

Comprehensive Sex Education approach – summary note by Fingal Witness on (2 pages)

Comprehensive Sex Education approach – extract from War on Children website (3 pages)

WHO – Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe – sexualisation of 0-4 year olds (1 page)

weblink to WHO – Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe report: https://www.bzga-whocc.de/fileadmin/user_upload/WHO_BZgA_Standards_English.pdf
Re: Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programmes please watch the excellent 10 min. video on the homepage of war on children website entitled Exposing the CSE Agenda – this shows the explicit nature of CSE sexuality education programmes for children – http://waronchildren.org/

It’s important for parents and anyone with a Christian viewpoint to make a submission to the NCCA on the draft RSE Review Report using the Submission Template or the Online Survey before the 25th Oct 2019. The NCCA Review Report on RSE (at least the Summary Report) should be distributed widely, and encourage people to submit comments – this is the opportunity to influence the final RSE Report which will be reflected in the new Sex Education curriculum to be rolled out in all schools.

Commentary on NCCA draft Review Report on RSE

While the NCCA Review Report might seem reasonable, it’s not obvious what underlies the language and approach to Sex Education in the NCCA Report, especially the NCCA Summary Report which seems quite bland. Behind the innocuous language is an approach which is focused on individual sexual pleasure without any moral context. See especially page 11 which includes.

Holistic Sexuality Education approach

‘RSE should adopt a holistic approach’ …with discussion about the positive, healthy and enjoyable aspects of relationships.’ (p.11, Summary NCCA Report).

The Holistic Sexuality Education (‘HSE’) Approach is set out in the NCCA Research Paper on RSE which informed the approach taken in NCCA Review (see ps. 23-26 of Research Paper, available in a separate extract); which states – ‘sexuality is a positive human potential and a source of satisfaction of pleasure’ (p.23). It also refers to the WHO Office for Europe Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe stating – ‘The WHO’s Standards…provide a clear framework for HSE (Holistic Sexuality Education) from birth to 18 years based on key principles – a human rights approach…gender equality… diversity (i.e. LGBTQ and transgender sexuality education etc.)…a life-long process from birth’ – see 1 page extract from WHO Standards report which recommends ‘early childhood masturbation’ for 0-4 year olds, with a progressive focus on sex for pleasure for older age groups.

The ‘holistic’ approach advocated in the NCCA Review is quite similar to the Comprehensive Sex Education (‘CSE’) approach being promoted by UN agencies, such the WHO Office for Europe – see document summarizing the Comprehensive Sex Education approach, where the focus is on sexual pleasure from infancy onwards, without any moral content or reference to procreation. Pages 73-78 of the draft NCCA Report specifically refers to the CSE approach promoted by the UN and p.73 includes – ‘…discussion of the positive, healthy, and enjoyable aspects of relationships as well as the challenges’.

Rights of Children re Sexuality Education

The rights based approach to sex education for children as set out in UN conventions and reports are also used in the NCCA approach to sex education. The Summary NCCA report states – ‘…the rights and needs of children (re RSE)…have been set out in numerous international human rights treaties…that refer to the right to education’, and uses the language of empowerment – ‘It (RSE) aims to equip children and young people with knowledge…and values that will empower them to…develop respectful social and sexual relationships’ (p.11, Summary NCCA Report).

This rights based approach to children is included in particular in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which include – ‘freedom …to access all kinds of information (art. 13); freedom of association (art 15); right to privacy (art. 16); right to education’ (art 28). The empowerment of children would be at the expense of parents rights over their children: some of these rights could exclude parents from knowing what a child is being taught in school, and the right to education could include the right to the explicit comprehensive sex education from early childhood, as advocated by UN agencies such as the WHO, and is reflected in the NCCA Review.

The NCCA Report is explicit about the rights of children to the Comprehensive Sex Education approach set out in UN documents; it states with specific regard to Ireland -‘…the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Ireland: Adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents…’ (p.73, NCCA Draft Review Report);

Conclusion

The NCCA approach to RSE in the Review proposals is adopting the sex is for pleasure approach being promoted by the UN without reference to the moral dimension of sexuality or procreation. It is vital that Catholic parents and people of a Christian viewpoint make submissions to the NCCA on the draft Review Report, rejecting the Holistic Sexuality Education approach taken in the NCCA Review: this kind of approach focuses on the individualization of pleasure from sex – starting with teaching masturbation to infants from 0 to 4 years as set out in the WHO Report – rather than the Christian view of sexuality in the context of a committed relationship, marriage and the family. While the NCCA RSE Report may seem inoffensive, it could result in explicit Sex Education programmes being rolled out in all schools including masturbation, LGBTQ sexuality, anal and oral sex etc. – deception is a feature of Comprehensive Sex Education programmes.

Submissions to the NCCA should be made using the NCCA Template or filling out the Online Survey on the draft RSE Review Report before the deadline of 25th October 2019. Submissions should reject the Holistic Sexuality Education approach with its focus on individual sexual pleasure, and request that the Christian viewpoint on sexuality and its context and outcomes – marriage and family – should be reflected in the NCCA Review and the new RSE curriculum, and that parents, the primary educators of their children as set out in the Irish Constitution, should have the right to approve (or reject) the new Sex Education Curriculum for their children which will follow from the NCCA Report.

NB: Please individualise your submission to the NCCA as much as possible so that your submission will be considered on an individual basis.

For further information, you can contact us at info@fingalwitness.com

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