Sir, - Some reported statements from the recent INTO Congress make interesting reading. ". . . nothing has improved . . ." we are told, with regard to the funding of education in the past year. "In a year when the Minister for Education declared that she was prioritising primary funding she abolished fees at third level, raised post primary capitation by £12 and raised primary capitation by a glorious £5." Many children are learning in "appalling" conditions. "One school catering for children with special needs has a leaking classroom roof, a yard that is so small that children cannot move freely from one end to the other. I do not call a classroom with a bucket in it to catch the rain an appropriate place for children to learn." There was "deep distress" among teachers working in special schools that so many children were on the "at risk" register but had no social worker attached to them. Only 52 per cent of schools have access to a hall or general purpose room; 30 per cent of classrooms have no running water and one in five classrooms has unsuitable furniture. Half of the infant classes lack sand trays, four fifths do not have water trays and three quarters have no creative play materials. The effects of family unemployment on children "is as severe in Kerry as it is in Derry", delegates were told.
Despite all of this, however, it is reported that "relationships and sexuality education is to be introduced at all levels of primary school" so training will be provided for every member of staff in each school. The target for. 1996 is to train 20,000 teachers. "A circular has been sent to national schools advising them that a training day will be organised for each primary teacher and that training will take place between April 15th and the end of the school year." It will be necessary for schools to close to facilitate this training day and further training will be provided at a later stage ("Education and Living", April 9th).
The following are some of the "guiding concepts" for RSE programmes provided by the Expert Advisory Group on Relationships and Sexuality Education (under the umbrella of the Department of Education) - "Junior Primary" children: Names of all parts of the body; male and female; growth and growing older; rates of physical, social, intellectual, spiritual development and individual differences; the senses; babies have needs; caring for young animals; families and family roles; the human life cycle; coping with different emotions (sexuality); individual roles in the family, and valuing self and others; privacy and personal integrity; simple ways to keep sale and find help; listening, discussing, sharing; learning the language of emotions; right and wrong; myself - respecting self; life begins - plants, animals, me; what I like about myself - what others like about me; my body and how it works; the notion of right and wrong. "Senior primary" children: biology of human reproduction; puberty - physical, emotional, social and psychological changes in both boys and girls; names of parts of the body, including the reproductive system; child development - caring for babies; rubella; good parenting and its importance; self image; relationships - family, friends and community; group affiliation and role - the gang; pressure from friends and others; gender issues; developing and maintaining self esteem; what we mean by sexuality; decision making; right and wrong; body changes - boys and girls; how babies begin, are formed, grow and are fed; healthy lifestyle; choices, influences and decisions - recognising the differences between right and wrong; tolerance and respect for difference; freedom to express emotions in a safe environment; images of sexuality; defining limits and boundaries; HIV and AIDS.
"Many topics," we are told, "may arise incidentally". What control will parents have over the nature of such topics? It has been reported recently that many teachers have objected to teaching religion, and much criticism has also been made of the proposal that schools should have the right to engage only teachers who profess the ethos of the individual school. Who, then, is to decide what is "right" or "wrong" in the teaching of RSE?
Do parents really know what their 4-12 year old children will be taught in the RSE programmes? Whose values will predominate? Better to find out now, than to allow our children to be subjected to "value free" and "behaviour modification" processes such as those on which the RSE programmes are based. I call upon all parents to familiarise themselves with the true nature of these programmes, before we find ourselves in the same situation as that in which so many other countries where this type of programme has been introduced have found themselves - with an increase in crime, violence, promiscuity, teenage pregnancies, venereal diseases, etc. Don't accept "assurances" that the Irish RSE programme is not like those in other countries. It is like them. - Yours, etc.,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.