Christian leaders welcome that new guidance on abortion related education does not prevent moral discussions

In June he issued a controversial statement which appeared to demand that the lessons would exclude any religious or ethical discussions about the issues - contrary to legal requirements on schools in England.

According to Department of Education figures published last week, the vast majority of respondents to a consultation on the matter opposed his directive; 23.84% agreed with him, but 73.17% disagreed and 2.89% did neither.

The resulting departmental guidance published on Friday appears to be in tension with his demands as it advises schools that "the change to the curriculum made by the Secretary of State does not prevent teachers and pupils from discussing and commenting on moral, ethical or spiritual issues which may arise".

Acting Convener of the Presbyterian Church's State Education Committee, Karen Jardine, said the church continues to regret the manner in which the changes were imposed on NI by the Secretary of State, which she said was on the basis of recommendations from a "flawed" report from the United Nations CEDAW committee.

However she welcomed that the department listened to the seven out of 10 consultation respondents who did not want to see RSE taught in "a morally-neutral or value- free environment".

She also welcomed the department's recognition that school ethos is important, alongside the vital role played by school governors in relation to setting policy on RSE, and the autonomy that governors and principals continue to have over when, how, and who delivers RSE lessons."

David Smyth, head of the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland, said it too was encouraged to see the level of public engagement on the issue and "broadly encouraged" by the new guidance.

He added: "We welcome the strong recognition and affirmation of RSE being delivered within the ethos of each school. The guidance encourages schools to place significant value on the key role of parents, recognising their legal ability to withdraw their children, with the weighting of the balance of rights in favour of parents up until at least year 12."

"The guidance also confirms that parents should be made aware of what their children are being taught and suggests steps to ensure that outside groups also operate within the values of the school."

He too said that concerns remain about how the imposition was imposed, how the resources to be created will balance and frame ethical considerations and around how the phrase "access to abortion" will be interpreted in lessons.

He encouraged parents and teachers to continue to build constructive relationships with their schools.

Alithea Williams of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Children (SPUC) said the fact that almost three-quarters of respondents are strongly opposed to teaching children how to access abortion “should have massive implications for the RSE Regulations imposed last June”.

She said: “These Regulations lack all legitimacy, they do not have the support of parents and have caused huge concerns for teachers and boards of governors.”

The Department of Education guidance “will do nothing to relieve those concerns” she added.

“The Secretary of State should now withdraw his draconian RSE Regulations immediately and take no further unilateral action. The London Government has lost the consent of the people of Northern Ireland when it comes to this issue and needs to change course immediately.”

A spokeswoman for the Secretary of State said he was under a statutory duty to implement in full the recommendations on teaching abortion in Northern Ireland made by the New York-based UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

She added: "The Department of Education is responsible for implementing the changes to the curriculum, and we continue to work closely with them.”