Please use the three options below to write to Minister for Education in the current government. Customise the options to your own unique wording.
DRAFT
Date:
To/ Minister for Education
Norma Foley TD
Dear Minister
Firstly I want to congratulate you and wish you well on your appointment as Minister for Education.
I am writing concerning the NCCA Report on the Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in primary and post primary schools, which was published in Dec 2019. I wish to highlight two key aspects of the RSE Review –
1. School Ethos and RSE, and
2. Proposed RSE Programme for schools.
1. School Ethos and RSE
As regards the final NCCA RSE Review, your predecessor Minister Joe McHugh stated on behalf of the Government when he launched the final NCCA Review on 11/12/2019 that the new RSE programme would not be imposed on schools if it was not in accordance with a schools ethos. (‘The ethos of religious schools to determine what they consider is appropriate sex education for their children will be protected, Minister for Education Joe McHugh has said’ – Irish Times 12/12/2019).
Comments submitted by parents on the draft RSE Review upholding Christian ethos of schools against explicit RSE are ignored in the final NCCA RSE Review; we know that dozens if not hundreds of parents filled out the online questionnaire or made submissions on upholding the retention of a schools ethos in the teaching of RSE. In spite of this the NCCA Review states that ‘there is a broad consensus that school ethos should not be a barrier to students receiving a comprehensive curriculum on RSE.’ (p.60). There is no such consensus and there was considerable concern about this among parents. In view of this Minister McHugh stated on behalf of the Government that the ethos of schools re RSE would be respected when he launched the final RSE Review on 11/12/2019.
I would request you to honour this commitment given by Minister McHugh, and that the protection of a schools ethos in the Education Act 1998 is accordingly retained. This is a very important point for parents as they have chosen their children to be educated in the characteristic ethos of a school.
2. Proposed RSE Programme for Schools
Parents are very concerned that the RSE programme that the NCCA is developing will lead to the sexualisation of children from infancy. The draft RSE Review proposed the World Health Organisation WHO Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe 2010 as ‘best international standards’ (draft RSE Review, p.58). The WHO standards set out a very highly sexualized approach to RSE, which propose teaching ‘early childhood masturbation to 0-4 year olds’ (p. 38, WHO document), and teaching about ‘first sexual experience to 9-12 year olds’ (p.44), making children vulnerable to predators. The final NCCA Review states that – ‘…the RSE curriculum should be informed by international best practice’ (p.56) – so the WHO standards are what the NCCA seem to have in mind when referring to ‘international best practice’ for RSE. This highly sexualized approach to RSE is completely unacceptable to parents, and I would request you to ensure that the NCCA does not develop an RSE programme for schools in accordance with the WHO standards, which are also described as Holistic or Comprehensive Sexuality Education, the approach to RSE proposed in the final RSE Review (e.g. see p.62).
Parents are the guardians and principal stakeholders as regards their children, and their wishes as regards RSE programmes in schools must be respected. I would urge you to ensure that the ethos of schools is protected at all costs, and that rights of parents as regards the RSE curriculum are respected in the development of the new RSE curriculum by the NCCA.
Yours sincerely
DRAFT
Date:
To/ Norma Foley TD
Minister for Education
Marlborough St
D01 RC96
email: norma.foley@oireachtas.ie
Dear Minister
Firstly I want to congratulate you and wish you well on your appointment as Minister for Education.
I am writing concerning the NCCA Report on the Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in primary and post primary schools, which was published in Dec 2019. I wish to highlight two key aspects of the RSE Review –
1. School Ethos and RSE
2. Proposed RSE Programme for schools
1. School Ethos and RSE
As regards the final NCCA RSE Review, your predecessor Minister Joe McHugh stated on behalf of the Government when he launched the final NCCA Review on 11/12/2019 that the new RSE programme would not be imposed on schools if it was not in accordance with a schools ethos. (‘The ethos of religious schools to determine what they consider is appropriate sex education for their children will be protected, Minister for Education Joe McHugh has said’ – Irish Times 12/12/2019).
Comments submitted by parents on the draft RSE Review upholding Christian ethos of schools against explicit RSE are ignored in the final NCCA RSE Review; we know that dozens if not hundreds of parents filled out the online questionnaire or made submissions on upholding the retention of a schools ethos in the teaching of RSE. In spite of this the NCCA Review states that ‘there is a broad consensus that school ethos should not be a barrier to students receiving a comprehensive curriculum on RSE.’ (p.60). This comment by the NCCA is a technique by the writer to put his or her viewpoint in the Review, hoping that the reader will take this statement at face value. There is no such consensus and there was considerable concern about schools ethos among parents. In view of this, Minister McHugh stated on behalf of the Government that the ethos of schools re RSE would be respected when he launched the final RSE Review on 11/12/2019.
I would request you to honour this commitment given by Minister McHugh, and that the protection of a schools ethos in the Education Act 1998 is accordingly retained. This is a very important point for parents as they have chosen their children to be educated in the characteristic ethos of a school.
2. Proposed RSE Programme for Schools
Parents are very concerned that the RSE programme that the NCCA is developing will lead to the sexualisation of children from infancy. The draft RSE Review proposed by the World Health Organisation in the WHO Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe 2010 as ‘best international standards’ (draft RSE Review, p.58). The WHO standards set out a very highly sexualized approach to RSE, which propose teaching ‘early childhood masturbation to 0-4 year olds’ (p. 38, WHO document), and teaching about ‘first sexual experience to 9-12 year olds’ (p.44), making children vulnerable to predators. The final NCCA Review states that – ‘…the RSE curriculum should be informed by international best practice’ (p.56) – so the WHO standards are apparently what the NCCA have in mind when referring to ‘international best practice’ for RSE. This highly sexualized approach to RSE is completely unacceptable to parents, and I would request you to ensure that the NCCA does not develop an RSE programme for schools in accordance with the WHO standards, which are also described as Holistic or Comprehensive Sexuality Education, the approach to RSE proposed in the final NCCA Review (e.g. see p.62).
In any event the WHO mandate is in the health area, and it has no remit or indeed expertise to address the matter of sexuality education. The WHO should stick to its original mandate set out in 1947 ensuring its expertise in the health area and not engage in organisational creep in other areas, such as sexuality education. The WHO is partnered in the area of sexual and reproductive health by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which is essentially a front for the promotion of abortion and many other anti-Christian initiatives against the family – all the more reason why the WHO standards should not be the basis for RSE in Irish schools.
Parents are the guardians and principal stakeholders as regards their children, and their wishes as regards RSE programmes in schools must be respected. I would urge you as Minister for all the people to ensure that the ethos of schools is protected at all costs, and that rights of parents as regards the RSE curriculum are respected in the development of the new RSE curriculum by the NCCA.
DRAFT
Date:
To/ Minister for Education
Norma Foley TD
email: norma.foley@oireachtas.ie
Dear Minister
Firstly I want to congratulate you and wish you well on your appointment as Minister for Education.
I am writing concerning the NCCA Report on the Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in primary and post primary schools, which was published in Dec 2019. I wish to highlight two key aspects of the RSE Review –
1. School Ethos and RSE
2. Proposed RSE Programme for schools.
1. School Ethos and RSE
As regards the final NCCA RSE Review, your predecessor Minister Joe McHugh stated on behalf of the Government when he launched the final NCCA Review on 11/12/2019 that the new RSE programme would not be imposed on schools if it was not in accordance with a schools ethos. (‘The ethos of religious schools to determine what they consider is appropriate sex education for their children will be protected, Minister for Education Joe McHugh has said’ – Irish Times 12/12/2019).
Comments submitted by parents on the draft RSE Review upholding Christian ethos of schools against explicit RSE are ignored in the final NCCA RSE Review; we know that dozens if not hundreds of parents filled out the online questionnaire or made submissions on upholding the retention of a schools ethos in the teaching of RSE. In spite of this the NCCA Review states that ‘there is a broad consensus that school ethos should not be a barrier to students receiving a comprehensive curriculum on RSE.’ (p.60). This comment by the NCCA is a technique by the writer to put his or her viewpoint in the Review, hoping that the reader will take this statement at face value. There is no such consensus and there was considerable concern about schools ethos among parents. In view of this, Minister McHugh stated on behalf of the Government that the ethos of schools re RSE would be respected when he launched the final RSE Review on 11/12/2019.
I would request you to honour this commitment given by Minister McHugh, and that the protection of a schools ethos in the Education Act 1998 is accordingly retained. This is a very important point for parents as they have chosen their children to be educated in the characteristic ethos of a school.
2. Proposed RSE Programme for Schools
Parents are very concerned that the RSE programme that the NCCA is developing will lead to the sexualisation of children from infancy. The draft RSE Review proposed by the World Health Organisation in the WHO Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe 2010 as ‘best international standards’ (draft RSE Review, p.58). The WHO standards set out a very highly sexualized approach to RSE, which propose teaching ‘early childhood masturbation to 0-4 year olds’ (p. 38, WHO document), and teaching about ‘first sexual experience to 9-12 year olds’ (p.44), making children vulnerable to predators. The final NCCA Review states that – ‘…the RSE curriculum should be informed by international best practice’ (p.56) – so the WHO standards are what the NCCA seem to have in mind when referring to ‘international best practice’ for RSE. This highly sexualized approach to RSE is completely unacceptable to parents, and I would request you to ensure that the NCCA does not develop an RSE programme for schools in accordance with the WHO standards, which are also described as Holistic or Comprehensive Sexuality Education, the approach to RSE proposed in the final NCCA Review (e.g. see p.62).
Parents are the guardians and principal stakeholders as regards their children, and their wishes as regards RSE programmes in schools must be respected. I would urge you to ensure that the ethos of schools is protected at all costs, and that rights of parents as regards the RSE curriculum are respected in the development of the new RSE curriculum by the NCCA.
Yours sincerely
