Bill to make sex education statuatory postponed until February
A debate of a bill which would make Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education a statutory requirement for schools has been postponed until February.
The bill – which would make inclusive sex and relationship education mandatory in all schools – was tabled last month by Green MP Caroline Lucas, and was due to have its second reading in the Commons yesterday.
However, the debate was postponed – and the bill re-tabled for a second reading in February 2015.
Caroline Lucas said: “Thanks to the massive campaign supporting my PSHE Bill, Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, today promised to take concrete steps to improve the consistency and quality of Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education in our schools.
“In correspondence with me, she agreed that PSHE is ‘exceptionally important’ and I hope we’ll have made real progress towards ensuring every child gets good PSHE by the time the Bill comes back to Parliament in February.
“There’s been cross party support in Parliament too, with many MPs joining me to make the case that as well as including age appropriate Sex and Relationships Education, PSHE needs to include a wide range of subjects from life-saving CPR to how to be responsible with money.”
“In future I hope every child will get the PSHE they rightfully deserve.”
The PSHE Association wrote: “While this is disappointing for all those who were looking forward to seeing PSHE education debated in Parliament today, this remains a time of great possibility for the subject and Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, has made a positive statement in response to the Bill, stating her belief that PSHE education is ‘exceptionally important’.”
A separate Sex and Relationships Education (Curriculum) Bill, sponsored by Labour MP Diana Johnson, is set to be debated on November 21.
