DCU welcomes decisions of Press Ombudsman and Press Council

DCU welcomes the recent decision of the Press Ombudsman, upheld by the Press Council, regarding the University’s complaint about articles published by Gript.ie.

The decision by the Press Ombudsman stated

“The articles purported to reveal that the course presented teachers with exercises that were for replication in school classrooms, and that these used extremely sexually explicit language and visual materials showing sexual organs and sexual activity.”

The Ombudsman found that the articles “contained no evidence that DCU was doing anything other than running a post graduate course to enable adult teachers of SPHE/RSE to teach the subject to secondary school children in support of the national curriculum.”

This decision was upheld by The Press Council.

The University has always maintained that materials used on the Graduate Diploma in SPHE/RSE are provided only to the teachers as adults in the context of their broader SPHE/RSE education on the programme. The Ombudsman’s decision, and that of the Press Council, vindicates this.

The University stands firmly over the content of the course and with the academic staff who deliver it.

The Press Ombudsman’s decision can be read in full here.

More information about the course is available at dcu.ie/sphe 

A number of teachers have also spoken about their positive experience of the DCU programme.

The Graduate Diploma in SPHE/RSE continues to train teachers in the provision of the curriculum, and welcomed a new cohort at the beginning of this year.