Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The Guardian (London) (11.06.09) - Friday, November 06, 2009
Jessica Shepherd
About 0.04 percent of pupils are excused from sex education under current provisions, according to government officials.
Debate on the law exposed long-standing differences in Britain on the role of government in providing sex education. The representative of a teaching union was disappointed to see the right to remove any student from the curriculum.
"Allowing parents to withdraw their child from sex and relationship lessons up to the age of 15 does not sit well with a statutory entitlement. If it is important enough to be a statutory provision then it is important enough for every child to receive it," said Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union.
Under the new law, primary and second schools will teach personal, social health, and economic education to children from the age of the five. Currently, schools have taught only the fundamentals of reproduction, contraception, and puberty as part of a science curriculum.
Faith-based schools are free to provide the education in the context of their "values" and "ethos." "It is open to faith schools to teach what they believe, according to the tenets of their faith," Schools Secretary Ed Balls said.
Proponents of the new law expressed the hope it would reduce Britain's teenage pregnancy rate, one of the highest in Europe.
"Evidence shows that sex and relationships education help young people to delay early sex and make healthy choices when they eventually do become sexually active," said Gill Frances, chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Advisory Group.
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