Kativik School Board introducing sex education in Nunavik curriculum

A sexual education pilot course tailored to Inuit culture is launching in Nunavik schools this year.

It's part of a new personal life and social skills class the Kativik School Board is bringing to Grade 5 students.

Students will learn about human anatomy and sexual reproduction for four to six hours a year during regular class time. The program will be piloted in every school and teachers will receive training on how to teach the curriculum.

In the past, sexual education in Nunavik has only been taught by local nurses, if at all.

The class will be taught in both English and Inuktitut.

"We want the students to be comfortable to talk about this in their mother tongue," says Daniel Lafleur, assistant director at the Kativik School Board.

He says student counsellors will help give the course in Inuktitut, and they're working with the regional health board, which already has a sexual awareness course kit.

"We had a nurse come explain to us how to put a condom on in Grade 7. That's it," says 19-year-old Brandon Lapage, who grew up in Kuujjuaq.

He says many teenagers and young adults in Nunavik are ill-informed about sexually transmitted infections.

"Most of them learn about STDs through Facebook."

"Some people just don't know. They're like, 'What's gonorrhea? What's herpes? I've never heard of that before'," he says.

School officials keeping eye on Quebec's pilot project

The province of Quebec is also launching a new sexual education pilot project this year that will be mandatory for all students, and has been opposed by some parents.

Though the course in Nunavik will be different, Lafleur says they're watching closely to see how the roll out goes.

"We looked at what they were doing, and talked to the Ministry of Education. We're curious to see what will happen, if some groups will oppose it," Lafleur says.

Some students are also out of class in Ontario, where the province is facing backlash from religious groups and parents about its new sexual education curriculum.

But so far Lafleur says there hasn't been any opposition in Nunavik.

"I haven't heard from any angry parents," he says. "Our sexual education class is one component of a bigger course, so maybe it's perceived differently here because of that."

Next year, the school board plans to extend the program to Grade 6 students, and to high school the following year. Lafleur says the high school course will include human anatomy, sexual identity, contraception and sexually transmitted infections.

The class will also focus on themes such as healthy eating, personal hygiene, interpersonal relationships, and identity and culture.