Northern Ireland needs 'better sex education'

More cash and reforms are needed to improve sex education for young people in Northern Ireland, according to an Ulster University academic.

Dorothy Whittington, a health psychologist, said that teenage pregnancy in Northern Ireland was under-researched and that the provision of advice and guidance services was patchy.

Professor Whittington said: "We need a more effective system that is uniformly delivered to young people across the province. Present provision of sex education and parenthood guidance - while containing elements of very good practice - is very uneven. We need to ensure that parenthood is planned, rather than being a crisis in a young person's life."

The university held a conference into teenage pregnancy earlier this month.