DepEd to launch sex education in public schools

Despite persistent lobbying by the Catholic Church, the Department of Education (DepEd) 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.

The DepEd furnished the Philippine Daily 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 body, attached Office of the President, 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 President Arroyo, counted "members of the clergy and ministers," among others, as those seating in the council, Lapus said.
With regards to its composition, separate checks by Inquirer Research and the DepEd communications office with the PCVF yielded negative results. /Inquirer

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 1, 2008
http://archive.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&story_id=127670