A number of parliamentarians have today raised concerns about the Government’s ongoing intransigence to making good quality personal social health and economic education (PSHE), including sex and relationship education (SRE) a compulsory part of the National Curriculum.
In a parliamentary debate on the status of the review of the school curriculum and review of PSHE education, Lord Hill confirmed on behalf of the government that the Government were conducting a separate review of PSHE, that this was in its early stages and that further details would be released soon.
In response Baroness Massey of Darwen, a BHA Distinguished Supporter and member of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, commented that ‘Given that parents and children have called for personal, social and health education in the curriculum as part of their life skills education, does the Minister agree that we already have a body of knowledge about this subject and a lot of skills? Is it not time to stop reviewing and to do some implementation?’
Other peers stood up to support this sentiment with one raising the importance of ensuring that the status of PSHE is considered alongside other subjects in the ongoing review of the curriculum due to ‘the impact of good quality PSHE on the rest of the curriculum, due to it giving children self confidence and important life skills… It is so important that the two reviews are linked together.’
Another asked the Government whether they had considered the effect that the introduction of the free schools policy, particularly the proliferation of religious free schools, would have on PSHE, particularly with regards to the teaching of SRE to which the Government replied that they were not sure that these developments will have an impact.
Commenting on the debate, Education Campaigns Officer Jenny Pennington said: ‘Despite the Government’s stated commitment to PSHE education in last year’s white paper, today’s debate again showed the governments failure to respond to pressure outside and inside parliament to commit to making good quality PSHE a compulsory part of the National Curriculum.
‘It is vital that the government take on board the overwhelming support and overwhelming evidence in favour of making PSHE a compulsory part of the National Curriculum and take the opportunity offered by the current review of the curriculum to do so.
‘It is also of concern that the Government are not taking on board the possible impact of the proliferation of ‘faith’ free schools that are able to opt out of the National Curriculum and that may fail to provide even basic SRE. As todays debate discussed, It is vital that all children are able to access good quality PSHE including SRE. We will continue to work with Government through the various reviews that they are conducting in order to ensure that this is the case.’
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For more information please contact Jenny Pennington on 020 7462 4993 or jenny@humanists.uk
For more information on our work to ensure that all children are able to access good quality sex and relationships education please see here.
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state