The Mozambican government will remove sex education content from a biology textbook for schoolchildren next year, following a wave of outrage on social media, an education ministry official said on Tuesday.
Parts of a chapter on sexual orientation and masturbation have been shared virally since an anonymous Facebook user posted them last week.
The manual entitled “The Secret of Life” has been used for 18 years by Mozambican students.
Under pressure of public opinion, the government hastily decided that the “problematic” parts would be excluded from a new edition to be used in 2023 by pupils in 12-year-old classes.
“For us the issue of sexuality is important and must continue to be addressed,” Education spokeswoman Gina Guibunda told AFP. But “we recognize that in this book the subject could be treated in a way that divides opinions,” she added.
One of the passages in the book on sexual orientation states: “Sometimes it can be more comfortable to have relationships with someone of the same sex (…) That is called a homosexual relationship. This option can be temporary or permanent. Fear of becoming homosexual prevails among some adolescents. This fear is compounded by the brutal actions of their parents or family.”
Mozambique decriminalized homosexuality in 2015. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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