NASUWT comments on Select Committee Report on PSHE and SRE
Commenting on the report published today by the Education Select Committee into PSHE and SRE in schools, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers union in the UK, said
“The NASUWT recognises that the Select Committee is trying to address a difficult and contentious issue.
“However, there remain some key questions to be addressed.
“Who will determine what is age appropriate PSHE and SRE and what precisely should be taught?
“Will academies and free schools be required to implement such provision, given that they have freedom to determine their own curriculum?
“Who will provide the specialist support and training schools need to deliver this provision, given that local authorities and the NHS no longer have the specialist staff and resources to provide this support thanks to savage cuts to their budgets?
“If it is decided that an element of the curriculum should be statutory, then it is incongruous to retain the right of parental opt-out.
“Policymakers need to decide whether SRE is statutory and is treated as such in all schools, in which case parental opt-out cannot be retained.
“If curriculum freedom for academies and parental opt-out are to be retained then quite clearly PSHE and SRE are not statutory and no one should pretend otherwise.”
