A – Abstinence, B – Be faithful to your partner, C – Use CondomDr. Avnish Jolly, Chandigarh:The effort to introduce sex education in India’s schools was aimed primarily at creating awareness about HIV/AIDS. Due to many reasons Six states (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka) banned the programme.
National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) formed a committee last year and after endless parleys managed to finalise a new tool kit the previous kit was too open and would damage the minds of the young children. Adolescent School education module being devised for school students in India is changed the new adolescent education programme may roll out in November this year. The main point of objection was a flip chart prepared jointly by Unicef and Government for teachers. But educationists themselves turned against it. This time the focus will be on ”abstaining” and safe sex tools like condoms will be described. Now under the national policy the educators stressed upon ABC and step wise and advocates accordingly:
A – Abstinence
B – Be faithful to your partner
C – Use Condom
Sujatha Rao said, Director General, NACO said this time we have undertaken a series of consultations, involving people and groups before from all levels for finalising the module and objectionable words like ‘intercourse’ and ‘masturbation’ will not be mentioned as we are not teaching them the Kama Sutra and admitting that the earlier texts had ”very elaborative information on sex and sexuality’’ and she stressed the current one would be more interactive and user-friendly, with not too many illustrations and drawings.
In light of the past experiences NACO this time prepare the module through an elaborate consultation process to prepare the toolkit. The final of the module will be ready by July and will be sent to state education departments for their feedback, which we will consider and it would first pass the module to each state education department before implementation. The committee has prepared three sets of materials. While the teachers’ handbook is ready, the facilitators and the trainers’ handbook will be ready by June 25. After the state governments approve the tool-kit, their education departments will be asked to interact with parents, teachers and NGOs. Parents, teachers, child psychologists, members from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) were part of the exercise. In education it is difficult to be diplomatic and still through these kits we are initiating addressing the concerns of adolescents. The objective is to provide them with correct as well as comprehensive information and knowledge, which influences their attitudes and values. This would also create awareness among them about risky behaviour and to be a responsible person. It will also help them for their sustainable holistic development.
Ms. Rao said we can’t hide from children such things when they are seeing it all on television. We can’t be hypocritical and should not forget that 15 per cent are teenage pregnancies and added the module will not have any explicit details about sex and sexuality and will rather discuss the physical changes a girl or boy goes through. It will go through various stages before being finalised and it is a comprehensive module that is required for the age group of 15 to 19 years. This is the time when they need to understand about respecting relationships.
As the world is getting closer day by day because of strong media where everything is opening up,therefore,it is very important for a country like India whose population is increasing at an alarming rate to impart sex education to its upcoming generation not only to save them from the deadly diseases but this will also help in controlling unwanted births and abortions those effect the health of the would be mothers for healthier India.