The Green party’s only MP is to present a bill to parliament that seeks to make the teaching of personal, social and health education (PSHE) compulsory in schools.
Caroline Lucas, the MP for Brighton Pavilion, will introduce a 10-minute rule bill to parliament after prime minister’s questions on Wednesday urging the education minister, Nicky Morgan, to introduce statutory PSHE lessons for children in England and Wales.
In February, the education select committee backed calls for compulsory PSHE and sex education. Morgan told parliament on 15 June the government would respond to the committee’s recommendations by 26 June, but it has not yet done so.
An Ofsted report in 2013 said PSHE and sex education was inadequate in 40% of schools, and said this could leave children more vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
Lucas said: “As well as being an essential part of safeguarding our children, PSHE has huge potential in relation to employability and academic attainment. PSHE teaches young people the skills they need to make good choices and to think things through. It’s not rocket science that these skills have benefits well beyond the classroom.
“The last statutory SRE [sex and relationships education] guidance was produced 15 years ago. We’ve had a thorough cross-party inquiry recommending statutory status, and ministers say PSHE is needed and important. So it’s time for government action.”
Lucas’s bill has received support from across the political spectrum, with four Labour MPs, Conservative Caroline Nokes and Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb backing it.
More than 100 organisations have joined a PSHE Association campaign for statutory PSHE education, including Mumsnet, Stonewall, Girlguiding and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.
Lucas tabled a similar bill to make PSHE compulsory in schools in July 2014, but it did not achieve a debate in parliament. Lucas hopes to persuade the government to give the issue some consideration this time around.
“I know that some people fear that PSHE can expose children to sexualisation but the exact opposite is true,” said Lucas. “A PSHE lesson for younger children wouldn’t be exposing them to anything graphic or upsetting. It would work to improve children’s grasp of what it means to give and receive consent generally.
“The idea is that this gives them the solid building blocks they need as they encounter more complicated situations as they get older. Good quality PSHE, which is what this is all about, would always be age-appropriate and that’s why teachers need the training statutory status would give.”
