22-05-2025
Children's Ombudsman received 371 complaints last year as part of 'campaign' against SPHE syllabus
THE OMBUDSMAN FOR Children's Office received 371 complaints last year regarding the SPHE syllabus.
The Office said the complaints were made as part of a 'campaign' regarding the SPHE syllabus.
The figures are contained in the
Office's annual report for 2024.
The SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education) curriculum
has been the target of disinformation campaigns.
Last year, the Department of Education acknowledged that it was aware of a YouTube video that claimed 'disturbing' practices would be introduced to Irish classrooms as part of the SPHE syllabus.
'It is understood that a video has been circulating suggesting that teachers will be expected to introduce certain explicit and inappropriate topics and materials in the classroom,' read the Department memo last October.
'The Department of Education and DCU have confirmed this is categorically not the case.'
The memo also dismissed as 'false' a suggestion in the video that teachers would be expected to teach or introduce pornography or explicit topics.
It said that the curriculum 'categorically does not expose children to graphic or explicit content' and does not normalise the use of pornography among secondary school students.
The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, acknowledged that there was a 'period of time in which there was a lot of misinformation in relation to the SPHE curriculum'.
'We got a series of complaints which looked for us to investigate the content of the curriculum, which is not part of our remit, so we couldn't look into it at that stage,' he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Meanwhile, the Office received some 1,772 contacts in relation to complaints last year, almost identical to the number of complaints received the year previous.
However, the Office said that the there is an 'increase in the complexity of the complaints being made'.
The Office said that 16% of complaints related to more than one agency, while 33% included multiple categories of concern.
Some 33% of complaints related to education and the most complained about issue within education were special educational supports, bullying and complaints management within schools.
Some 19% of complaints were also aimed at Tusla and related to children in residential and special care, access to interventions and supports, and concerns from young people about complaint handling.
And while not counted as complaints to the Office, there was an 88% rise in Child Protection and Welfare concerns received in 2024 compared to the previous year, with the figure jumping to 140.
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These are handled separately to the issues raised in a complaint.
Complaints resolution
Elsewhere, the Office said it encourages 'local resolution of complaints' that 'usually result in quick wins'.
One such 'quick win' related to a complaint from a student who had Cerebral Palsy and only had the use of her left hand.
She applied to use a voice-to-text device for the Leaving Cert but was refused.
Her parents wrote to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) but never got a response.
The Office contacted the SEC, which then granted the use of the device and the issue was resolved days before the exam started.
But some cases take longer to resolve, such as that of a six-year-old who was 'locked in a side room off the main classroom when he had become disruptive'.
The student was in an autism spectrum disorder class in a mainstream school, said the Office.
His mother complained to the school's Board of Management but was left 'deeply unhappy with how her complaint was responded to by the Board'.
She contacted the Children's Ombudsman and when the Office became involved in the case, the school's Board of Management (BOM) acknowledged that 'their approach to managing the complaint fell below standard'.
'They confirmed that a letter of complaint was not read aloud to the BOM, and they took the word of the principal that the matters were being dealt with accordingly,' said the Office's report.
'They acknowledged they were a relatively new BOM with a new chairperson and advised that they have since made changes to their practice.'
The school then provided extra supports to the student and the Office was 'assured that such seclusion practice is no longer in place'.
The school also apologised to the student and his mother 'for their poor handling of the complaint and any impact that the seclusion may have had on his integration into the school community'.
The Ombudsman for Children's Office was established in 2004 to protect and promote the rights of children in Ireland.
The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, remarked that 'in the current climate of uncertainty and change, it is more important than ever for the State to bed down its commitment on children's rights'.
'Ireland is now at a crossroads of what can be achieved for children and this Office will continue to push for the rights of children to be the signpost that is followed at all times,' said Muldoon.
'By doing that we can bring to life the Government's promise to make Ireland the best place in Europe for children to grow up.'
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