Sex education is expelled from Egyptian schools.
Credit:Victoria HazouNo Sex Education Please, We're Arab - IPS ipsnews.net
CAIRO, Nov 22, 2010 (IPS) - Civil society has warned of adverse social and health consequences after the Egyptian government ordered the removal of content related to male and female anatomy, reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from the school curriculum.
"We know most of this material wasn’t being taught, but removing it from the curriculum is a big step backwards," says Noha Roushdy, researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
Egypt’s education ministry has instructed schools not to teach lessons on "reproduction and propagation methods", "pollination and fertilisation" genetics, and anatomical illustrations of the male and female reproductive systems. Teachers were ordered to disregard chapters on these subjects in existing biology textbooks, and new textbooks have been printed that omit the lessons.