Dozens of MPs, but none from the Christian parties, took part in sex education lesson in parliament on Thursday, answering questions about sexuality posed by tv presenter and sexologist Goedele Liekens.

The meeting was organised by the Rutgers sexual health foundation at the request of the Labour and Socialist parties, which say they are concerned about the quality of sex education in Dutch schools.

The foundation says sex education at school should focus more on dealing with sexually inappropriate behaviour, which, Liekens told her audience, confronts four in 10 girls.

The three Christian parties CDA, SGP and ChristenUnie did not attend the meeting. ‘It is up to schools themselves to decide what should be in the lessons, not Goedele Liekens,’ CDA parliamentarian Michel Rog is quoted as saying by broadcaster Nos.

The more fundamentalist ChristenUnie and SGP believe sex education should be dealt with at home. Thursday’s meeting, they said, was a banal media event.

Liekens said she was disappointed at their non-attendance. ‘It is not just about penises and vaginas as they might think,’ she is quoted as saying by the Telegraaf. ‘It is about relationships and vulnerability. That is why information is so important.’