Kildare Senator Calls For Up-Dating Of Religious & Sexuality Education.

Wednesday, 18 August 2021 14:15

Fiona O'Loughlin is a former chair of the Oireachtas Education Committee.

A Kildare Senator, who formerly chaired the Joint Oireachtas Education Committee, is calling for up-dating of Relationship and Sexuality Education.

Fiona O'Loughlin chaired the committee when it conducted wide-ranging consultation in 2019 on the manner and form of RSE in Ireland's schools.

The resultant report called for the creation of a more inclusive programme.

Today, the Fianna Fáil Senator, called for modernising of the curriculum as soon as possible, following recent reports that secondary school students were shown pro-life material containing misinformation during a religious education class.

Senator O’Loughlin, who sits on the current Oireachtas Education Committee, says, “The Department of Education have a role in ensuring this type of video should not be screened in any school setting. Young people today are living in a different society to when the RSE programme was first introduced 22 years ago. They are learning about relationships and sexual health through their phones.

And, the former teacher adds “We need a consistent approach to relationship and sexual health in all schools regardless of the school’s ethos. An approach that equips young people with the right knowledge, information and tools to promote respect and to help young people navigate areas such as consent, contraception and sexual identity.”

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