The Catholic Education Partnership has said it is “disappointed that the spiritual aspect of wellbeing has been neglected” in the new draft Social Personal and Heath Education (SPHE) syllabus released last week by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The Bishops’ agency expressed the hope that the NCCA “will recognise the importance of this element at all levels of SPHE”.
While giving a cautious welcome to some aspects of the draft program, the CEP said it is “essential to explicitly recognise and respect [the role of parents] in all SPHE programmes”.
In addition, the organisation noted the use of terms like “allyship” and ‘”privileged status”, in the draft. These terms are often used in an American context to imply that white people have a “privileged” status in society compared with people from ethnic minorities and must be prepared to challenge and even overturn current social structures. Critics say this approach, often called ‘Critical Race Theory’, pits one group against another.
The CEP said “the ethical question of justice among peoples would be “better served by ideas grounded in solidarity”.
