ROLE OF SEX EDUCATION: GOING BEYOND BIOLOGY TEXTBOOKS
ROLE OF SEX EDUCATION
Author : Darshi Sanghvi
INTRODUCTION
India has undoubtedly come a long way over the years, but the fact that the “sex talk” till date stuns us, proves that there’s a lot more to be done. It’s rather ironic that despite living in an era that sees innumerable rape cases and a growing rate of cybercrime, sex education remains unheard of in schools. Based on the research conducted and published between 2002-2013, India has the largest adolescent population in the world, that is, about 253 million, and every fifth person is between 10 to 19 years. However, even today, these adolescents are either devoid of basic sex education or their knowledge is confined only to what is offered by the 2-3 chapters that exist in their biology textbooks. Despite the importance of sex education being reiterated over and over again, the subject is heavily masked under myths, sensitivity and a whole lot of embarrassment. So much so, that it is often neglected even during the adolescence phase, the period in which they not only undergo all kinds of physical changes, but also fall prey to obscene content that does rounds over the internet.
WHY NEED SEX EDUCATION?
A whole slew of Indian citizens feign indifference when it comes to sex education and much of this edginess stems from the preconceived notions seeded in us since day one. It has often been contended that sexuality is one’s intimate matter and education regarding the same not only opposes the Indian culture, but also promotes immorality and promiscuity amongst adolescents.
Around a decade ago, when the Government of India, in collaboration with NACO, NCERT and UN first introduced the Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) in schools, 13 states suggested a ban on it on the grounds that it is disrespectful to the values preached by Indians. What’s more, several political figures also articulated their concerns regarding the Programme and went on to argue that it might encourage young individuals to wallow in sexual profligacy.
Au contraire, the society at large fails to realise that misinformation or insufficient sex education would only prove to be detrimental, making these adolescents all the more conscious about physiological changes and in a situation that would force them to face the brunt of sexual abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, early and unavoidable pregnancy, so on and so forth.
Here’s a comprehensive yet inexhaustive list of reasons that make sex education the need of the hour:
Ensuring female reproductive health and hygiene
Despite being a youth-dominated country, issues concerning youngsters are often turned a blind eye to in India. Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) is a concept that’s alien to most of the Indians and South Asians. This is clearly evident from the 2019 report of the Family Planning Association that clearly states the fact that 14 % of pregnancies amongst women under 20 are accidental and over 34 % of married adolescent girls fall victim to not just mental, but also physical and sexual assault. Furthermore, maternal deaths of girls aged between 15-19 years by unsafe abortion practices amounts to about 50%. As a result of acquiring insufficient knowledge of reproductive cycles, contraceptives, the risks associated with back-alley abortions and the legal provisions available to seek abortion prior to 20 weeks, women succumb to poor menstrual hygiene, reproductive tract infections and unwanted pregnancies. Only when the taboo surrounding sex and its education is debunked, can we expect a culmination to these and the innumerable other challenges in existence and in turn, notch up sound reproductive health and hygiene.
Prevention of sexual abuse
Newspapers are peppered with horrifying stories of sexual abuse every single day. Children and women are robbed of their basic knowledge about their bodies, sexuality and its possible abuse, making frequent molestation at the hands of perpetrators a dark, glaring reality. A survey by the Ministry of Women and Child Development enunciates that nearly 50% of Indian boys and girls, each, have been victims of sexual abuse in their early lives. Furthermore, between 2014-16, 34.4% of total crimes against children were deemed to be under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO). The only possible resort from such heinous acts, is to handhold young children, educate them and thereby, to empower them to battle against them.
Prevention of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Too much schooling, too little education about topics that really matter. Adolescents are barely enlightened about safe sexual encounters and the consequences of unprotected relations. Over the span of 15 years, there have been 2.3 million sufferers of HIV infection, which makes up for about 31% of the total population infected with AIDS/HIV in India. Additionally, the state of prevented of other sexually transmitted diseases is below 20% for both, men and women. An attempt for stifling this sexual vulnerability can be made by schools across the country, by adhering to the National AIDS Prevention and Control Policy 2002 that has been put in place.
MEASURES TAKEN FOR IMPARTING QUALITY SEXUAL EDUCATION
Here are some of the most striking measures taken by India to help bring about a change:
Adolescence Education Programme (AEP)
In light of the challenges faced by the adolescents, the Adolescence Education Programme has been initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. It throws light upon the process of growing up, substance abuse and upon several sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. It further strives to impart necessary life skills to adolescents such that they are confident enough to deal with risky situations, and can look at sufferers of AIDS/HIV with a positive outlook.
Health And Wellness Curriculum
The Narendra-Modi led NDA government recently introduced the new “Health and wellness curriculum” that aims to educate children about reproductive health, HIV, safe use of internet and social media and also helps them bust several gender stereotypes. The curriculum regards “sex education” as “adolescence education”, which was once a different curriculum, but is now merged. As of now, the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced the programme to classes 6 to 10 and will further curate modules for classes 11 and 12 as well.
Adolescent FLE (Family life/ sex education)
The National AIDS Control Organization and the Ministry of Human Resources and Development proposed a program for sex education called the Adolescent FLE, with the aim of nurturing emotionally strong children and adolescents, providing adequate knowledge about the physical, psychological, sociological aspects of sex behaviours and developing standards of conduct to assist youngsters in determining their sexual and other behaviour, and its consequences on their personal development and that of the society at large. This initiative too sank in controversy and faced resistance when it comes to its incorporation.
CONCLUSION
There’s no denying the fact that the government is doing its bit to promote sex education, but it’s all talk unless we decide to make the most of what’s being offered. We need to have more conversations and most importantly, meaningful ones and we need to school our adolescents way beyond the books.
So, the next time kids ask you where the baby comes from, make sure you give them the real answer before they find it out from elsewhere and the next time you, as an adolescent, comes across obscene, discomforting content on the internet, make sure you ask, instead of simply keeping mum.
