Indian Government Says No to Sex Education in Schools

As the U.S. Government takes steps to reduce funding for abstinence only programs, the Government of India has moved in the opposite direction, with a decision that there should be no sex education in Indian schools. The Committee on Petitions, composed of members of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha) and headed by the Indian People's Party's Venkaiah Naidu, has decided that India's "social and cultural ethos are such that sex education has absolutely no place in it." The Committee reviewed and rejected the Ministry of Human Resource Development's Adolescents Education Program (AEP), concluding in its report that AEP "is a cleverly- used euphemism whose real objective was to impart sex education to school children and promote promiscuity." In response to arguments that AEP disseminates essential information on HIV/AIDS and safe sex, the Committee's report makes the narrow-minded and unfounded conclusion that there is no "credible study or survey that could establish that the school children in the age group of 14 to 18 years were in the high risk group prone to HIV/AIDS." 

AEP itself was not without its critiques. The Delhi-based group, TARSHI (Talking about Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues), which prefers the term "sexuality education" because they consider it a broader and more encompassing approach, issued a call for action last year, arguing that AEP provides scant information on sexual transmission and how to protect oneself. They further condemned AEP for underestimating the ability of young people to make decisions about their own lives and criticized the lack of information in the curriculum on reproduction, healthy sexual relationships and gender identity, with only one reference about those who do not identify with the "mainstream heterosexual norm." 

TARSHI's Manager of Programs, Prabha Nagaraja, discussed with me their open letter campaign to the Government, all political parties and citizens of India, initiated in February to advocate for sexuality education. Highlighting that India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the letter observes that failure to provide sex education denies the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to education, the right to participation and the right to protection from exploitation and abuse, including sexual exploitation and abuse. The statistics demonstrate the current failure of the government to guarantee these rights. At the time of the National Family Health Survey III (NFHS III), 16 percent of women aged 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the survey. Additionally, according to a 2007 study by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, out of a total of 12,447 children, 53.22 percent reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. 

Rather than recognizing the need for sex education, the government has responded with a deplorable decision to eliminate all sex education in schools, one that has been criticized extensively. The director-general of National Aids Control Organization (NACO), Rao, who responded by saying, "If all Indians are bramhcharis [a reference to being morally pure or celibate], then how come 30 percent of all HIV infections at present are within the age group of 15-24 years?" 

However, sex education extends far beyond the issue of HIV and the decision to ban sex education has united civil society in opposition. One such group is "Gains & Gaps- ICPD+15: A Civil Society Review in India," a loose conglomeration of organizations and networks working in the fields of women's rights, human rights, health rights and sexuality. Members include the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), Jagori, Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan (JSA)/Peoples Health Movement India, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), Population Foundation of India (PFI), Positive Women's Network, SAHAYOG, SANGRAM and (Social Upliftment through Rural Action (SUTRA). Gains & Gaps has submitted a petition appealing for the Committee to overturn its decision on sex education. 

Jaya Velankar, a consultant with the Center for Health & Social Justice, explained to me their goals in submitting this petition: "Through this petition we want our government to recognize and take necessary steps to impart age appropriate, non-moralistic and fact-based sexuality education to adolescents and youth both in schools and out of schools. It must also make efforts to dispel the fears and myths that people may have in their minds." The group emphasizes the social aspects of sex education, including the formation of attitudes about the self, relationships, sexual behavior and diversity, reproductive health and gender roles. It is also advocating for developing young people's skills so that they make informed choices about their behavior, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. 

Advocacy against the government's stance is also about busting myths. The coalition argues there is no evidence that the introduction of sex education leads to an increase in sexual activity among youth, not to mention that according to the National Family Health Survey III, young people in India are already sexually active. Of those aged 15-24 years, 51 percent of women and 27 percent of men, state that they have had sex, with 10 percent of women and 2 percent of men in this age group indicating that they had sexual intercourse by age 15. 

Sex education plays a pivotal role in guaranteeing rights to sexual diversity, sexual health and choice for all, preventing HIV and other STIs, unwanted pregnancies, discrimination and homophobia. In the words of Velankar, "As a signatory to Program of Action that emerged at the International Conference on Population & Development in Cairo in 1994, the government is committed to encourage reproductive health education amongst adolescents. This year being the 15th anniversary of Cairo, we hope the government will take appropriate action."