BEIRUT: The education minister’s representative, Leila Fayyad, said Thursday that the development of sex education and reproductive health courses is urgent in light of the high incidence of sexually transmitted infections among young people Fayyad, the head of the Center for Educational Research and Development, was speaking at a ceremony to jump-start a project to develop sex education and reproductive health curricula for schools in the country.
The project, organized by the center in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, aims at providing students with reliable information on sex and reproduction in a way that takes social values and tradition into account, Fayyad said.
UNPFA representative Asmaa Qordahi stressed the importance of supporting national strategies that focus on youth, health and education, especially since young people constitute 43 percent of the world’s population.
“The International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 called on governments to provide sex education in schools as students have a right to learn about reproductive health including HIV/AIDs, responsible sexual behavior and STD prevention,” Qordahi said.
According to Fayyad, the project recently successfully completed documenting best practices in sex education curricula.
“This project is very important and sensitive as it approaches an issue that was considered taboo,” Fayyad said, adding that the best-practices research was based on studies, publications and interviews with experts and curriculum designers in Lebanon.
“Statistics on the spread of STDs, especially HIV/AIDs among teenagers and youths, make sex education and reproductive health programs an urgent need,” Fayyad said, adding that the project would include training teachers to teach sex education in a manner that takes into consideration the age group of the targeted audience. The curriculum will involve activities inside and outside the classroom.
“This achievement is a step forward that aims to serve our community and raise awareness in the best way possible,” Fayyad said.
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