High time to counter objections by religious authorities to sex education

An Nahar daily published an article featuring the absence of sex education in the national curriculum while shedding some light on the increased incidents of sexual child abuse on the internet. In this respect, an official at the Education Center for Research and Development (ECRD) told the newspaper that the biology syllabus for the 8th grade had tackled back in 1997 the topic of reproduction among living organisms, including human beings. He noted that learners in this age group would supposedly have reached adolescence and biological maturity; however, some religious authorities objected to this and pressured political authorities to cancel the subject. The latter was eventually integrated in the curriculum and thoroughly taught in the third secondary class under the biology topic and partially in the second secondary under the humanities topic. In his response to the assumption that ‘sex education might lead to an increased practice of sex among young adult students’, the ECRD official pointed out that the national curricula does not present sex education as a subject, but merely provides students with information in a scientific method respectful of their age to prevent them from seeking out unreliable and misleading sources through friends, pornographic magazines or films. He further confirmed that the new curriculum related to reproductive health elaborates the topic of fertility through providing the adequate knowledge and skills that help learners protect themselves against sexual abuse or harassment. For his part, Andre Andraos, president of ‘Bikaffe’ organization to stop child sexual abuse expressed regrets over the absence of sex education from school curricula as their presence in the curricula will enlightens students on the dangers of sexual harassment on the internet and otherwise. In this respect, Bikaffe data have shown that one child out of 6 children are subjected to sexual abuse and that 75% of them do not speak up. Andraos revealed that his organization is presently drafting a law in collaboration with psychologists and lawyers to be submitted later to the Ministry of Education in this regard. He disclosed that a large number of schools are refusing to cooperate with his organization in awareness-raising campaigns for fear of discovering incidents of sexual abuse within their premises. Andraos concluded by stating that his organization is providing assistance to victims of sexual abuse through various physical, psychological, legal care and treatment services. (An Nahar, 20 July 2015)