DUP: Department of Education relationship and sex education (RSE) consultation must take account of ethos and values of schools

In the absence of an assembly, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has compelled the Department of Education to roll out compulsory Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) plans for all post-primary pupils in NI by 1 January, with a major focus on abortion and contraception.

His plans have been endorsed by the NSPCC and Human Rights Commission but severely criticized by a House of Lords committee for failing to include a normal public consultation. The plans have also been criticised for apparently forbidding any ethical or moral content which - by contrast - are allowed in RSE in England.

Critics have claimed the 12-week consultation, which closes on 24 November, is much too narrow and brief.

Mrs Dodds said: “RSE is a devolved issue and should have remained in the gift of a restored Executive and Assembly. Instead, these reforms were railroaded through without prior consultation with local communities.

"Whilst the Department of Education was expected to consult on the circumstances in which a parent should be able to request their child is withdrawn from the new teaching, the consultation offered very little in the way of detail. Not only must the right to opt-out be enshrined, but it Is our strong view that the teaching of these issues must take account of the ethos and values of the school."

She engaged with principals, teachers, governors, and parents during the consultation and will monitor the outcome closely, she added.