In a Delhi classroom, 40 sheepish girls and boys stare silently at a sketch of a couple making love.
The sex education lesson for 15-year-olds is not part of India’s national syllabus and the exclusive private school teaching the subject is taking a risk by passing on the facts of life to its pupils.
Traditionalists say such classes are against Hindu sensibilities and invade a private matter that is best dealt with inside the family home.
However, with rapid social change in India, calls for teenagers to be taught about human reproduction and sexual health are growing, and private schools across the country now give discreet lessons to their privileged pupils.
“India allows teenagers to learn English and other European languages, devour pizza, burgers, wear skimpy clothes and dance to English music,” teacher Rubina Hussain Sheikh told her class. “These Western influences are welcomed. So why is talking about sex in schools not accepted?”
Sheikh, a counselor whose lesson communicates sexual information in a simple and relaxed manner, admits it is a “tricky subject,” but she believes it is a vital duty to combat ignorance.
She displays slides from the ancient Indian erotic text Kamasutra, as well as drawings of how an adolescent’s body develops and graphics to explain AIDS and the rise of sexually transmitted diseases in India.
Students at the school often hesitate to ask questions, she said, but they all feel the course helps clear away many of the misconceptions and the secrecy that shrouds such taboo subject.
“I had no clue about sex, pregnancy and the precautions required to protect oneself during an intercourse. I am glad that I am aware now,” said a 15-year-old student at the school, which asked not to be named to avoid publicity.
Parents said they had permitted the course to be taught as they were aware their children needed to be able to look after themselves, adding it would pass on information that they would be shy to discuss at home.
But millions of students studying in government schools are denied any such advice, as India state governments avoid all mention of introducing sex education in schools.
“If implemented, the subject would have adverse effects on young minds,” said Swami Nityanand, a Hindu priest in Delhi and a senior member of the right wing Hindu organization, Vishwa Hindu Parishad. “Imparting this kind of education would mean devaluing Indian culture and values, so I will fight until the end to protect our rich heritage,” he said.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS