Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the paper published by the Commission for Countering Extremism in October 2019 entitled Mainstream Islamism in Britain: educating for the Islamic Revival.

The department acknowledges the report published by the Commission for Countering Extremism in 2019. This report raises several issues related to integration, extremism, and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).

The department is clear that education plays a vital role in promoting integration and ensuring children and young people are prepared for life in modern Britain, including through learning about the values that underpin and unite our society. All schools have specific duties to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of their pupils and to prepare them for the opportunities and responsibilities of adult life. Schools are required to promote the fundamental British values (FBVs) of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.

The department is committed to keeping children safe from extremism and has taken strong action to prevent extremism from gaining a foothold in our schools across the country, including:

• guidance on the promotion of FBVs so that schools have a clear understanding of what is required and how best to practically deliver these.
• powers to take action against individual teachers or governors who act in a way which undermines FBVs.
• working with Ofsted to strengthen their inspection frameworks, requiring inspectors to assess how well schools protect pupils from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and how they promote FBVs.
• providing additional resources to Ofsted to inspect suspected unregistered independent schools.
• a counter-extremism helpline and online referral form to ensure those working in the sector and the public can report extremism concerns directly to the department to be investigated where appropriate.
• our Educate Against Hate website providing advice, support, and resources for parents, teachers, and school leaders to help them protect young people from extremism and radicalisation.

Since 2020, relationships and health education has been compulsory in all primary schools, and relationships, sex and health education has been compulsory in all secondary schools. The department set out the topics that schools should teach about in RSHE statutory guidance, which is clear that schools are responsible for what they teach and should ensure that all content is factual, age appropriate and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations. When teaching, schools should take into account the age of pupils and their religious and cultural background. The department’s statutory guidance on RSHE is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

The department continues to keep this area under close review. On 8 March, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced that the department has started a review of the guidance. This will cover the full scope of the statutory guidance, and we will be working closely with our stakeholders and experts to draw on the best available evidence about high quality RSHE which meets the needs of young people.