Sir, - I would like people to know and to draw their own conclusions from what took place on Monday, May 19th in the Highland Hotel, Donegal Town, when we were told by representatives of the Education Board and the National Parents Council about the new RSE course for infant and primary schools.
Three officials and a chairperson from the government-appointed National Parents Council gave 200 interested parents and teachers an introduction to the purposes and methods of the course, which is to begin in September. After the three addresses, questions and comments were invited. Approximately 30 people spoke, including teachers, parents, delegates from boards of management, a health board child social worker with primary school age children, etc. cot one was in favour and many were vehemently against.
The first major objection was that it flew in the face of all established theories of child development, a fact which the officially trained promoters of the programme could not even begin to explain. They had no answer.
Secondly, it puzzled parents that the authorities should be implementing a programme such as this, which, if not actually responsible in part for moral chaos among teenagers, then at the very least could be said to have failed in its stated objective of stemming the tide of breakdown. In Denmark, for example, in 1972, the year immediately after the introduction of mandatory RSE, the out-of-marriage pregnancy rate is said to have more than tripled. In answer to this question, the promoters claimed that ours was a totally new Irish type of programme. They felt that it would be more successful since it would involve more class discussion, and have much more than mere facts. This was emphatically denied by several people from the floor.
Finally it was made clear that the programme was shortly to become part of the score curriculum" and would be cross-curricular. This meant that schools would implement it in the same way as maths or English, also that it would be taught through every subject where possible. In short, despite every parent and teacher who spoke being against it, hardly any of the objections were answered competently. The programme was going to be imposed. Yours, etc.,
Buncrana,
Co Donegal.