Sex Education still on the charts in India Must
feel comfortable seeking counselling on sex-related issues. Each of
their questions, no matter how private, needs to be answered. Experts
argue that openness in conversation would decrease frustrations and
aggressions linked to sexuality amongst youth, says Parul Sharma. 10 December 2005 - The Supreme Court on 16 November this year decided that Sex
Education in schools cannot be brought under the ambit of fundamental
rights by making it a part of the
right to education. "We cannot make
it (sex education) a fundamental right," a bench comprising Justice
Ruma Pal and Justice A R Lakshmanan said while dealing with a Public
Interest Litigation, which had suggested making sex education in
schools compulsory. The NGO, Nari Raksha Samiti, had submitted that sex
education in
school curricula could play a role in checking the rise in rape cases. Though
agreeing with the suggestion, the bench said it cannot be given the
status of a fundamental right on the same footing as the right to
education itself. A couple of years ago, Ram Chandra Purbey, the former
primary education minister for the state of Bihar, exclaimed the
following; "Our society is not an open one. Inclusion of sex education
in the syllabus can also have an adverse effect". This statement
clearly indicates government attitudes on the issue of sex education,
and the misconstrued notion of unpleasant effects of
people having sex in every possible corner. Dangerously enough, there is no
consensus in India over introducing sex and reproductive health
education in the school and college syllabus. Meanwhile, the reality is
that a large population of about 300 million
young people is in the age group 12-24, and studies are showing their growing preference for pre-marital sex. In a survey in 2002 by The Week magazine, of unmarried young Indians, 69 per
cent of men admitted to pre-marital sex compared to 38 per cent of women. In
the 16-19 group, forty-five per cent had pre-marital sex, while 27 per
cent were 15 years or under and 28 per cent were 20 years or older.Such
findings reveal a continuing denial in government-speak about the
reality in our society. Central and state governments are taking a
moralistic position on this issue and have refused to recognise the
magnitude of the problem. Ignorance and sex can be a troubling and
sometimes deadly mix for young people and people living under
suffocating societal demands. In the midst of all this,
non-governmental organisations have been trying to produce and
distribute their own guidebooks to address what they see missing in the
school syllabus on sex education, but their efforts have met with
opposition. Woman and Sex Education Asked whether starting
sex-education at 14 years is too late, about 92.46 per cent respondents
have said ''''yes'''' in an 8888 poll this year. Therefore, the
implications are clear the subject must indeed be introduced in schools
at the pre-teen level itself. Contrastingly, a school for brides in
Madhya Pradesh teaches women how to be ideal wives by serving their
husband and his family, but keeps sex off the curriculum. The
18-year-old Manju Sanskar Kendra funded by businessmen in the
state capital, Bhopal, aims to "smooth" a bride''''s path with a special
three-month training course, which includes cooking, sewing and daily
prayers. The school charges no fees and boasts of having trained over
4,000 girls between the ages of 18 to 21. However, the bridal finishing
school manages to avoid one of the key issues in any marriage, and does
not give any sex education or talk about safe sex. "At the school
we''''ve been told to please our husbands at all times and have children,
whichsex," explains a 22-year-old "student". Furthermore, and maybe due to
the privileged status of men in our country, only 5% of Indian men use
condom according to Dr. Avni Amni at Center th and Gender Equity. Most
parents in India are not aware of their role in imparting sex
education, explains Amit Jain, a well-known sex counsellor; "Sex
education doesn''''t even figure at all in the priorities of the Indian
parents.” Sex education is also a means to respect a partner, a wife, a
husband, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, and a means to respect
sexual preferences. It is also a means to question and understand the
existence of assault and sexual violence in our country and to increase
gender equality. The lack of understanding about sexual issues is more
risky, and more likely to lead young people to have unwanted
pregnancies, abortions and STDs, and sometimes sex related violence.
There are so many crucial issues at hand, which could be saved and
cured by means of sex education. WHO on Sex Education Back in
1993, a survey of 35 sex education projects conducted by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) showed that sex education in schools did not
encourage young people to have sex at an earlier age or more
frequently. Rather importantly, the survey showed that early sex
education delays the start of sexual activity, reduces sexual activity
among young people and encourages those already sexually active to have
safer sex. Furthermore, the WHO published a review of 1,050 scientific
articles on sex education programmes. Researchers found "no support for
the contention that sex education encourages sexual experimentation or
increased activity. If any effect is observed, almost without
exception, it is in the direction of postponed initiation of sexual
intercourse and/or effective use of contraception." Failure to provide
appropriate and timely information "misses the opportunity of reducing
the unwanted outcomes of unintended pregnancy and transmission of STDs,
and is, therefore, in the disservice of our youth," the report called Effects of Sex Education on Young People''''s Sexual Behavior
says. This report was commissioned by the Youth and General Public
Unit, Office of Intervention and Development and Support, Global
Program on AIDS, and the WHO. Sex Education and HIV/AIDS With
more than 4.5 million people infected by HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS, India has become the world''''s second largest hub of the disease,
but some states are still in denial. That means that while India has
the second-largest population of HIV sufferers after South Africa, a
taboo on talking openly about sex has ensured that sex education is not
taught in schools, and people, especially women, are reluctant to seek
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. According to Dr Balaji,
advisor to the National Council of Education Research and Training
(NCERT), the NCERT has so far been playing it safe because of the
explosiveness of the issue of sex education, which cannot be separated
from AIDS
education. "Too many people think that neither is compatible with their
notion of Indian culture." Dr Balaji adds that India has come a long
way from the day in 1993 when he was nearly assaulted by the principal
of a government school in Madhya Pradesh where he and his team were
attempting to introduce a course in sex education. In the meantime, as
the AIDS epidemic spreads, the battle against it is mired by a lack of
consensus on the extent of the pandemic, the "right strategy" to combat
it, and how to deal frankly with sexuality. In early 2003 the Indian
Health Minister Sushma Swaraj told the press that the country''''s AIDS
program had to focus on sexual abstinence and faith rather than just
condoms. Horrifyingly, most individuals are tested for HIV without
their consent an
More abstracts about the Sex Education in India