One issue that has received the most varied responses from different quarters of the society is the introduction of sex education in the schools and other educational institutions in India. Even the apex court in the country has repeatedly been emphasizing that it cannot bring sex education within the purview of fundamental rights by making it a part of the right to education. The real problem is that there is no clear accord in India over the issue of introducing sex education in educational institutions.
Those people opposing sex education point out that India is a traditional society and claim that promulgation of sex education will give youth undue fillip to take interest in the issue. On the contrary, a certain section of the intelligentsia and NGOs in India that have been working closely with different social groups opine that introducing sex education in school curriculum will play crucial role in checking the increase of rape cases and unwanted pregnancies in youth.
Against all the pandemonium, the need to arrive at a decision seems all the more pertinent when viewed against a study that reveals the preference for pre-marital sex is growing among the 300 million young people in the 12-24 age-group in India. A recent survey conducted by a reputed Indian news magazine disclosed that of unmarried young Indians, 69 per cent of men admitted to pre-marital sex compared to 38 per cent of women. Even in the 16-19 age group, 45 per cent had pre-marital sex.
Unawareness and sex can be disturbing and at times fatal brew for young minds. As such, this is what a survey of 35 sex education projects conducted in 1993 by the world Health Organization (WHO) had to conclude about this issue. It clearly stated that sex education in schools did not encourage youth to have sex at an earlier age or more frequently. Contrarily, the survey revealed that early sex education discourages early start of sexual activity, lessens sexual activity among youth and encourages those already sexually active to have safer sex.
