- Conference
- 2015 National LGBT Conference
- Date
- 14 July 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that there is a growing call for ‘Sex and Relationship Education Lessons’ (SREL) to be included as a statutory part of our education system, including at previous UNISON Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) conferences.
Reasons for the call include:
1. The fact that the United Kingdom has the worst rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections in Western Europe;
2. Recent investigations and scandals related to child sexual exploitation and so-called ‘sexualisation’ of children;
3. Continuing levels of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in schools;
4. The fact that most school students never hear LGBT issues mentioned in the classroom and are given no advice about same sex relationships.
Conference notes that the previous Coalition Government repeatedly rejected these calls. A group of cross-party Members of Parliament have criticised the Tory-led Government’s approach to these matters as weak and insufficient in dealing with providing and equipping the country’s young people with appropriate protection, information and knowledge around SREL.
In England, OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) have reported that around 40% of schools need to improve their approach to SREL and even recommends that SREL should become a part of the National Curriculum. Graham Stuart, chair of Education Standards Committee stated:
“There is an overwhelming demand for statutory sex and relationships education – from teachers, parents and young people themselves”. Clearly, this is an important and essential aspect of learning for young people.
Conference welcomes the fact that Labour’s LGBT mini-manifesto included the following commitments:
A. Support schools to implement a zero-tolerance approach to LGBT phobic bullying;
B. Ensure all teachers are equipped to tackle homophobic, biphobic and
transphobic bullying;
C. Age-appropriate compulsory sex and relationships education (SRE) in all state-funded schools will ensure children have the opportunity to learn about and respect different family lives.
Conference calls on the national LGBT committee to:
I. Work with the appropriate structures in UNISON to highlight the importance of including LGBT lives and relationships into SREL in schools and build support for the campaign for compulsory SREL;
II. Work with UNISON Labour Link and LGBT Labour to keep this issue on Labour’s agenda.