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Row over `sex education' in schools

Correspondent

Official says experts have oked chapter on `adolescence'

CUTTACK: Protest against `sex education' in school curriculum has been gaining momentum in the State as members of women, youth and student organisations have threatened to lay siege to the office of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) here on April 28 next.

Addressing a joint press conference here on Wednesday leaders of All India Mahila Sanskrutika Sangathan (AIMSS), All India Democratic Students' Organisation and All India Democratic Youth Organisation alleged that the BSE has a hidden agenda of introducing sex education for school students under the guise of AIDS awareness campaign.

They said that despite objections from students, teachers and parents, the BSE was going ahead with its agenda without bothering about the repercussions of such a move. "Sex education for young boys and girls would lead to rampant free sex which would result in high unwed mothers and teen-aged mothers in the society," alleged Biswabasu Das, the state committee member of AIDYO.

Ashok Mishra, State secretary of the AIDSO, claimed that due to massive public protest, the BSE was forced to drop a chapter on `adolescence' in science syllabus of Class IX last year.

"Although, the same chapter has been withheld from the syllabus this year, steps are now being made to reintroduce it again," Mr. Mishra said.

He also alleged that the BSE had introduced a similar chapter for class IX students in Environmental and Population, which is of course an optional subject. Claiming that the chapter under the title `Adolescence' has certain indecent contents in it, the members of the three organisations have threatened to force the BSE to withdraw it from the syllabus.

When contacted, BSE secretary Minaketan Pani, a child psychologist himself, said the chapter on adolescence was introduced last year on the recommendation of national education forum for spreading the campaign against sexual transmissible diseases (STDs).

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