Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix said today he was “deeply shocked” by arson attacks on school buildingswhich are linked to protests against compulsory school sex education lessons that were introduced into the school curriculum.

“Our schools must be a safe place for all our children,” de Croo said in a video posted on Facebook.

“Access to sex education cannot be questioned. Sex education empowers our children and forms the basis for good sexual health“, emphasized the Belgian Prime Minister.

Earlier this month, the parliament of the French-speaking regions of Belgium approved a proposal to make compulsory two-hour sex education classes for students between the ages of about 11 and 15; according to the Belga news agency.

Four schools were torched on Tuesday night, with prosecutors linking the incidents to protests against the new courses, as graffiti with anti-school reform slogans was found at the sites, Belga said.

Another school was set on fire last night, but no graffiti related to those protests was found, prosecutors said.

The protests are fueled by misinformation circulating on social media, including unsubstantiated claims that students will learn in sex education classes how to masturbate, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF reported.