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Sexuality Education

MOE’s Framework for Sexuality Education

The Framework for Sexuality Education was developed and disseminated to all schools in 2000, setting out the principles, goals, and main themes for the design and delivery of sexuality education in schools.

  1. The key guiding principles of sexuality education are:
    • parents bear the main responsibility for the sexuality education of their children;
    • sexuality education is premised on the importance of the heterosexual married family as the basic unit of society;
    • the teaching of facts is integrated with the teaching of values, which reflect that of the mainstream society;
    • students will be taught to understand and respect the attitudes, values and beliefs regarding sexuality that other communities propagate;
    • specially selected and trained teachers are to teach the Growing Years package; and
    • relevant resources in the community will be brought in to complement school resources for sexuality education.
  2. The three goals of sexuality education are:
    • provide accurate and adequate knowledge on human sexuality and the consequences of sexual activity so that pupils are able to make informed decisions;
    • impart intra- and inter-personal skills of problem-solving, decision-making and effective communication so that pupils are able to build responsible and rewarding relationships; and
    • inculcate positive values and attitudes of sexuality so that pupils develop a respect for themselves and others as sexual beings, premised on the heterosexual married family as the basic unit of society.

MOE evaluates the content and approaches in sexuality education periodically to ensure that sexuality education remains relevant for our students, while keeping to the guiding principles. A Steering Committee chaired by the Director-General of Education comprising well-trained professionals including psychologists, counsellors, educationists and medical practitioners, will periodically review the sexuality education framework and curriculum. To ensure that concerns of the wider public and parents are also addressed, the Steering Committee will also consult COMPASS (COMmunity and PArents in Support of Schools), which has representatives from the community and parents.