Do we need sex-education in schools?
A parliamentary committee, with a varied political membership, recently recommended that there should be no sex education in schools.
Sex even if done at the proper time, with a proper person, in a proper place, is a topic that makes many Indians uncomfortable.
The committee itself refused a power point presentation on the question “after going through the hard copy because of its explicit contents. The Committee felt that it was not comfortable with it and could be embarrassing especially to the lady Members and other lady staff present.”
The committee has recommended that chapters like ‘Physical and Mental Development in Adolescents’ and ‘HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases’ be removed from the general curriculum.
Instead, they want these topics to be included in biology syllabus for school leaving classes.
This leaves the students of the non-Biology streams at sea.
In school, two years before school leaving exams, I remember waiting expectantly as our Biology teacher reached the last page of a chapter on the Skin, which ended with a description of the anatomy of the female breast.
Table laid out in the winter sun
Ever had a lotus stem salad laced with fermented fish, evaporated cane juice cookie, chopped eel spiced with chillies or a plate of fried mountain onion roots?
Okay, they’re probably not on the menu of your average restaurant but to my pleasant surprise all the above and much more were on offer in New Delhi at a cultural event dedicated to northeast India.
The main attraction seemed to be the food — cuisines from all eight states that occupy India’s hilly northeast region. Maybe it was because of their novelty factor (not many restaurants in Delhi offer such dishes) but many people lined up at the food stalls (although admittedly, many were probably just gawking at the unusual dishes on display).
Consider this. Manipur state offered a peculiar salad known as the “Singzu” made from lotus stem, cabbage, powdered sesame seeds, mountain herbs, peas and gram touched up with pungent fermented fish.
The main attraction at the Mizoram stall were the fermented bamboo shoots, fried mountain onion roots and even fermented crab mixed with sesame seeds. While the ‘thali’ at the Nagaland stall comprised rice, pork, fried eel flavoured with a highly pungent chilli known as Raja mirchi and fermented soya beans.
The Northeastern states are connected to the rest of India by a tiny strip of land sandwiched between Nepal and Bangladesh and are traditionally more isolated.
Initiatives like the festival aim to promote and expose the culture of the region to the mainland audience.
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A very recent short online nationwide survey on the new education policy where board exams for class 10th being abolished by CBSE Board, which is still in progress, by a leading Indian market research agency Impetus Research reveal following results:Check this out !!1. Do you think this would help the education system in this country?Yes : 34%No : 65%2. Should Class X CBSE examination be made optional?Yes : 27%No : 73%3. What is the single most important objective behind introducing this reform?Publicity Stunt : 20%Cost Cutting : 10%Reduce / Destress Student : 18%Ensuring every one is atleast 10th Pass : 42%Dont Know/ Cant Say : 05%Other reasons : 05%This survey is still on and those who intend to participate can participate using following link :http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=W 50CCMFBpyofXgJC5aTrzQ_3d_3d