DepEd to include sex education in schools

Despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church, newly appointed Education Secretary Mona Valisno on Wednesday said she is committed to integrate sex education in the country’s basic education curriculum.

“We will make it happen. We will continue with its implementation because we really need this. We will talk with the Church and make them understand that it is a very important topic that our school children should learn,” Valisno said in an interview.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. In fact, we are already teaching it to school children in subjects like Science and Araling Panlipunan [Social Studies],” the DepEd chief cited.

Valisno said the department has been working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) for the “soft” implementation of a campaign dubbed “Power of You,” an information program that aims to reach at least 12,000 high-school students and inform them about sex-related diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

The program will be introduced in 29 schools in the National Capital Region, Cebu, Zamboanga, Davao, Olongapo and Masbate.

The official also clarified that the sex education modules are specifically designed to raise awareness of students about the consequences of premarital sex either by choice or due to pressure from peer group.

“It will be better if the schools teach sex education [rather than have the children pick up ideas about sex from dubious sources such as the Internet],” Valisno added in Taglish.

She said the number of youths with sex-related diseases has risen to an alarming rate due mainly to ignorance.

The 2003 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey (YAFSS) had shown that some 28 percent of young adults thought that acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was curable and 73 percent believed they were immune to the disease.

The survey also showed that the overall prevalence of sexual activity increased to 23 percent from 18 percent between 1994 and 2002.

“It is only proper that children be taught the issue especially with the rising incidents of premarital sex among the youth and teenage pregnancy,” Valisno said.

Moreover, she said “the country’s investment in education will only be put to waste if the population continue to grow at an outstanding rate.”

Earlier, former Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz accused Valisno and Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral of establishing a “destructive farewell” for the administration after the two officials openly expressed support for sex education among the youth.

Cabral figured in a verbal clash with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which criticized the move of her department to give away free condoms on Valentine’s Day last month as part of its effort to educate the public about the rising HIV and the AIDS cases in the country today.

The Health department is also pushing a P400-million program to purchase condoms. –JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ Reporter, Manila Times