Sex and relationships education should be made compulsory in colleges to help young people avoid “potentially harmful and dangerous situations”, MPs have said.
Currently relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) is mandatory in secondary schools up to the age of 16. But the gap between 16 and 18 without RSHE means young people are left “under-supported” and “less equipped” with important knowledge about RSHE, according to a report by the Women and Equalities Select Committee.
The report follows an inquiry by the select committee into sexual harassment in schools and colleges, following the emergence of the MeToo movement and of Everyone’s Invited, an online platform set up to document stories of harassment which went viral.
Ofsted also published a review in 2021 covering sexual abuse in schools and colleges – which the MPs welcomed but said needed to go further. For instance, the select committee warned female staff are “not immune” from abuse and called on Ofsted to investigate their abuse by other staff, pupils and parents as part of its inspections.
