DepEd set to launch sex education in public schools
By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:19:00 03/31/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Despite persistent lobbying by the Catholic Church, the Department of Education is bent on teaching sex education in the public high schools.
The DepEd is awaiting the go-ahead from the Presidential Council on Values Formation (PCVF) which is currently reviewing the secondary teachers’ “adolescent reproductive health manuals,” according to Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus.
“The new draft modules which are subject to PCVF review and approval are purely health and science angles on reproductive health... They are not sex educational materials at all,” Lapus told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
The DepEd furnished the Inquirer with copies of the revised modules, titled “Secondary Teachers’ Toolkit on Adolescent Reproductive Health” and “Patnubay sa Pagtuturo ng Araling Adolescent Reproductive Health para sa Alternative Learning System.”
Lapus stressed that the revised modules were “products of nationwide multisectoral consultations.”
The preparation of the 2006 manuals were jointly funded by the Australian Aid for International Development and the United Nations Fund for Population Awareness.
Asked about the sex education program’s timetable, Lapus said it all depended on the PCVF. “We await the council’s resolution.”
The council was created on April 30, 2004, by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo under Executive Order No. 314.
The Office of the President-attached body is tasked to “serve as the lead agency by which government may work hand in hand with civil society and the private sector in the establishment of a strong foundation for moral value formation in the government bureaucracy.”
The PCVF, chaired by Arroyo, counted “members of the clergy and ministers,” among others, as those seating in the counil, said Lapus.
With regards to its composition, separate checks by Inquirer Research and the DepEd communications office with the PCVF yielded negative results.
For undisclosed reasons, PCVF staff declined to provide the data requested.
When interviewed, Dr. Thelma Santos, director of the DepEd’s Health and Nutrition Center, justified the DepEd’s sex education initiative.
“It is high time public schools provide their adolescent students with the right information about their sexuality,” said Santos.
According to Santos, “distinction should be made between sex education and teaching students to be more aware of their sexuality.”
The revised modules include teaching notes on:
• Pre-marital sex, commercial sex, abortion and homosexuality.
• “Risky sex.” Class discussions on the long-term health and social consequences of sexual risk-taking among adolescents.
• Feelings of admiration for one person of the same or opposite sex. In small group discussions, students will be asked to discuss what they think about dating, boy-girl relationship, how to ask for a date and proper behavior while dating, among others.
• Filipino adolescents’ high awareness but poor knowledge of HIV/AIDS.
• Adolescents’ sexual abstinence. Class discussions on the advantages of delaying sexual activities during adolescence.
The militant Alliance of Concerned Teachers believes the DepEd is on the right track.
“We are in favor of teaching sex education in public schools... The Catholic Church should not be allowed to exert undue influence on what is taught in public schools, given the secular or non-sectarian character of public education,” said Antonio Tinio, a University of the Philippines instructor and chair of the 15,000-strong ACT.
As early as 1972, the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports already had a module for sex education in elementary and high school where certain sex education and population development concepts were integrated into the curricula of appropriate year levels.
It became so successful that the module was used as a model by other Asian countries like Thailand, Japan and the People’s Republic of China.
In 1994, the sex education module was revised as the “Lesson Plan on Adolescent Reproductive Health” which tackled premarital sex and sexually transmitted diseases head on.
In 2000, the education department ordered a review and revision of the lesson plan supposedly to “adapt to changing times” after a meeting with representatives of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
In 2006, the Arroyo administration backed off from its trial run of a sex education program in Metro Manila. The CBCP objected to the introduction of sex education in public schools, saying it would encourage teenagers to give premarital sex a try.
In Metro Manila, at least two other cities are considering passing ordinances that would allow the teaching of sex education to students of public schools, according to DepEd officials.
The officials did not name the city councils, but said they are looking into the possibility of approving measures similar to the one passed by the Quezon City government in December.
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