Bangalore: Sex education is anathema for the government of Karnataka with the state's Education Minister Basavaraj S Horatti last week ruling out the introduction of the subject in schools.
“We are fine with it. We all know about it and talk about it. It would be nice if teachers could talk about it to us too,” says a student of class nine, Muppidathi M.
The Karnataka government, however, does not share this student's point of view on sex education.
Last week, Horatti ruled out introducing the subject in schools and his decision found favour with Higher Education Minister DH Shankarmurthy, who belongs to the BJP, which is JD(S)’s coalition partner.
"There is no need to teach the subject in schools. It will be a bad effect on the students,” reasons Shankarmurthy.
Meanwhile, former ISRO chairman Professor U R Rao has also written against the content in textbooks, which he feels are explicit and badly written.
With so much of opposition regarding the subject in the state, the Congress seems to be the only party standing up for sex education in schools.
“Definitely, there is no question of a blanket ban. I think people who recommend blanket bans are the ones who mix up issues on the age at which the subject should be taught,” says Congress leader and former minister for primary and secondary education, BK Chandrasekhar.
The birds and the bees have always been a taboo subject but now it seems the question of whether students will get to learn about it will be played out on a political stage.
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