Improved sex education model to be part of school curriculum

In a first, the State government has decided to impart sex education in an improvised model to school students.

As child sexual abuse cases have been on a steady rise across Tamil Nadu, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been entrusted to prepare a detailed study with a comprehensive curriculum and awareness programmes on sex education, which will be introduced in the next academic year. More than 500 cases related to child sex abuse in schools were reported in 2019 against 124 cases in 2018.

Though the government had earlier planned on introducing sex education in schools, it could not be implemented since authorities failed to find the right agency to prepare the syllabus. Hence, the State-owned Commission for Child Rights has come forward to prepare the curriculum.

A senior School Education Department official told DT Next that after deciding to introduce Pocso and the Juvenile Justice Act in textbooks, consensus was also reached on there being separate sex education lessons in the school curriculum. Stating that at present, the importance of value education, personal safety, and sex education is not being emphasised much in schools, he said, “Children should be educated on these two lines using age-appropriate teaching methods.” He said that as per recommendations from the State Council of Educational Research and Training, every school, including private institutions, will have a Child Care Centre, comprising experts to deal with children. Pointing out that the sex education syllabus will be prepared after consultation and obtaining feedback from teachers, academicians, experts and parents, he said, “Special teachers will be appointed in the child care centre to take classes on sex education.”

“Once the curriculum on sex education is prepared, teaching methods and strategies will be made simple and interactive to create a child-friendly environment through child care centres,” the official said, adding the sex education syllabus will also sensitise the children on the dos and dont’s in cyberspace and the preventive measures to curb child trafficking.