Youth in India ready for sex education? Emerging evidence from national surveys.
BACKGROUND
Sex education/family life education (FLE) has been one of the highly controversial issues in Indian society. Due to increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS, RTIs/STIs and teenage pregnancies, there is a rising need to impart sex education. However, introducing sex education at school level always received mixed response from various segments of Indian society.


METHODS
We attempt to understand the expectations and experiences of youth regarding family life education in India by analysing the data from District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3: 2007-08) and Youth Study in India (2006-07). We used descriptive methods to analyse the extent of access to FLE and socio demographic patterning among Indian youth.


CONCLUSIONS
We found substantial gap between the proportion of youth who perceived sex education to be important and those who actually received it, revealing considerable unmet need for FLE. Youth who received FLE were relatively more aware about reproductive health issues than their counterparts. Majority among Indian youth, irrespective of their age and sex, favoured introduction of FLE at school level, preferably from standard 8(th) onwards. The challenge now is to develop a culturally-sensitive FLE curriculum acceptable to all sections of society.
International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. niharika.t2010@gmail.com
Niharika
N
Tripathi
T V
TV
Sekher
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012736:Sex Education / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires