Education on consent and pornography to become mandatory in Irish schools

Beginning in September 2027, a new curriculum, including topics of pornography and consent, will be mandatory in secondary schools. The new curriculum is part of the updated Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE) programme.

For students who follow the leaving certificate applied programme, this curriculum will become mandatory from September of next year. 

This program is one of 12 new and revised Leaving Certificate subjects that were published by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA), replacing their 13-year-old optional syllabus.

With three core strands, the targeted subjects focus on Health and Wellbeing, Relationships, and Sexuality, aiming to address consent, pornography, sexual health, and transitioning from school to adult life. 

The NCCA has stated that the Relationships and Sexuality strand, "aims to build awareness and skills for healthy relationships - whether with friends, families or romantic relationships" and addresses Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

With current curriculum standards, fewer than 20% of post-primary schools include SPHE classes for senior cycle students. Under the new programme, schools will be required to deliver 60 hours of teaching, the equivalent of one hour per week 

Despite the curriculum advancements, there have also been concerns regarding teachers abilities to deliver new courses with a potential lack of training.

SPHE coordinator Eoghan Cleary, who is an assistant principal at Templecarrig Secondary School, explains the lack of current training for teachers to teach a senior cycle course.

"We need the training to be able to treat train every year from First to Third Year. There are trainings out there available through places like the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for specific areas of the programme," Cleary says, "but those trainings take four days. The idea that you'd be trained in the entire programme in a two-day training and through the department, you know, it doesn't weigh up."

The Department of Education has announced schools will have until 2027 to introduce the new curriculum. The transition period is designed by the Department of Education to support the integration of the new curriculum into class schedules.