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, which I suppose
means sex," 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/AIDSWith 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 and knowledge. Because of the stigma attached to the disease, not many willingly undergo tests or
talk about their trauma.
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