/ 11 February 2001

EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT DIVIDED OVER SEX EDUCATION

TWO Egyptian ministers are at loggerheads over a proposal by one of them to introduce sex education into the school curriculum, government weekly Akhbar al-Yom reported on Saturday. Culture Minister Faruq Hosni recently proposed to the parliament’s culture committee that sex education be introduced in the schools, but Education Minister Hussein Kamal Bahaeddin objected, it said. Such a program is unnecessary, he said, because “school curricula already contain scientific information on the functioning of the reproductive apparatus, genital organs, ova and fertilization. This information is contained in the science, biology, Arab language and religion courses,” he added. For his part, Ahmed Omar Hashem, president of Al-Azhar University, also took issue with Hosni’s proposal, saying instead he would favour the teaching of Muslim theological thought on sexual activity, the newspaper said. Early Muslim scholars outlined in their works a series of rules to be followed by both men and women to guarantee a successful marriage. – AFP