Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 21 September 2022.
It is very important that young people in Wales are given an education that enables them to navigate the world in which we live and understand the challenges that young people face, which certainly I didn't face when I was at their age, and that is the underlying purpose and effect of the relationships and sexuality education code and guidance. The Member will be very well aware that there is a public debate fomented by many who are keen to share misinformation in relation to the effect of the code and guidance, and I would have hoped that she might have been able to resist the temptation of lending weight to that misleading set of claims.
The code is very clear and, in the way that she said in her question, is very specific about the limitations and restrictions and requirements that apply to the teaching of RSE at different developmental stages. I would invite any Member or indeed any member of the public with an interest in this area to read the code itself, and not to believe some of the claims that are being made about it. It's an area of great sensitivity, and I find it just implausible—. The Member claims that this is already something that she is concerned about. We are two weeks into the introduction of the new curriculum. So, the material that is being talked about by some of the groups that are seeking to misrepresent the position simply is not the product of the Welsh education system, and I hope that she will find a way of distancing herself from those claims.