'Teach Urdu and sex' to pupils of five
CHILDREN as young as five should be given lessons in sex, a report for the Government said yesterday.
It also called for classes in multi-culturalism – at the same time as the teaching of traditional subjects is cut back.
An official review of primary school education is considering giving more weight to “personal development” at the expense of time spent on subjects such as history, geography and religious studies.
Parents and teachers have also called for languages such as Urdu, Polish and Arabic to be taught at an early age.
A similar review of the secondary school curriculum caused outrage last year when it led to the compulsory teaching of the life of Sir Winston Churchill being dropped.
The Conservatives last night warned that cutting back on traditional subjects will damage children’s development.
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said: “If the primary curriculum is watered down so lessons on lifestyle are given the same status as traditional subjects it is the most disadvantaged children who will be worst affected.
“Children are not able to personally develop and succeed if they don’t have a grasp of basic subjects such as maths and English early on.”
The primary school curriculum is being reviewed by Sir Jim Rose after Schools Secretary Ed Balls called for “some of the clutter” to be removed.
Yesterday’s report summarised the views from a series of seminars attended by more than 1,500 teachers, health care experts, governors, parents and pupils.
They said the curriculum for five to 11-year-olds should give as much weight to personal development and skills as lessons in English and maths.
The report said: “Several areas were held to be important including healthy lifestyles, sex and relationships, drugs and alcohol education, philosophy, self-esteem and helping children to understand multiple cultural identities.”
