Hong Kong sex education materials not official policy, aim to instil good values: minister
Secretary for Education Christine Choi says family important part of Chinese society in latest defence of controversial advice to teenagers
Hong Kong’s education minister has launched a fresh defence of teaching materials advising pupils to play badminton to curb any interest in having premarital sex, saying such suggestions aim to instil good values rather than being considered official policy.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said the materials for junior secondary school pupils aged from 12 to 14 were recommended as teaching and learning resources.
“Having the right sexual values, being able to protect themselves, respecting others, taking and bearing responsibility for their own actions are very important. Therefore, we have to instil the right values,” she told a radio programme on Sunday.
Choi noted schools had to educate pupils about the illegality and consequences of having sex with minors.
The Crimes Ordinance states that having sex with a girl aged under 16 can lead to five years in prison, while perpetrators can face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if the victim is below the age of 13.
In Hong Kong, anyone who commits an act of “gross indecency” with or towards a child under 16 or incites such an act faces up to 10 years behind bars.
“We understand that they will encounter temptations during puberty but we need to tell them the right values,” the minister said.