Necessity of sex education

The denial of Beijing municipal authorities on Tuesday that primary school students would be required to study a textbook on sex education does not reduce the need for such education.

Earlier reports had said that from September a graphic curriculum on parts and organs of the human body would be included in the city's primary schools, and students would have to study the various stages of changes in the bodies of boys and girls as a first step toward protecting them from HIV/AIDS. They also said the trial textbook would be updated for primary school students in the rest of the country as and when required.

Later, the education department of Beijing municipal government clarified that the textbook had been compiled by one school and other schools in the city need not follow it.