The Archbishop’s Curia was not informed or consulted before Church schools went ahead with the 2002 Health Behaviour survey, according to a Curia spokesperson.

Church schools did not object to explicit questions on sexual behaviour in the Maltese version of the 2002 survey of Health Behaviour in Schoolage Children (HBSC), but objected to the broader questions in the 2006 survey.

After the 2002 survey was completed, a number of parents were concerned about certain questions on sexual health in the survey, the spokesperson added.

In an article published in The Malta Independent on 21 April, a Curia spokesperson said the survey was not carried out in Church schools “because of the way some questions were worded” and not because of the subject matter.

Students in Church schools did not complete the 2006 questionnaire because the authorities objected to the wording of questions related to the students’ sexual preferences and activities.

“Taking into consideration the parents’ views regarding certain questions in the 2002 survey, it was felt that it was not in the best interest of secondary school students to ask them certain questions as presented in the 2006 survey,” said the Curia.

The Curia spokesperson went on to add that “the way certain questions were worded appeared to imply that students had already gone through certain sexual experiences.”

However, Health Promotion official Marianne Massa explained that Church schools were given the choice to remove the page with the four questions on sexual behaviour in the 2006 survey.

“They decided not to do so and returned the questionnaires uncompleted,” Ms Massa said.

So far, the Church Secretariat for Christian Education has not received any complaints from parents that their children attending church schools were not asked to complete this year’s questionnaire.