More than two-thirds of primary schools have not implemented the Government's sex education programme, five years after it began, mainly because teachers are too busy, according to a new Department of Education report.
Some 70 per cent of the 1,840 teachers surveyed said an "overcrowded curriculum" was the main obstacle to implementing the programme, known as Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE).
Teachers claimed other programmes and changes made it difficult to introduce RSE at the pace originally envisaged by the Department. The belief among some parents and teachers that RSE was not "appropriate" and a vigorous campaign against it by some were also cited by teachers as obstacles. The report, which surveyed teachers and parents last year and this year, said the complaints by teachers about an "overcrowded curriculum" represented grounds for concern.
"It will be crucial in the implementation of the revised curriculum in primary schools and the curricular developments at post-primary level that RSE receives the necessary attention," it said.
The figures for introducing RSE at second level were higher than for primary. Some 41.5 per cent of secondary schools said they had introduced it to all classes, with almost 40 per cent introducing it to some classes. Many other schools were still working on introducing RSE, with the majority still drawing up a programme. At primary level some 58.6 per cent of those who have not introduced RSE said they intended to do so next year.
The report, by Mr Mark Morgan of St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, points out that before the introduction of RSE, 29 per cent of boys' schools and 20 per cent of girls' schools had "no aspect of sex education". The other schools had informal ways of giving sex education, for example through talks by guest speakers.
The report also contains responses of 343 parents on RSE and sex education generally.
Some 42 per cent of parents said they discussed all aspects of relationships and sex education in the home. Some 22 per cent said the "most important features" were discussed and 16.8 per cent said the "basic facts" were discussed "on a few occasions".
Some 5.7 per cent said they gave their child a book or video to learn the most important features, 3.3 per cent got a counsellor or close relative to talk to the child, and the remainder said they "found it difficult" to talk to the children about relationships and sex.
Of those who discussed sex with their children, 58 per cent said both parents got involved, with about 28 per cent replying that the mother broached the topic alone. Only 1.8 per cent of discussions involved the father alone.
There was strong agreement among all parents that the role of the school was to complement what was taught in the home.
More than 90 per cent of parents said it was "entirely inappropriate" that children should rely on the media (particularly teenage magazines) for information on sex.
Parents were asked about the importance of telling pupils about certain topics as part of RSE at Junior Certificate level. Almost 90 per cent said it was of great or some importance to tell them about their sexual organs and their functions.
Almost 13 per cent said it was of little or no importance to tell pupils at this stage about being "straight or gay". However, this fell to 4.4 per cent when considering senior-cycle students.
A contentious area for many years in RSE has been at what age children should be told about their body parts and their correct names. In this report, some 82.1 per cent disagree with the statement that "children in junior classes are much too young to learn the correct names of body parts".
"The language of sexuality is an important issue and there is a consensus that the correct names should be taught from the earliest stages of the RSE programme," the report said.
As reported in The Irish Times recently, another problem has been the reluctance of male teachers to get involved. The Department has commissioned the University of Limerick to investigate the reasons why male teachers are not coming forward in large numbers.