SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS AMONG YOUTHS

SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS AMONG YOUTHS: 11.

Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta asked the Minister for Education whether

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his Ministry has any new strategies or educational programmes planned to address the tripling of sexually transmitted infections among youths in the age group of 10-19 years in the last five years and, if so, whether he will elaborate on them.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M) (for the Minister for Education): MOE adopts a multi-pronged approach to tackle the issue of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among youths. It involves the home, school and community. This is because the issue of STI is a complex one, involving family factors such as lack of family support and cohesion, personal factors such as low self-esteem, as well as broader shifts in societal mores, to name a few.

In our sexuality education programme in schools, we seek to help students appreciate the value of healthy relationships, understand the consequences of sexual behaviour and equip them with the knowledge that they must have in order to make responsible decisions. The basics of the sexuality education programme are sound, but we have sought to refine and improve how schools deliver the programme over the last two years.

The effectiveness of sexuality education depends as much as on the content of the programme as on the confidence and innovativeness of the teacher. We have seen significant improvement in teachers' skills in delivering the programme, and have been ramping up teacher training to help them engage and communicate better with students on the issues. Schools have also been conducting action research, to develop more effective strategies for delivery of sexuality education lessons.

We have also recently introduced a tiered approach to sexuality education, which recognises that different approaches are necessary for the different

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target groups of students. What may be a sensible approach for most students may be less relevant to students who are already at risk. The approaches also have to vary across schools, depending on the profile of their students.

For the general student population, schools have been trying out new ways to engage their students, get them to face the issues squarely, and to express themselves and discuss the issues honestly. For example, senior personnel in some co-educational schools organise gender-specific closed-door discussion sessions to provide students with opportunities to ask questions pertaining to sexual matters.

For students who are at risk of sexual behaviour or are already engaging in unsafe sexual practices, we have strengthened the messages we send on contraception and protective behaviour through one-on-one counselling sessions with their full-time school counsellors.

MOE has also collaborated closely with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) in the Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) programme to address the concern of rising STIs/HIV infection among students. The BDB programme, which started in 2007, has helped to raise greater awareness among students about the high risk of contracting STIs/HIV through casual and unprotected sex and provided them with the necessary skills to negotiate, make responsible decisions and be assertive so as to delay their sexual debut. MOE and HPB have been working closely to achieve the target of 100% implementation of this programme by June 2008 in our secondary schools.

Parents, however, play a vital role in influencing their children in sexuality matters. MOE has therefore stepped up its efforts to engage parents and raise their awareness, in collaboration with

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both HPB and MCYS. This has resulted in the development of the parents' education package entitled "Love Them. Talk About Sex". This package can be delivered via two tracks - through school-based workshops, or at the workplace in the form of lunch-time talks. One of the aims of the programme is to provide parents with tips on how to talk to their children about sex.

While the teenage STI issue is challenging, we believe that with strong and effective collaboration among schools, parents and the community, especially the mass media, we are likely to succeed in imbuing our students with the necessary life skills and giving them the power to make decisions responsibly.

Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta (Nominated Member): Sir, supplementary questions. Could the MOE consider starting sexuality education at a much earlier age, with puberty occurring earlier in Singapore, especially among females. It is even more crucial that such education start early, perhaps even as early as primary 1 or primary 2.

My second question: would MOE consider reducing the teacher-student ratio in upper primary and secondary schools, so that teachers are freed up with some time so that they could interact more with the students and talk about non-academic subjects? Because from my interaction with teachers, they say that they really have very little time for anything else.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Mr Speaker, Sir, we do start sexuality education as early as possible, although the form and the implicitness of the subject may not be as direct as we want it to be at a higher level. At primary school, for example, we start by making pupils understand the importance of family values, the importance of

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relationships and helping them to develop healthy relationships with one another.

As they move on to secondary school or a higher level, we retune them to promote abstinence or to emphasise the need for responsible decision-making.

The implementation of smaller pupil-teacher ratio is a bigger issue beyond just sexuality education. But there is a lot of contact time available between teachers and pupils in the innovative ways that schools are implementing, in different ways also across different schools. For example, some schools implement compulsory contact time with their students in small groups, at least one hour a week, to discuss issues, including sexuality issues, that they like to bring up with their teachers.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: Sir, can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to review the curriculum and also update us on the role models that are being used? Because, presently, our teenagers look to the western pop stars, like Britney Spears, to set the standard in terms of how well to behave. Can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether they can look at role models that we can promote in Singapore, so that they would not be under peer pressure to conform to what they see as the latest hip trend?

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Sir, certainly, as I mentioned just now, the media plays a very deep role in transmitting values. However, we should not be controlling the media. If we cannot control the media, I think we can at least build some resilience or resistance in the way our students view the media and also the kinds of models or icons that the media try to sell for commercial purposes or otherwise.

At our secondary school, I think the outcome that we are looking at is

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basically to make them understand the importance of strong and healthy relationships and not just sexual relationship as an end.