Gatchalian bats for temporary suspension of comprehensive sexuality education
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian suggested on Tuesday the “temporary suspension” of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) as the Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed that it was conducting a review of the program for being “confusing,” particularly for educators who were tasked with implementing it.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Gatchalian flagged the “disconnect” between DepEd’s CSE policy under Department Order 31, and the Reproductive Health Law, also known as Republic Act No. 10354.
He stressed that while the RH Law mandates that sexuality education be taught exclusively to adolescents, current policies have apparently expanded this education to younger children.
“It was expanded all the way to kindergarten which is different from the intention of the framers of the RH law,” Gatchalian said.
He pointed out that the DepEd has previously argued that DO 31 is based on the Reproductive Health Law, which clearly states that reproductive health education will only be taught to adolescents or children aged 10 to 19.
“But when you go to DO 31, there’s a disconnect. It calls for the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education to all learners in public and private schools. And when you say all learners, this is a Kindergarten all the way to Grade 12. So on legal basis alone, there is already a disconnect,” Gatchalian stressed.
“I think we’re all in unison that we want to end or reduce teenage pregnancies, incidences of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), eliminate violence among the youth. And the DepEd suggested that the methodology or the mode to that is the CSE. But what we’re hearing right now is that the implementation is quite hazy and not concrete, and that’s my worry. So let’s suspend it temporarily until we fix it and we make sure that it’s clear from the policymakers and stay faithful to the RH law,” he added.
Culturally sensitive topic
DepEd Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs Filemon Ray Javier confirmed that the order on CSE was under review.
“The current leadership of the Department of Education acknowledges the fact that there may be some instances of confusion. That is why we have a directive currently to review Department Order 31 and revise (it) if necessary and ensure that the implementation will be properly done,” he said.
“This is a very culturally sensitive topic… If you are saying that there is confusion, then how do we expect our teachers to teach CSE with clarity on the ground?” Gatchalian answered.
“Because if you are confused from the top, rest assured that the teacher will also be confused. Because they are the ones tasked to implement all the way to our last classroom in our country. So that’s why if you ask me, my own personal opinion, if this is a source of confusion, then let’s suspend it for now,” said Gatchalian, stressing the need for training and clarification for each policy that is being implemented.
He added that there are only two things learners from kinder to Grade 3 should be taught–to read and to count.
“Leave it to the parents how to educate their children in terms of sex education. For me, parents should also play an active role in educating their children about reproductive health and sex education,” he said.
Javier said the DepEd agreed that CSE should only be taught to those aged 10 and above.
“DepEd is aligned also with that thinking that the sex education, sexuality education, must begin from 10 to 19 years old because that is what RH law provided,” he said.
Foundational knowledge
He also clarified that learners younger than 10 only get foundational knowledge and not sexuality education.
“It’s not the sex education proper, it’s just foundational knowledge. For example, in kindergarten, just the parts of the body — five senses. When DO 31 was issued, it was mentioned that [it’s] for all learners, but in reality, the sexuality education proper would only begin at 10 years old,” said Javier.
Critics of Senate Bill No. 1979 or the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention bill earlier said that the measure provided that the CSE would align with “international standards,” which she deemed to be the curriculum set by UNESCO and the World Health Organization.
One of the critics, former Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, earlier said the curriculum by international organizations has provisions about teaching or encouraging masturbation for children aged zero to four years old and teaching “bodily pleasure” or “sexual rights” to children ages six to nine.
But during the hearing, Education Assistant Secretary Janir Datukan explained that the UNESCO document only provides “the framework for the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education.”
“We here at DepEd did not adopt it in its entirety. We used it as a basis for creating or crafting our own curriculum for CSE that is age-appropriate, that is developmentally-appropriate, and that’s culturally sensitive — which also covers religious beliefs and other orientations,” he said.
Datukan also belied claims that high-risk sexual behaviors, including childhood masturbation, would be taught to school children aged four and below under the CSE program.
