Plea against sex education at schools disposed of

Court told that the textbooks are no longer in use.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Wednesday disposed of a petition over inclusion of material on sex education in the curriculum for girls’ secondary schools after it was informed by the district administration that the books in question were no longer in use.

Gujranwala district education officer Muhammad Farooq told the court that textbooks containing material on sex education had been removed from bookstores and libraries in the city. He said no such textbook would be distributed in schools in future.

The counsel for petitioner Tanzeem Arif, a retired school teacher, dismissed the DO’s statement as false. He said the government was not sincere in its commitment to stop the use of textbooks on sex education in girls’ schools.

The judge suggested that if use of such textbooks was found to have continued the petitioner may seek contempt of court proceedings against the government and disposed of the petition.

A representative of Bargad, an NGO named in the petition, appeared in the court on Wednesday and said the project had been ended and textbooks were no longer in use.

Background: In his petition filed in 2012, Arif had sought action against Gujranwala district administration and the NGO over use of a textbook titled Ba Ikhtiar Larkian, Badla Hua Samaaj (Empowered Girls, A Changed Society) in 6-8 grade classes at government schools for girls in Gujranwala.

He had also sought publication of the findings of a committee formed by the provincial government to probe into the matter. He had said that the then Education EDO had been transferred following the inquiry headed by Punjab Education Foundation chairman Raja Anwar. The petitioner had said the books contained material on use of contraceptives and could not be used at schools. At a previous hearing, Education EDO Ghazanfar Ali Sani had told the court that the textbooks were introduced under a programme to teach ‘life skills’ at schools. However, he said, the memorandum of understanding for the programme had been signed before he took charge of the office.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2015.