The UK government has put together draft legislation to teach crucial first aid skills to elementary and secondary school students.

The public's lack of first aid skills came up following the May 2017 terrorist bombing at Manchester Arena which killed 22 people.  An investigation praised the public's response but found that many people would liked to have helped the dying and jured morethan they did - they just didn't know how.

Likewise, the British Heart Foundation said teaching First Aid skills to students would improve "shockingly low survival rates from cardiac arrests".  Fewer than one in ten people in the UK survive cardiac arrests suffered outside of hospital, with 10,000 people dying each year as a result.

The government's draft legislation specifies that primary school children will be taught basic first aid, such as dealing with head injuries and calling emergency services.  Children in secondary school would be taught CPR and the purpose of defibrillators.  Education Secretary Damian Hinds says the plan is to give young people "the tools they need to be ready to thrive when they leave school".

In an important advancement for social development, the draft legislation also contains plans to allow 15-year-olds to opt-in to sex education classes, even if their parents had already withdrew the student for religious reasons.