Table 2.

Summary of sex education aspects in the three Chinese-speaking societies.

Societies Under Review	Current Policy/Guideline on Sexuality Education	Program and Its Main Objectives	Actual Practice in Schools	Teacher Training	Evaluation and Research
Hong Kong	1997: Guideline on sexuality education Policy not updated for almost two decades	Sexuality Education is suggested to be integrated into the curriculum of Moral and Civic Education. Objectives: Help students develop positive values and attitudes towards their social and sexual relationship, including gender awareness, respecting others, protecting one’s body, getting along with the opposite sex, handling the sex impulse, and dealing with social issues relating to sex	Sexuality education is not compulsory and standardized, schools generally adopt a diverse approach, like permeating through personal and social education programs, runs once or twice a week in the form master or mistress period plus general assembly and/or extra-curricular activities. Programs are commonly atheoretical with no close link to positive youth development Evidence-based program non-existent	Forms of training: Professional development programs, and online resources Offered by: The Education Bureau; The Department of Health; and NGOs Nature: Unorganized and irregular Evaluation of training programs not commonly conducted No mandatory requirement for teacher training in sex education No systematic evaluation of teacher training	The Government and several NGOs had conducted research in investigating the effectiveness of sexuality education irregularly. The latest official survey was conducted in 2012–2013. Few rigorous evaluation studies No evaluation studies of the long-term effectiveness of sex education programs Evaluation culture not strong
Mainland China	2008: School-based health education policy Top-down policy without much involvement of different stakeholders	Six to seven hours Health Education is mandated in all primary, secondary and higher schools in each semester. Objectives: Discuss the issue of premarital sex; provide information on self-protection and awareness on sexual assaults, prevention and knowledge on HIV/AIDS Relatively medically-oriented	Health Education is mandated but not included in the assessment criteria, thus it is not treated seriously in some schools, and some exclude the relevant subjects in the school curriculum. Prorgams are basically atheoretical Evidence-based programs do not exist	Forms of training: Training programs Offered by: The State Education Commission (collaborated with the United Nations Population Fund); Wenhui Sex Education Correspondence Institute; Capital Normal University; National Training Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Schools Nature: Not systematic and nationwide; stem from the abstinence-based approach	Numerous studies on the mandatory sex education programs and training were done by scholars and different organizations, but the official evaluations conducted by the Government were insufficient. Lack of longitudinal studies on program effectiveness Evaluation culture not strong
Taiwan	1997: Education reform policy “The Nine-Year Joint Curriculum”	Gender education is mandated in the curriculum. Six objectives: understanding diversity in gender development understanding personal development and career planning, the possibility to overcome the limits and expectation in the society developing positive self-concept and pursuing personal interests and strengths eliminating gender discriminations and preconceptions, respecting social diversity actively seeking social support resources and establishing a gender-balanced society developing an interactive model with harmony, respect and equality between genders	Usually integrated sex education into the learning area of Health and Physical Education, Social Studies, Science and Technology, and Integrative Activities. Prorgams are basically atheoretical Evidence-based programs do not exist	Forms of training: Formal courses, talks, conferences and online resources Offered by: Government and NGOs (mainly the “Taiwan Association for Sexuality Education and the Mercy Memorial Foundation) Nature: Systematic and strictly regulated by the Government; the law requires the teachers to have corresponding qualifications in teaching the specific subject	Evaluations are organized systematically in three databases: Ministry of Science and Technology Department of Health National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan Lack of longitudinal studies on program effectiveness