PM pledges review into ‘inappropriate’ school sex lessons

RISHI Sunak has pledged to ensure young children are not receiving ‘inappropriate’ sex education lessons at school.

The Prime Minister told MPs yesterday that he shared their concerns about what young pupils are being taught, and parents being blocked from seeing controversial materials.

He announced that he has asked the Department for Education to review what pupils are learning in Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) classes, after dozens of Conservative MPs called for a probe into the material being shown.

RSHE is part of the required curriculum for schools in England.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Sunak was told by Tory backbencher Miriam Cates: ‘Graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely and 72 genders – this is what passes for relationships and sex education in British schools.

‘Across the country, children are being subjected to lessons that are age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate.’

She asked if Mr Sunak would ‘honour his commitment to end inappropriate sex education by commissioning an independent inquiry into the nature and extent of this safeguarding scandal’.

The PM replied: ‘I have asked the Department for Education to ensure that schools are not teaching inappropriate or contested content in relationships, sex and health education. Schools should also make curriculum content and materials available to parents.

‘We are bringing forward a review of RSHE statutory guidance and will start our consultation as soon as possible.’

Ms Cates later said she welcomed the review but stressed that it must be carried out independently of the Department for Education. ‘They should not be marking their own homework,’ she said.

In a letter signed by 50 MPs including former home secretary Priti Patel as well as Ms Cates and former education minister Andrea Jenkyns, the PM was warned that children are ‘being taught about extreme and dangerous sex acts, encouraged to share intimate details about sexual desires with classmates

‘Disturbing material’

and teachers’. The letter added: ‘It is unconscionable that our children are being forced to engage with such disturbing materials.’

Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: ‘The PM has asked for the Department for Education to make sure all schools are compliant with existing guidance.’

The department is already under pressure to publish guidance for teachers on navigating trans issues.