Sex (education) in the city: Singapore's sexuality education curriculum

Abstract

This paper examines the Singapore Ministry of Education's sexuality education curriculum in relation to two leading approaches to sex education, namely, abstinence-only-until-marriage education (AOUME) and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). Based on competing cultural, political, and religious beliefs, the arguments between the advocates of AOUME and CSE not only echo similar debates in other countries, but also reveal the vicissitudes of Singapore's “global city” ambitions in the face of cultural and economic globalization. In conclusion, this paper suggests that the tensions between the official curriculum, the societal curriculum, and the enacted curriculum provide the grounds on which a politics of curriculum reform can be staged.

Keywords:

• Singapore
• sex education
• abstinence-only education
• comprehensive sexuality education
• curriculum enactment