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SEX EDUCATION GUIDELINES & THE LEARNING AND SKILLS BILL
The Evangelical Alliance have supplied us with the following briefing:
The Government have come under increasing pressure to answer concerns that have been raised in the debate over Section 28.
Their response has been to issue guidelines on how sex education should be taught in schools, and to enshrine the main principles of these guidelines in law through the Learning and Skills Bill.
This Bill primarily deals with post-16 education and the section on sex education guidelines is an amendment that has been made at the very final stage of the Bill in the House of Lords.
The Government amendment states that:
1) "The Secretary of State must issue guidance designed to ensure that the following general objectives are met when sex education is given to registered pupils at maintained schools.
2) The general objectives are that the pupils -
a) learn about the nature of marriages and its importance for family life and for the bringing up of children;
b) learn the significance of marriage and stable relationships as key building blocks of community and society;
c) learn to respect accurate information for the purposes of enabling them to understand the difference and of preventing or removing prejudice;
d) are protected from inappropriate teaching materials.
3) Additional objectives are that the pupils -
a) learn to understand human sexuality;
b) learn the reasons for delaying sexual activity and the benefits to be gained from such delay;
c) learn about obtaining appropriate advice on sexual health.
4) The Secretary of State's guidance must also be designed to secure that sex education given to registered pupils at maintained schools contributes to -
a) promoting the spiritual moral, cultural, mental and physical development of the pupils and of society;
b) preparing the pupils for the opportunities, responsibility's and experiences of adult life."
These proposals have on the one hand encouraged some Christians to be sympathetic to the government's stance but on the other hand there is a serious risk of a moral buy-out by causing confusion with the Section 28 issue.
One of the main difficulties is that these guidelines in themselves have no legal force and even though they may be codified in the Learning and Skills Bill, the Secretary of State may at any time reverse his guidance!
Concerns have been raised over these proposals and the sex education guidelines themselves, which basically hold that a stable relationship is equal to marriage. However we welcome the encouragement on young people to delay sexual behaviour and the benefits associated with delaying sexual practice.
CARE have produced a very useful briefing paper pointing out many of these concerns and it will be available on their Web Site (www.care.org.uk) soon.
The main points include concern that there is no real distinction between stable relationships and marriage. 'Stable relationship' can mean many things, how long constitutes stable? Three months, three years? It is a difficult line to draw.
The clause that would prevent inappropriate material reaching schools is also to be welcomed, but clarification of what "inappropriate" means would be advantageous. The amendments are on the whole to be welcomed but there are significant problems with the wording. However these amendments do not deal with the wider issue of Section 28 which deals predominantly with Local Authority Funding and the promotion of homosexuality, and we are still concerned that this is not lost.
EA understand that Baroness Young is attempting to resolve some of these problems through her own amendment to the Government's amendment. These will look at the nature of stable relationships and the significance of marriage over other types of relationship.
Please pray that the Lords will debate these issues fully and look at all the arguments for and against.
Please pray that Baroness Young will put her point across well, and the Peers will vote according to their conscience rather than party lines.
Pray for a good turnout for the vote, that those on both sides will attend the debate and vote, giving a clear message to the Government.
Pray that this issue will not become confused with Section 28 and the campaign against the repeal. That a clear division can be made between sex education in schools, and local authority funding in our communities.
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