Parents have just three more days to complete a Department of Education survey on ‘what kind of education system do we need for the years ahead’ – although observers have argued that awareness amongst parents is “probably pretty low”.
The survey comes at a time when persistent controversies around education have led to criticism of inclusion in the school curriculum of divisive theories such as gender ideology, and explicit content, while lessons using Critical Social Justice Theory – teaching ‘woke’ lessons including the proposition that some children may have ‘white privilege’, for example – is seen as underpinning much of the recent changes to what is being taught in schools.
In addition, recent widespread ‘Save our SNAs’ protests supported by teachers schools and parents last week forced the government to row back on plans for possible cuts to Special Needs Assistants.
Researcher Eugene Garvin said that the survey was an opportunity for parents to give important feedback and to express opinion – including dissatisfaction – regarding the education system, including the curriculum and the material used in schools. “Awareness of the survey is probably pretty low, so it’s important that parents take the chance to express their opinions,” he said.
He pointed towards a contentious lesson on a school SPHE textbook in August 2024 where a Irish family – Family A – who loved GAA, and played Irish music and liked Irish food and culture were portrayed as also being bigoted and and small-minded, especially in relation to diverse families, saying that parents now had an opportunity to express concern with the direction of the curriculum.
Successive controversies have also arisen regarding the influence of high-profile academics seeking to shape sex-education in Ireland and challenging the assumption of sexual innocence in children.
“The survey is open to everyone interested in education,” Mr Garvin said, “and we’ve seen that many parents are now more interested in how content which they believe is unscientific or harmful or supportive of Critical Theory ended up in schoolbooks and school programs unbeknownst to families.”
THE SURVEY
“From a child’s first day of pre-school all the way through to higher studies, education is an important part of life,” the Department’s website says. “Now you can have your say on how it should evolve, through the National Conversation on Education.”
“This National Conversation on Education will help inform the Convention on Education, which will take place in 2026,” they add. The closing date for the survey – accessible here – is Saturday 28th Feb. The survey is taken anonymously but a eircode must be submitted which the Department says “is only to de-duplicate responses and once this is done, it is deleted from your response.”
“By participating in the National Conversation you can help shape the future of education in Ireland. Contributions will be analysed to identify themes for meetings of the Convention. Your views will help inform issues for discussion on what should change, what should be prioritised, and how to make education better for all children and young people,”the Department says.
Mr Garvin, who works with activist group Natural Woman’s Council, said that curricula at both Primary and Secondary level had incorporated woke ideologies on gender, race, and climate, and were doing so on a “whole school” basis, which he said meant it cropped up across “every subject and every class”.
Lessons in schoolbooks on transgender issues have included exercises where First Year students are supposed to respond to a young girl who describes her body as being “stupid” with “stupid breasts”.
He said that parents were the primary educators of their children, “yet the Department and its various authorities seem to view parents as simply another stakeholder, equivalent to an NGO – and the NGOs seem to be all of the same mindset in relation to what is appropriate to teach in schools, in fact, they are very likely to be clashing with parents on this.”
“Only 30 parents are invited to be involved in the Convention, and we seem to have very little idea about how they are being picked or who they represent,” he said.
“One of the key concerns regarding school textbooks is that the Department takes no responsibility for the content of same,” Mr Garvin said. “The book publisher uses curriculum guidelines but there is no oversight process with the Department, which is absurd and must change.”
He urged parents to “look at your children’s books” before completing the survey. “There is so much woke stuff appearing – and gender ideology, climate change and more now permeate subjects from English to Maths to SPHE.
Mr Garvin said that parents’ groups had previously spoken out after they felt the National Curriculum body (NCCA) had “deliberately downplayed” the fact that the “vast majority” of submissions made by parents on proposed new sex-ed classes were “strongly opposed to teaching transgender ideology and porn in schools” – and he said that they had learned that the could make their voices effectively heard.