Sex ed modules to be uploaded for public scrutiny

Education Secretary Mona Valisno on Tuesday said her department would upload on its website the modules being used for the pilot-testing of sex education in primary and secondary schools. Valisno said once the modules were uploaded on their website, they would leave it to the public to judge if the critics of sex education are right in claiming that the materials are only about sex and condoms. She said the modules, which have been used for three years, teach students about hygiene, how to practice healthy behavior, and looking at the consequences of their actions. She said the materials would enable young adults to plan parenthood. Valisno said there modules are still under the pilot-testing stage and have not yet been implemented nationwide, so there is nothing for the project’s critics to ask the Supreme Court to stop it.

“Pilot-testing is just a scientific way of doing research, looking into the effectiveness of those modules. That was started about two to three years ago and we wanted to expand the coverage on a limited scope to remote areas," she said. On Monday, a group of parents filed a class suit against Valisno and other education officials for including sex education in schools' curricula. They asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to restrain the education department from implementing a memorandum that allows the teaching of sex education to grade school pupils who are at least nine years old and those in high schools. Aside from parents' group, the Catholic church has also been very vocal in its opposition with the teaching of sex education in schools. In an exclusive report on QTV's "News on Q," Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, spokesman of the influential Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said they do not agree with the contents of the sex education modules. "Marami kaming hindi sinasang-ayunan sa modules na ito. Sa pagtatantiya namin ay hindi ito pasado (We don't agree with the modules)," he said. This, however, did not stop Valisno to attend a mass at the Manila Cathedral that was officiated by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. Although Rosales did not tackle their opposition to sex education in his sermon, he reminded those present in the mass of the proper role of schools to students. "All of us in the cathedral are either teachers or students or collaborators of church. This is addressed to all the schools. Let the students meet Jesus," he said. Valisno said they are willing to take out from the module any part that would be proven to be against moral values. - KBK, GMANews.TV