The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) on Thursday welcomed the plan of the Department of Education (DepEd) to include comprehensive sexuality education in the revised curriculum for K–10 (Kindergarten–Grade 10).

The proposed curriculum, which was subjected to review by experts, members of the academe, and the general public, recommends teaching sexual and reproductive health as early as Grade 4.

”Mayroon po tayong good news kasi nagsabi nga si VP Sara (Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte) mismo na isusulong naman iyon ng lahat ng mga eskuwelahan ang tinatawag na comprehensive sexuality education, na tuturuan po ang ating mga kabataan, babae’t lalaki kung paano nila mapangalagaan ang kanilang katawan in terms of sexuality. Iyon bang maturuan sila na kailangang malusog sila at medyo mag-isip muna sila sa kanilang mga sexuality behavior,” CPD Executive Director Lisa Grace Bersales said on state-run PTV’s ”Public Briefing.”

In June, Bersales said that teenage pregnancies remained a concern, especially for those under 15 years old, amid an increasing trend in the number of births, as the yearly civil registration data showed.

“I would like to put forward that we are closely monitoring those between ages 10 and 14, as they are still considered children,” she said. 

“They are not covered by the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS); thus, we need to work more on our teenagers to lessen—if not make zero—pregnancies among them. As we have always maintained, each teenage pregnancy is still one too many.”