NACO tones down sex education manual

The states have been given two months to review the manual, which is expected to be introduced in schools by August this year.

Following protests over the “explicit” content in the earlier manual forcing NACO to pull it out in October last year, the expert group has tried to play it safe this time. The manual, which has been re-named as the “teachers’ handbook”, has no pictures of human figures or words like “penetrative sex” and “sexual intercourse” this time. It is expected to be uploaded on the NACO website for wider comments.

“Explicit pictures are no longer there in the manual. Instead, child-friendly cartoon-type animated pictures have been used. The handbook has got knowledge, methodology and promises to be culturally appropriate, child-friendly and at the same time using the suitable pedagogy for growing up children,” said an expert.

“It’s a nice piece of work. We have asked for views after wide consultations,” said K Sujatha Rao, NACO director-general. “It talks about life skills and how to cope with reality, environment,” she added.

“This is the document made keeping in mind the sensitivities of the parliamentary standing committee. The evidence that’s available to us in science has been used in a cultural context. The national framework of the NCERT is being adhered to. The obvious explicit reference to sex has been replaced with evidence-based text related to sexual reproductive health needs of the adolescent. Gender has been kept in mind while addressing the above needs of the adolescent,” said Dr Sunil Mehra, Executive Director, Mamta, which facilitated the process for aligning with different experts and creating the prototype.

Experts from SCERT, mental health experts, teachers, educationists, academic institutions and parents worked on the manual which was moderated by NACO.