Sex education is about to be included in schools across the country to promote greater awareness on safe sex and HIV/AIDS pandemic. A course-design for standard sixth till tenth has been finalised by the Ministry of Education with support from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities. It will be introduced initially in 500 schools beginning this April as a pilot project. The feedback provided by these schools would determine whether or not the course will be extended to other schools. Whatever the initial response, the benefits of sex education cannot be overstated. In fact, the subject has been long overdue in schools in Nepal. With the change in their attitude due to myriad influences such as television and Internet, people, especially the young, cannot be said to be adhering to conservative lifestyle. HIV infection rate in Nepal is increasing at an alarming rate, which is further worsened by unsafe sex. The need for sex education at schools, thus, has never been more urgent. There are already an estimated 60,000 HIV positive people in the country. That Nepali society does not readily accept them as ordinary individuals speaks eloquently about the need for teaching students that the fear of HIV transmission — through unsafe sex and body fluid contact — is all that has to be heeded, not seclude the suffering from the mainstream.

Sex education also serves to promote better sanitation and hygiene, and helps generate public awareness associated in leading a healthy life. Given the rise in number of reports of abortion and the casual sex attitude in the Kathmandu Valley, the repercussions of which are often linked to social discrimination, sex education should have been incorporated into the formal education system long ago. However, the proponents of this education must handle the sensitive issue to ensure that people do not perceive sex education as an effort to promote free sex among the consenting adolescents. Instead, it must succeed in effectively informing them about the risks associated with unsafe sex. Since the danger of misunderstanding cannot be ruled out altogether, the path ahead must be tread with utmost caution. Given that western Nepal is home to epidemic proportions of STD cases including AIDS, where several NGOs have been working with donor agencies to create awareness besides working to eradicate the common ones, it would be plausible to introduce the pilot projects in these regions at the outset. Sensitive as the subject is, there is a need for the Ministry to recruit trained teachers to teach sex education. Now that a beginning has been made, the Ministry would do well to incorporate lessons learnt from the pilot exercise.