New Education chief to review sex ed program

INCOMING Education Secretary Armin Luistro said he will review the controversial sex education program of the Department of Education when he assumes office next week.

Luistro, the chancellor and president of De La Salle University (DLSU), said he has yet to decide what to do about the DepEd program.

He said he was also waiting for his “marching orders” from Aquino who chose Luistro, 48, to head the DepEd, the second Lasallian brother to do so in 12 years. (The late Br. Andrew Gonzalez served as education secretary in the aborted presidency of deposed President Joseph Estrada from 1998 to 2001.)

“There are programs that need to be reviewed like sex education, which is becoming a big issue,” Luistro said.

The education department recently began introducing sex education in elementary schools and high schools to promote safe sex, limit the spread of HIV-AIDS and prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The Church has launched a campaign, including a court petition by a Church-allied political party, to quash the program which has the support of the United Nations.

A militant teachers group said on Thursday that Luistro had to “prove himself,” particularly on sex education, since he is a member of a Catholic religious order.

Luistro, whose appointment was announced by De la Salle University and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the local church hierarchy, said he had not given the issue much thought.

Report by Inquirer.Net