§ Ms Janet AndersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education whether local education authorities will be required to monitor the numbers of parents exercising their right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons.
§ Mr. Jon Owen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what plans he has to introduce mandatory sex education and at what ages;
(2) what he is doing to introduce compulsory AIDS tuition into schools.
§ Mr. ForthUnder the Education Act 1993, all maintained secondary schools will from autumn 1994 be required to provide sex education for all their registered pupils, including education about HIV and AIDS. All maintained special schools will be required to provide such education for all their pupils of secondary age.
§ Mr. Jon Owen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how many parents exercised the right to exclude their children from sex education lessons in the years 1990, 1991 and 1992.
§ Mr. ForthThere was no statutory right for parents to withdraw their children from sex education lessons in the218W years in question. Under section 241 of the Education Act 1993 we are introducing, from September 1994, the right for the parent of a pupil in attendance at any maintained school to withdraw that pupil from all or part of the school's sex education provision other than those elements which are a requirement of the national curriculum.