Schools should provide “basic information regarding sexuality in the fullest sense”, President Michael D Higgins has said in a statement that comes amid debate surrounding the contents of a new school curriculum.
In his message for International Women’s Day, the President also made reference to the need for any Covid-19 inquiry to address the impact of the pandemic on women.
By convention, the President does usually not comment on matters of Government policy. However, in his statement he made pointed remarks about sex education and related issues.
This week Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin criticised a letter sent to Minister for Education Norma Foley by the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), which argued against the teaching of transgender issues to young children.
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In his message, the President said there was a need “for the appropriate dissemination of basic information regarding sexuality in the fullest sense, by those responsible for providing education”.
He added: “The requirement for respect to be shown, and the right for it to be experienced, should be available to all. It is necessary that it be taught, encouraged, and its absence sanctioned.”
[ Taoiseach backs inclusion of transgender identity in primary school curriculumOpens in new window ]
In the letter to Ms Foley, the CPSMA expressed its belief that any decision to teach primary schoolchildren about transgenderism “would be counterproductive, generating unnecessary divisions in school communities where none now exists”.
In his statement, Mr Higgins noted that International Women’s Day was “a special day, when we celebrate and remember the achievements of all the many great women who have had a profound impact on our lives”.
“Importantly, it is also a day when we must challenge the many wrongs which so many women both in Ireland and across the globe are forced to face,” he said. “While every achievement towards equality is to be celebrated, there can be no doubt that women suffered disproportionately during the Covid-19 pandemic. Any reflection on the Covid period must address that fact.”
