To ask the Minister of Education, given the outcomes of the research report commissioned by his Department in 2017 on the post-primary school experiences of 16-21 year old people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender, for an update on his Department’s work taking forward the findings of this report and specifically around awareness raising on the dangers to children and young people of conversion therapy.

The “Post-primary school experiences of 16-21 year old people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transgender (LGB&T)” was commissioned by the Department in 2015 and published in September 2017. Since the report the following have been carried out/implemented:

The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, once commenced, will provide a common definition of bullying; require all schools to centrally record incidents of bullying, their motivation and their outcome; and require each school’s Board of Governors to be actively involved in setting its anti-bullying policies, monitoring their implementation and ensuring these are regularly reviewed.

The Department funds and works alongside the Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum (NIABF) to raise awareness of all forms of bullying; promote best-practice in schools; provide effective support to pupils who have been bullied; and to work with pupils who have engaged in bullying to address their behavioural difficulties. In 2018, the NIABF published a Supplement for Effective Responses to Bullying Behaviour on “Supporting Schools when Responding to Bullying Incidents Involving Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Children and Young People.”

In 2019, the Education Authority published, “Guidance for Schools, EOTAS Centres, and Youth Service on supporting Transgender Young People”. The non-statutory guidance aims to support schools and other educational settings to develop and sustain effective pastoral care systems which can accommodate and develop the social, emotional, educational, physical and spiritual needs of all pupils within the school ethos.

Since 2018, the Department has provided the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) with earmarked funding to develop guidance and resources to support the teaching of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. In June 2019, CCEA launched an online RSE Hub to facilitate easy access to these resources and links to external resources. The RSE Hub includes a section on “LGBTQ+ Matters” and references the 2017 report.

The 2017 report does not specifically mention conversion therapy.

In “Safeguarding and Child Protection in Schools - A Guide for Schools” the Department stated, “all pupils have the right to learn in a safe and secure environment, to be treated with respect and dignity, and not to be treated any less favourably due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation”