Older post-primary students will learn about the importance of consent, the influence pornography can have on behaviours and expectations, and how to recognise an abusive relationship under a new Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) syllabus that is being published today in draft form.
Public consultation on the senior cycle proposals is under way, with the aim to have a new programme in place in schools by September 2024.
Unlike the current SPHE programme, which is timetabled in fewer than one in five schools, the new curriculum will be mandatory across the post-primary sector.
It will be taught across both fifth and sixth year.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment said the draft programme has been designed to be "inclusive of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, religious beliefs, social classes and abilities/disabilities".
It said it should be taught in a way that fully integrates and reflects LGBTQ+ identities, relationships and families.
The "more effective" programme is being introduced as a result of "growing evidence of the challenges that young people in Ireland face as they navigate growing up today, coupled with evidence of the important role that school-based health education programmes can play in supporting young people's social, emotional and physical well-being", according to the NCCA.
National policies also state that a redeveloped curriculum should specifically address gender equality, healthy and unhealthy relationships, consent, and domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
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The programme will have three strands.
The first, Health and Well-being, will focus on students' physical, social, emotional and mental health.
The second, Relationships and Sexuality, will focus on learning how to create and maintain respectful, caring and healthy relationships.
The final strand, Into Adulthood, will encourage students to develop a range of skills, including understanding their legal rights and responsibilities and how to be an ally for people experiencing discrimination or inequality.
As part of the Relationships and Sexuality strand, fifth and sixth year students will be expected to "discuss sexual activity as an aspect of adult relationships characterised by care, respect, consent, intimacy and mutual pleasure".
They will also examine "how harmful attitudes around gender are perpetuated in the media, online and in society and discuss strategies for challenging these attitudes and narratives".
Students will be encouraged to investigate the influence of pornography on attitudes, behaviours and relationship expectations, and to discuss image-based abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape and what to do if they or someone they know has experienced any of these.
Public consultation on the draft syllabus will run until mid-October.
A new syllabus for Junior Cycle students is due to be introduced this coming September.
