Parents have the fundamental right to know what their children are being taught in relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE), the education secretary has said in a letter to all schools in England.
Relationships education has been a compulsory part of the primary school curriculum since September 2020, while at secondary level relationships and sex education must be taught.
She made clear that companies providing teaching materials cannot cite copyright law to forbid schools from sharing information with parents.
“If a provider were to attempt to forbid sharing with parents when asked, schools should continue regardless, because a blanket ban would contradict the clear public interest in parents being aware of what their children are being taught,” a government announcement said on Monday.
The move to strengthen parental rights was welcomed by education charity Parentkind.
According to a poll conducted by Parentkind, parents wanted to know in advance about the RSHE their children received.
If parents are consistently informed, they are likelier to support the RSHE curriculum, the charity said.
“No ifs, no buts and no more excuses. This government is acting to guarantee parents’ fundamental right to know what their children are being taught in sex and relationships education,” Ms. Keegan vowed.
RSHE Review
The education secretary’s letters come after a review into RSHE was announced in March.Concerns that children are being exposed to “inappropriate” content prompted the review and a subsequent launch of a public consultation on the RSHE guidance.
The review will be informed by a panel of experts. They will advise on necessary protections from information that pupils “are too young to understand properly.”
The panel will also consider introducing age ratings for different parts of the curriculum.
In primary schools, RSHE currently focuses on healthy, respectful relationships in all contexts, including online. At secondary school, teaching increasingly focuses on risk areas such as drugs and alcohol. Secondary school pupils are taught about intimate relationships and sex.
The Department of Education said that schools must make sure all content they use is factual and age-appropriate.
‘Odd Timing’
In response to Ms. Keegan’s open letter, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that the clarification over copyright law was helpful.However, he warned that there may now be an expectation that schools will publish every piece of planning and resource used across the RSHE curriculum.
“This is a huge additional workload requirement at a time when they are already significantly overburdened,” Mr. Barton said.
At a time when schools are understaffed and underfunded, it would be more “beneficial” if the government focused on “providing specialist training and support,” he added.
Mr. Barton also said that the timing of the letter was “slightly odd,” given that many schools are on half-term breaks.
The fact that the RSHE curriculum review hasn’t been yet published also makes the timing of the letter “bizarre,” Mr. Barton said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The RSHE review is expected to be completed before the end of 2023.
The government has also launched a consultation on an update to Northern Ireland’s RSE curriculum.
It will focus on parents’ rights to have their child excused from sex education, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion.
The consultation will run until Nov. 24 and based on the findings, the government will develop guidance by Jan.1, 2024.
