Youness Bermime is a contributing writer with a master's degree from University Hassan II, Faculty of Letters & Humanities.

Casablanca – Recently there has been some talk regarding the inclusion of sex education in the Moroccan education system. Morocco must carefully consider what kind of sex education it promotes and should follow a comprehensive sexuality education.

The talk comes as part of the “Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam” (CRII) which Morocco has signed. The convention, established in 2005, is pretty vague in language.

However, it clearly stipulates that young Muslims must “receive proper sex education distinguishing between the lawful and unlawful.” So they must learn what is halal, permissible, and what is not. In other words, Morocco is about to embark on a quest to educate about religious morality and sex in the classroom.

Some may cheer for such a “progressive” move toward educating young Moroccans about sex. Calls for sex education started long ago when Morocco signed a 1995 UNESCO convention, a much more comprehensive document. However, this move has risks.

First, let us define the terminology. “Sex education,” as James Ponzetti states in his book “Evidence-based Approaches to Sexuality Education,” has a clear boundary in common discourse. In fact, it has been limited to “instruction on subjects such as sexual anatomy, reproduction, birth control, and disease prevention.”

It is an education that focuses on biology, but it reinforces moral values through teachers’ inability to distance themselves from the subject, passing on their morality to students in class. A more comprehensive term is “sexuality education,” which Ponzetti says “is an inclusive descriptor that recognizes the interaction of historical, social, political, cultural, psychological, legal, ethical, religious, and moral factors.” Read more via Morocco World News