The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) is calling on the government to make personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) a statutory part of the curriculum to protect teachers from parents' "brainwashing" accusations. The situation is reportedly fraught in primary schools because of disagreements about teaching sex and relationship education (SRE).
PSHE And SRE Controversy
The teaching of PSHE and SRE in schools has long been controversial. According to BBC News, the NAHT, other teaching unions and many public bodies have been demanding for ministers to change the subjects' status and make it statutory.
Earlier this year, four key House of Commons committees also wrote to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, urging for sex education to be made statutory in primaries and secondaries. This call came amid the burgeoning availability of sexual material on the internet and in social media as well as the increasing sexualization of young people.
"These are controversial topics that our society doesn't wholly agree on and teachers have to be quite brave sometimes, I think, in [addressing these topics] and we should have their back when they do that," NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said, TES.com quotes.
NAHT Annual Conference
Education secretary Nicky Morgan stressed earlier this year that she will not prioritize making sex and relationships education statutory in all schools. But the union said it will renew its calls for PSHE to be made statutory by the government in all schools at the NAHT annual conference next week.
"We don't think we need to make it statutory to make teachers do it," Hobby explained. "[We should] make it statutory to protect teachers when they do it because otherwise they are vulnerable to accusations that they are pursuing a personal agenda."
Hobby also added that teachers are absorbing the PSHE and SRE controversy by not making it statutory. He emphasized that it should be the government who's absorbing it and not the educators.
"We have seen really difficult situations with parents who disagree with the philosophies that are being raised," Hobby added. "They say, 'You're doing this, you're brainwashing our children.' It is really helpful for professionals in the front line who are very exposed to be able to say, 'No, this is a duty and it is government regulation and every school in the country does it.'"
Teachers Are Uncomfortable Teaching PSHE And SRE
Meanwhile, not all teachers were reportedly comfortable in delivering the lessons for PSHE and SRE. According to NAHT policy adviser and former teacher Sarah Hannafin, some educators don't want to teach sex education because they feel uncomfortable doing it.
Hannafin, however, stressed that importance of training as well as having dedicated curriculum time so there'll be dedicated teachers teaching the subjects, The Guardian reports. She also highlighted the fact that problems arise in some schools because everyone is teaching PSHE.
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