Olongapo City - Maybe it was the long-time presence of an American community here, or the fact that for decades it hosted one of the largest sex industries in the country. Or the people running the city figured out it was just common sense.

Whatever the reasons, and it’s probably a combination of all of the above, when it comes to sex education, Olongapo is ahead of its time.

In all public schools here, lessons about puberty and sexually transmitted infections are just part of the required reading for students and teachers. That’s because Olongapo City is one of a handful of divisions of the Department of Education in the country where adolescent reproductive health or ARH, more popularly known as “sex education,” has been integrated into the public school curriculum since 2008. The city is also the only school division that has decided to implement sex ed in all its public schools.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has said that DepEd’s plan to implement sex education in public schools will cause “developmental harm” to children. Meanwhile, the new education secretary, Bro. Armin Luistro, has yet to disclose his stance on the issue.

But Olongapo education officials are of their own mind on the matter.

“We will continue with the implementation of the program, for as long as our city government will support it,” said Ligaya Monato, superintendent of Olongapo City schools.

GMANews.TV sat in on a high school biology class to see just how the deed is done– the teaching, that is. - GMANews.TV