The Education Ministry is “evaluating” a lesson on abortion delivered by the pro-life lobby Life Network Foundation to fifth form students at the National Sports School.

The State school said on Facebook on Monday that the students had received a talk “about the gift of life” delivered by activist Miriam Sciberras, which included “very graphic videos of an abortion”.

The post was deleted after sparking controversy on social media and a petition to the Education Ministry, with many questioning whether such videos were appropriate for 15-year-old students and whether a lobby group should be entrusted with delivering objective facts.

The ministry yesterday did not reply to questions from the Times of Malta on why Dr Sciberras, a dentist, was chosen to deliver a lesson on reproductive health and whether the presentation was requested by the Life Network or the school.

It was also asked if there was any policy on such presentations by third parties in State schools and if the authorities would agree to a request by pro-choice activists to make a similar presentation.

Ensure our children can reach truly informed decisions by allowing access to pro-life groups

Instead, the ministry issued a statement saying: “On sensitive subjects such as these, the direction of the ministry has always been for the subjects to be addressed objectively and in an age-appropriate manner.”

Educational authorities will now evaluate the materials used in the lesson, and the ministry pledged to “listen” to the discussion it has provoked while respecting the judgement and professionalism of educators.

A comment was sought from the National Sports School administration, but no reply was forthcoming at the time of writing. In its now-deleted post, the school said: “Dr Sciberras thoroughly explained what happens from the moment of implantation and also showed our students very graphic videos of an abortion.

“She spoke about situations where women might be confused about their current situation. They might think that abortion is an easy option to get rid of all those worries and life-changing events, and therefore they might see that abortion is the easy way out to solve their problems.”

Students, the school said, discussed the pros and cons of an abortion, while Dr Sciberras provided “pro-life options, information and educational materials through messages based on natural law”.

A petition calling on the ministry to ensure “objective sex education in Malta”, drafted in response to the presentation, had attracted more than 250 signatures at the time of writing. “By allowing an anti-abortion group to present an inherently one-sided view of sex, reproduction and human life, scholars are prevented from obtaining sufficient and accurate evidence to develop and reach an informed and objective opinion on these issues,” it states.

“We call upon the government of Malta to ensure that our children are enabled to reach truly informed decisions by either ensuring pro-choice groups have equally unfettered access to present the alternative perspective or that neither group has access to children though the education system.”