Sex Education

The meaning of sex education is different from that of the perception of common people. It is very important foundation of family life. In the present context, sex education is considered as one of the important components of family life. Sex education imparts the knowledge and attitude of reproductive process and the reality about human sex education to the young people. It also helps to develop healthy interrelationship. It is also an educational process like population education. Being satisfaction on sex related matter, youths prepare for marriage and develop responsibility of parents. It gives training to adolescents to be mentally prepped for adulthood and old age. It clarifies various misconceptions about sex and sex related problems.

Rationale of sex education

Misconceptions, orthodoxy and beliefs regarding sex education can be observed in our society. For example, some think that menstruation leads to physical weakness and deteriorates health. Similarly, people think women are only meant for giving birth to children and responsible for the birth of a son. The rationale of sex education may be enlisted below:

• It provides the necessary knowledge, attitude and skills required for safe sexual behavior.
• It helps to correct misconceptions regarding sex, sexual behavior and practice among adolescents.
• It promoted positive attitude among couples and adolescents for richer and happier living.
• It helps to understand parental diseases, prostitution and sex- related crime.
• It enables sex to a position of dignified normal life.
• It helps the man and woman to understand their sex roles and emotional relationship.

Mainstreaming of sex education at national and international level

Our society is full of social problems and evils. The degree and frequency of these evil practices are increasing day to day. For example, sex related crimes, girls trafficking, rape, sexual abuse, drug abuse, adolescent pregnancy, prevalence of SITS and HIV/AIDS, etc. have become more common in the society. It is sex education which develops understanding on reproductive process and motivated the people to practice safer sexual behavior. That is why sex education is getting more important day to day.

There are various misconceptions regarding sex and sex related problems which are developed due to socio- cultural and religious traditions. These conceptions have led to the spread of sex related diseases and HIV/AIDS all over the world. In this context of present world, there is an urgent need of sex education to share appropriate knowledge on safe sex practice and prevent from sex related problems. Realizing the fact, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, in 1994. Sex education imparts the knowledge and attitude of reproductive process and the reality about human sex education to the young people. As a result, many countries of the world have now initiated sexual and reproductive health education programs including it in the curriculum of formal education. In developed countries, peer educations are trusted with the responsibility of imparting sex education in house, family, community and school formally as well as informally. They also have opened clinics and counseling centers for providing service on sex education.Asian countries like Philippines, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc are providing sex education as formal education from school level. So far as Nepal is concerned, it has recently included sex and reproductive education in the curriculum of school. Before this sex education was incorporated partially in higher secondary education as well as university curriculum of I. Ed., B.Ed. and M.Ed. levels under health education and population education. In addition to this, it was partially included in the curriculum of population studies of B.A. and M.A. Various NGOs and INGOs like safe passage of Adulthood, UNESCO, UNFPA, Solid Nepal, etc. are working actively in disseminating sex education to the common people. Some private public clinics on reproductive health are also providing sexual and reproductive health services to some extent.When we talk about sex, not illiterate people but also educated people do not want to talk about this, Due to this reason, it has been found to be very difficult to disseminate the knowledge and skills of sex education in Nepal.

Sex education cannot be made popular in Nepal until and unless Nepalese society take part it a part of human knowledge. There is a need to involve teachers, parents and the people of our community in providing and sharing the knowledge of health education. We can control health related problems to a greater extent even if we formally spread sex education to school, university, working place, family, community, etc. The government of Nepal has targeted to conduct various program-mes adopting the issue of sexual and reproductive health as a major health policy since the tenth five year plan. We can be optimistic from this that sex education will be developed in Nepal.