Source: Education Review Office
New research from the Education Review Office (ERO) has found that there is too much inconsistency in relationships and sexuality education.
“Young people are increasingly exposed to risks, including harmful online content. For example, two-thirds of our country’s 14 – 17-year-olds have seen pornography. We know that this can impact on students’ perceptions of healthy sexual behaviours,” says Ruth Shinoda, Head of ERO’s Education Evaluation Centre.
“Relationships and sexuality education plays an important role in teaching students to identify and reject misinformation and harmful attitudes. Nearly all parents and students want relationships and sexuality education taught in New Zealand’s schools.”
However, ERO is concerned that that there is too much variability in what is taught. What students learn about and when depends too much on where they go to school.
“Nearly a quarter of schools deliver relationships and sexuality education on an ad-hoc basis. In addition to this, too many of our young people are reporting that they didn’t learn enough at school. Over three-quarters of recent school leavers told us that they didn’t learn enough about consent, managing feelings and emotions, and personal safety, including online” says Shinoda.
Relationships and sexuality education needs to meet parents’ expectations and students’ needs, but parents and students don’t always agree on what should be taught and when. ERO found a third of parents want relationships and sexuality education taught differently.
Parents and students want to learn earlier about personal safety (including online), friendships, and bullying. Many parents also want students to learn more about consent. Boys want to learn all topics later than girls, and fathers want less relationships and sexuality education taught than mothers. ERO found that students’ and parents’ views are most split on when and how much they should learn about gender and sexual identity.
“This makes it very challenging for schools who are caught in the middle and have to consult and decide what to teach. Schools find this difficult and teachers find it stressful – almost half of school leaders report consulting is challenging. This can lead schools to reduce or avoid teaching relationships and sexuality education, and students miss out on core knowledge,” says Shinoda.
“Relationships and sexuality education is too important to leave to chance and we need to make it easier for schools so they can focus on teaching. We also need to make sure parents can choose what their child learns.”
ERO is recommending that we review the curriculum and put in place a curriculum that is clearer about the core knowledge and skills all students need. In addition to this, we need to increase relationships and sexuality education teaching in senior secondary, when many students need it most.
ERO is also calling for schools to be required to inform and explain to parents what will be taught in relationships and sexuality education, rather than consult. And for schools to make sure parents know how they can withdraw their students from relationships and sexuality education classes if what is being taught isn’t what they want for their child.
These changes would strengthen relationships and sexuality education for students, make it easier for schools to teach it, and would make relationships and sexuality education in New Zealand more consistent with other countries.
1. Relationships and sexuality education falls under the ‘Health and Physical Education’ learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum – and can include topics on bodies, reproduction, sexualities, bullying and online safety. The curriculum was last updated in 2007.
2. Schools design their own relationships and sexuality education programmes based on the New Zealand Curriculum and the optional Relationships and Sexuality Education Guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education. There are no set topics they must cover or amount of time students must study relationships and sexuality education.
3. Relationships and sexuality education is compulsory in Years 1-10 (approx. ages 5-14).
4. School boards are required to consult with their communities at least every two years on their relationships and sexuality education programme.
5. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from part, or all, of relationships and sexuality education, should they choose to.
6. To collect information for this report, ERO’s research included surveys of over 12,000 respondents, including over 750 teachers, 700 school leaders, over 6,400 students, over 3,800 parents and whānau, over 500 recent school leavers, and over 340 board chairs.
