The leader of Born Again churches in Uganda, Apostle Joseph Sserwadda has asked government to channel its efforts into teaching integrity and hygiene among school going children instead of sexuality.
The Ministry of Education recently revealed that it has started carrying out adolescent health and sexuality education in schools to equip students with information to manage themselves a move that has attracted a backlash especially from religious leaders.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday at Namboole stadium, Dr.Sserwadda who is also the leader of Victory Christian Church in Ndeeba said government ought to channel its efforts on other useful than sexuality education.
“We advise that the lower age children of 3 to 12 years should be taught hygiene and integrity instead of sex education,”Sserwadda said.
“The ministry should engage parents more than teachers and their assistants who have often proved to be abusive to the children.”
The Born Again churches leader said government should focus much of its efforts on seeing how to do away with the vice of corruption by instilling the seeds of integrity in the school going children right from a tender age.
He noted that without such efforts it will be easy to fight corruption, adding that it is one of the main problems of the country other than sex that government wants to teach children.
Since government hinted on the issue of teaching sexuality in schools, a number of people have condemned government over the move.
Both the Catholic Church and Church of Uganda (CoU) leaderships vehemently opposed the introduction of sexuality education in schools in its current form.
They cite the age at which sexuality education will be introduced to children saying doing it for three year old children as proposed by government is not right.
The church questions the implementation and monitoring mode and how it would be done by government.
Kampala diocese Archbishop Cyrian Lwanga on Christmas attacked government over its plans to introduce sex education in schools.
“How can you teach sex to children of between three and nine? We as religious leaders therefore do not agree with the sexual framework and it cannot be implemented in our schools in its current form,”Lwanga said during his Christmas sermon at Lubaga cathedral.
Government has always defended the move saying many opposed to sex education have misunderstood it.
“What we are saying is that we want to arm these little ones with the skill to tell when they are likely to be lured into sexual activity,” said Education ministry Sexuality Education Cordinator Ismael Mulindwa recently.
