MANILA, Philippines - Sex education will be included in the curriculum of 79 public high schools and 80 elementary schools this school year.

Education Secretary Mona Valisno revealed sex education will be taught to high school students in first to fourth year, and in grade school in grades 5 to 6, as part of a pilot test program.

Sex education will be made part of existing subjects such as science, wellness, values education, reading comprehension, and even math.

Kenneth Tirado, head of the communications unit of the Department of Education (DepEd), said the topic will be incorporated in math lessons by way of problem solving and computation of figures using facts and figures related to sex education, such as the awareness level of the youth about sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV, and the number of AIDS cases in the country.

"Alarming na kasi ang bilang ng mga teenage pregnancies. This is one way to avoid that," said Valisno.

The education secretary also said it would be better for students to learn sex education in the classroom rather than on the Internet where the information is not checked and guidance by a responsible adult is not available.

Valisno also added that it would be better if parents can teach their children sex education to complement what will be taught in the classroom.

According to Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a well-known critic of the Arroyo administration, no consultation was made by the DepEd or the government with the Catholic church about this matter. This is not a requirement, but the archbishop said it would make things easier for everyone if there was consultation.

Cruz said the module on sex education should not just be about sex but about human sexuality as a whole. Boys should be taught to respect females, and girls should be taught to respect themselves and not allow themselves to be abused. He decried sex education as taught before where the lessons focused on birth control.

But Valisno said birth control will not be the focus of sex education classes. The students will instead be taught the differences between boys and girls, and ways to avoid and protect themselves from STDs.

The Philippine National AIDS Council, an agency of the Department of Health, questioned the readiness of teachers in teaching sex education, especially since the subject will tackle sensitive topics such as AIDS and HIV.

According to Dr. Susan Gregorio, medical specialist of the agency, being a college graduate does not qualify a teacher to teach sex education.

"Kailangan diyan specialized at matagal na training, specialized modules on how to teach sex education," said Dr. Gregorio.

Daneth delos Reyes, a grade 5 teacher at the Corazon Aquino Elementary School in Quezon City, one of the pilot schools for the program, said her students in grade 5 are too young to be taught sex education. She is also not confident on how to teach the topic.

"Sana may training kami. Naku mahirap ito baka mapasama pa ang mga bata!" said delos Reyes.

But DepEd reiterated that the program is still on the pilot test stage. The next administration will have to assess the program and decide if it will be continued next schoolyear. -- Report from Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News.