GPs in Northland have had patients as young as 11 who were pregnant, a Select Committee has heard. Photo: 123RF
A Northland MP says local GPs have told him they see children as young as 11 pregnant.
The revelation came during the Education Review Office's appearance before the Education and Workforce Select Committee today.
The committee was considering ERO's work in the 2023/24 year, including its report last year on sexuality and relationships education in schools.
Northland and National Party MP Grant McCallum asked officials if there was discussion about when relationships and sexuality education should start for girls.
"The context for me is, I was in a community just recently and the local GP clinic were informing me they were getting girls as young as 11 turning up pregnant," he said.
ERO deputy chief executive Ruth Shinoda responded that ERO's investigation found girls wanted relationships and sexuality lessons earlier than boys.
"What we found is it's really important for everyone, girls, boys to have absolute knowledge; consent for example is equally important for boys as girls, human reproduction and the consequences - equally as important," she said.
"What we did find, and this is in many things in education where girls develop more early, is that girls wanted earlier and more and boys wanted later and less."
Shinoda said the main problem was too much variability between what schools taught and when they taught it.
"There was a lot of talk about some of the things that people need to know consistently earlier, but the biggest problem was the variability.
"So whilst parents did want some things earlier and some things more the biggest problem was the variability.
"So it depended what school you went to what you got and at what age," she said.
Shinoda said some schools were pulling back from relationships and sexuality education at a time when students needed it more than ever.
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