PARENTS are quite right to be concerned about some parts of the Association of Women for Action and Research's (Aware) sexuality education programme, Senior Minister of State for Education S. Iswaran said yesterday.
He said that after investigations were conducted into the programme, 'there's a sense that they have exceeded the guidelines'.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that all sexuality education programmes run by external groups in schools will be suspended until a new, tougher vetting process for such programmes is put in place.
Among the suspended programmes was the controversial one by Aware. The ministry had said it had some suggested responses which are 'explicit and inappropriate, and convey messages which could promote homosexuality or suggest approval of premarital sex'.
Neither the ministry nor Mr Iswaran gave details of which parts of the Aware programme they were referring to.
The basic instructor's guide for Aware's programme, a copy of which was posted online, contained lines such as 'anal sex can be healthy or neutral if practised with consent and with a condom', and 'homosexuality is perfectly normal. Just like heterosexuality, it is simply the way you are'.
Speaking after a community event yesterday, Mr Iswaran said the core sexuality programme devised by the MOE would continue in schools.
This programme, he stressed, strives to keep sexuality education in line with mainstream values in Singapore.
It is based on the family as the basic unit and conservative mainstream values in Singapore, he said.
Asked yesterday if the ministry was negligent in taking so long to uncover the specifics of the Aware programme, Mr Iswaran explained that there are more than 350 schools here, and they are given considerable autonomy.
Teachers and principals are working on a range of matters, he said. This being the case, 'it is understandable that from time to time, there might be instances', referring to programmes which do not meet the ministry's guidelines.
Mr Iswaran's comments come slightly over a week after he said the MOE had not received any complaints about Aware's programme and saw no reason to intervene.
Two days later, however, the ministry said it would investigate.
Yesterday, when asked what prompted the change, Mr Iswaran would say only that some complaints were received.
The MOE has told The Straits Times it has received more than 100 e-mail messages and calls about the Aware programme since last week.
Contacted yesterday about how he decided to engage Aware, the principal of a secondary school said the school's head of pupil development met the group a few times to discuss the programme's content.
The principal - who did not want his name or that of his school to be used - then agreed to engage the group for one session.
After this, however, he decided to stop the sessions as 'some of the values communicated were different from what the school believes in and the programme was not a good fit'. He did not elaborate.
The principal added: 'Some organisations can talk until the cows come home about how well they can deliver the programme, but you never know how good the fit is until you actually try it.'
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