Regulations to bolster sex education in schools

Regulations on schools' protection of minors that will come into effect next month are expected to enhance comprehensive sex education, which will improve children's awareness of self-protection and help prevent sexual harassment or assault.

The Ministry of Education released the regulations to implement provisions in the newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors, which took effect on June 1.

The regulations include provisions requiring schools to establish mechanisms for preventing sexual assault and harassment of minors and say they must not conceal any activities that might harm students physically or mentally.

They also ask schools to conduct comprehensive sex education, helping students to acquire knowledge on health and improve their awareness of self-protection.

"The regulations will contribute to the country's comprehensive sex education, which plays a crucial role in addressing the health and well-being of children and young people," said Li Hongyan, national program officer at UNESCO's Beijing office.

She said age-appropriate, phased sex education covers a wide range of knowledge on gender, reproduction, sexual behaviors and disease prevention.

"Moreover, it provides an opportunity to present sexuality with a positive approach, emphasizing values such as respect, inclusion, nondiscrimination, equality, empathy, responsibility and reciprocity," Li said.

Some experts have urged education authorities to address the lack of proper sex education in schools to help young people fend off health-related challenges such as HIV/AIDS.

At a conference on sex education in schools in Shaanxi province last week, Zhou Kai, an official from UNAIDS Beijing office, said there were 1.5 million new HIV/AIDS infections around the globe last year, three times more than experts had predicted. People aged between 15 and 24 accounted for one-third of the cases.

"More teenage infections have been reported in recent years. The promotion of sex education is urgently needed," Zhou said.

China is making strides to break the silence on sex education. Early in 2017, the Ministry of Education issued a guideline that called on higher education institutions to set up public courses on health education to teach students about sex and reproductive health.

However, the promotion of sex education still faces challenges as it is almost entirely absent from China's compulsory education curriculum and educators are restrained by a traditional aversion to talking publicly about sex.

"The first and most crucial step is to remove the sense of shame about sex," said Lu Fuxing, administrator of the Funing Siyuan Experimental School in Yunnan province. "In recent years, we've tried to coach the teachers and encourage them to discuss knowledge on sexuality with students with an open attitude."

With support from the You& Me Sexuality Education Platform, one of China's biggest social organizations promoting sex education, the school started to provide sex education last year. Lu said the lectures have been warmly welcomed by students.

Social organizations are an important force in boosting sex education in China. The You & Me Sexuality Education Platform, for example, has provided sex education for more than 2 million students in China since 2017.

Apart from training sex education teachers, it has also developed a series of age-appropriate and phased online lectures for schools and educational institutions. The online teaching makes such education feasible even in remote areas.

"We are trying to make a change in China, not only for today but also the future," said Zhang Yaohua, You& Me's founder. "I hope sex education can be available to everyone in the country and help them to better love themselves and learn to respect others."