“The cases of abuse that reach the Police and the Children's House mean that the students have broken their silence”, emphasized the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth (YPAN), Athina Michailidou, who attended the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights on Monday, where the debate on the right of children to sexual education continued.
Most of the incidents happen in the family and social environment of the children, said Mrs. Michailidou, who also said during the session that she herself was present at a student's confession kindergarten – in the context of teaching the lesson in a kindergarten – for the abuse she suffered from a person in her close family environment.
The Minister expressed her satisfaction with the results of the teaching of sex education in schools, while for their part, the MPs welcomed the teaching of sex education in schools, as well as the attitude of the Minister of Education in handling the misinformation that existed regarding teaching the subject in question.
In particular, the President of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee and Member of Parliament of AKEL, Irini Charalambidou, spoke about misinformation that existed from actors inside and outside Parliament, noting that the Committee never interfered in the teaching method and the educational material of the course.
Also, he thanked the Minister of Education for the way of managing the issue that had arisen, pointing out that the Archbishop also contributed with his statements at the end of the misinformation.
We are in the right direction in terms of teaching the lesson, said DISY MP Fotini Tsiridou, while MP of the same party Rita Superman congratulated the Minister for her work. The MP of DIKO, Christos Senekis, praised the Ministry of Education for the flexibility it showed in handling the matter, while the MP of the Environmental Movement Charalambos Theopeptou, in statements after the end of the Committee session, expressed satisfaction with what the Minister of Education said to the Committee. The independent Member of Parliament, Alexandra Attalidou, asked for more active intervention by the Minister of Education in such matters.
During the session, the Minister of Education mentioned that the modules of sexual education are included in the Health Education course already from Pre-Primary, adding that with the passing of the legislation, since last September there is a teaching program of sexual education in Lyceums and Technical Schools Schools. As he said, the Analytical Program material has been posted online from the first moment, pointing out that there have been many trainings and many workshops for teachers, parents and students based on protocols.
In addition, Mrs. Michailidou expressed to the members of the Human Rights Committee her satisfaction with the results of the teaching of sex education, following a relevant evaluation by the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation (KEEA), underlining at the same time the satisfaction of teachers and students with the teaching of course.
Also, referring to the recommendations for better teaching of the course, she pointed out that more time, more material is needed, as well as better supervision by the inspectors. “The incidents of abuse that reach the Police and the Children's House mean that the students have broken their silence,” the Minister of Education emphasized, adding that the majority of the incidents occur in the family and social environment of the children.
Subsequently, Mrs. Michailidou mentioned that she was present at a kindergarten student's confession – in the context of teaching the lesson in a kindergarten – about the abuse she suffered from a person close to her. her family environment.
In her statements after the session of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, the Minister of Education noted that the sex education lesson aims to protect children from sexual abuse, to break the silence, to hygiene and to protect themselves. “The incidents and the data ring a bell and show that the protocols and procedures are working,” he said, indicating the seriousness of how these issues should be handled by the Services.
“Our goal is a safe school and the education of all. We are intensifying the supervision of the course and we are continuing the monitoring of the Police's data”, said the Minister of Education.
In response to a question, he emphasized that there is no question of excluding children from attending the sex education course, despite the small number of letters from parents requesting the exclusion of their children .
The President of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee and Member of Parliament of AKEL, Irini Charalambidou, in statements after the end of the Committee's session, said that “today is a very good day for the Committee and a bad day for the populists”, adding that the Minister of Education had been targeted. In addition, he spoke of trying to level efforts to inform children.
DISY Member of Parliament, Fotini Tsiridou, referred to the misinformation that existed on the topic of teaching sex education. “When 1 in 5 children have been abused, the numbers are alarming,” he noted, adding that we are on the right track when it comes to teaching the lesson.
DISY Member of Parliament, Rita Superman, asked to know the actions taken by the Ministry of Education regarding the teaching, while she asked the responsible Minister if the course is taught in Technical schools. He also congratulated the Minister for her work.
In statements after the end of the Commission's session, Ms. Superman said that the evaluation of the sex education program is very positive, since students are now making complaints. “The legislation has only positive things to offer in terms of the well-being and protection of our children,” he pointed out.
The MP of DIKO, Christos Senekis, praised the Minister of Education for the flexibility she showed in handling the issue that arose with the teaching of the sex education course.
The MP of the Environmental Movement, Charalambos Theopeptou, underlined the necessity and importance of sex education, using examples from his student years and his teaching experience.
In statements after the end of the Committee's session, Mr. Theopeptou expressed satisfaction with what the Minister of Education said to the Committee, adding that “we are seeing the first positive results”. He also indicated that we should also consider the issue of sex education at older ages, referring to university students.
The independent Member of Parliament, Alexandra Attalidou, stated that the State allowed speakers to misinform and terrorize society on an issue that has been resolved in other societies. Furthermore, he requested more active intervention of the Minister of Education in such matters, indicating that the Ministry “must come forward”.
In statements after the end of the Committee session, Ms. Attalidou spoke of “extremely worrying facts”, as well as “an orgy of misinformation and targeting”. He also said that sex education can only bring positives, adding that many pan-European studies show that this course protects children from abusers.
Alexandra Attalidou pointed out that there are over 400 complaints to the Children's Home every year and that according to pan-European research only 1/3 of sexual abuse cases are reported, while expressed the estimate that over 1000 children in Cyprus are victims of abuse each year.
If this lesson had been taught since 1976, when research had been conducted in Cyprus that identified the need for sex education, many children would have been saved, he concluded.
Source: KYPE
