The implementation of the sex education program in public elementary and high schools may take a back seat this school year. This after Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Armin Luistro announced Friday that there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed to uplift the quality of education in the country.

According to Luistro, addressing issues on classroom shortages, number of teachers, acquisition and improvement of school furniture and sanitary facilities, and the quality of textbooks should be prioritized as these are the concerns that should be promptly resolved.

“Based on the initial data that we have, majority of the concerns are okay except from classroom shortages,” said Luistro. However, he clarified that data that DepEd has is not yet accurate since these are still being reviewed. Accurate data is expected to be released by next week.

Luistro said the issue on the implementation of sex education program will be decided once consultations with other stakeholders are over. “What we want is to gather a group where people with different views on the issue and come up with a point of convergence,” he said.

He added that the problem with the sex education issue is rooted on how it is defined by people. “The term is used by many people with different backgrounds so it would be hard to come up with one decision when people are not open to it,” he said.

Luistro added that more than changing the name of the program, it would be best to have one clear definition of the term so it would be easier to patch up the differences. “Sex education should also be viewed in lieu of the curriculum,” he said.

When asked about his personal take on the matter, Luistro refused to answer saying his “personal opinion is secondary”. “We should set the parameters whereby the DepEd can fulfill its mission of providing quality education to the batang Pinoy (Filipino youth),” he said.

Luistro, who was given a marching order by President Benigno Aquino III to address education issues in two years, reiterated that there are more pressing issues that should be focused on aside from the implementation of the program.

“We are still open to dialogues and we will respect the consensus on this matter but for the mean time, I would like to focus on the issues that should be resolved immediately,” he said.

When pressed to give his personal stand on the matter, Luistro hinted that his position is based on his being “an academician, a Filipino and a Catholic.” He revealed that the pilot testing of the sex education program in selected schools are almost over. “We are waiting for the report and that would be a great help once consultations take place,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Luistro reported that DepEd plans to request a bigger budget for the next school year. “From around 175 billion this year, the request to increase it to 380 billion for next school year is under being consideration,” he said.

Luistro said that the meeting with the Department of Budget (DBM) is being set to talk about the bigger budget allocation for the Education Department. “The administration wants to make education as its flagship project so we are expecting that it will provide the budget needed to improve its quality,” he said.

However, Luistro explained that DepEd has to be realistic in asking for a bigger budget. “We recognize the fact that the government should be the main funder but we have to be creative in finding ways to provide other needs that the budget can no longer support,” he said.
 
Luistro plans to tap the support and help of non-government organizations (NGOs), local government units (LGUs), the private sector and other stakeholders to address the problems in the education system in the next two years.