Dr. Avnish Jolly, 30th July, 2008 :This special half an hour participatory and interactive session weekly will discuss HIV/ AIDS, Sexual Transmitted Infection and Reproductive Track Infections and forms part of the recommendations made by India’s first official sex education manual, which is now open for public scrutiny. In co-educational schools may soon have an class every week. NACO says to combat HIV, prevention is the best cure. The manual, it says, will educate Generation Next — six of whom are infected with HIV every minute worldwide — about essential life skills and accurate information about HIV and STIs.
While male teachers will teach the boys, girls will be enlightened by lady teachers about how HIV is spread, what are the precautions one can take is abstinence a good option to save one self from the virus and what are the symptoms of HIV/ AIDS, Sexual Transmitted Infection and Reproductive Track Infections. Teachers have been asked to initiate an interactive brainstorming session with students asking them to name some of the latest diseases affecting people. When HIV/AIDS is mentioned, only then will the teacher start discussing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in India with participatory approach.
The origin of the virus will be discussed; its prevalence in the world and in India, why women and children are most vulnerable to getting infected, what is its mode of transmission and how one can protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. Generation Next may chuckle their way through the class but they better pay attention because the manual methodology has bound the teachers to quiz students at the end of the class to ensure the messages don’t go waste. Even they can use question box to maintain the anonymity of the students. The manual, which is open for public feedback till August, is expected to be finalized by October.
Yesterday, National AIDS Control Organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GOI presented the prototype of the Adolescent Education Manual to Education Secretaries and State AIDS Control Societies from around 20 states.