Sex education soon in high school syllabus

KOLKATA: What was a controversial topic during the Left Front regime, has sparked a debate once more. Council of Boards of School Education in India (Cobse) has proposed that Bengal should include elements of "adolescence education" in the syllabus of Classes XI and XII.
After a meeting with the expert committee chairman Aveek Mazumdar, West Bengal Higher Secondary Council president Muktinath Chattopadhyay has agreed on the need to incorporate parts of "sex education" in the biology syllabus, while adolescence education can be included in subjects like sociology, psychology and education.
"There are various psychological problems faced by students which include teasing, bullying, depression, trauma and queries related to sexual behaviour. We would like to include sufficient material on these subjects so that students find a solution to the problems bothering their young minds," said HSC president Muktinath Chattopadhyay.
An extensive teachers' training programme will be taken up, he said. "It won't be taught as a separate subject and there will be no examination. It will be a part of their syllabus," he added.
At the Cobse meeting held last month, members offered help to the secondary board and the HS council in framing their syllabi. "Only when the council and board approve the syllabus, it will be placed for sanction by the state government," said an HS council member.
The Left Front government had to shelve its plans to introduce 'lifestyle education' in 2009, saying students were already under pressure from environment studies as a compulsory additional subject. Now that EVS is gone, the HS council is taking a relook at adolescence studies.