| Subject: sex education in VN |
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xinghua
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Date Posted: Wed, Feb 12 2003, 23:06:29
SEX REMAINS OFF LIMITS IN VIETNAMESE SCHOOLS
By Huang Haimin, Thai Thanhvan
HANOI, Jan 31 (OANA/Xinhua)
-- While parents and teachers often feel embarrassed with the thought of
discussing sex with youngsters, Vietnamese teenagers are eager to find
out
everything they can about the topic, said a latest survey.
The survey conducted by the Sociology Institute in several northern
provinces of the country found that sex education in local schools is
still
inadequate as many teachers are reluctant to touch on the subject in
front
of a class full of students. The problem is further exacerbated by the
embarrassment of the pupils.
"Our teacher talked about it in a very dry way, and many of the boys
used it
as a way to tease the girls. Most students in class do not really
understand
it," said one secondary school student. If the survey is correct, her
opinion reflects the problems faced in sex education across the north of
the
country.
"I have been having my period for two years. I have got a boyfriend in
the
same class and we have hugged and kissed, though we kept our clothes on.
Am
I pregnant?" inquires one 13-year-old student. Such queries are not
unusual.
This is one of the most common questions being asked at doctor's clinics
in
the region. Education on population and family planning was introduced
to
the country's curriculum in the early 1980s. However, it tends to focus
on
demography rather than on biological reality. Now, the programme is
giving
centre stage to reproductive health education, focusing on sex,
population
and development, protection against sexually transmitted diseases, the
structure of sex organs, love, companionship, safe sex, gender equality,
contraception and safe abortion. Nevertheless, these issues are only
covered
from secondary school level upwards. Sex education has yet to be
allotted
separate subject status and still falls beneath the joint mantles of
morality, geography and biology.
According to the deputy head of the Population and Family Planning
Education
Department, Professor Dang Quoc Bao, from the Ministry of Education and
Training, most of the teachers in charge of these three subjects prefer
to
concentrate on them, shunning any active discussion of sex. Only a few
are
genuinely keen to promote population and family planning propaganda.
Teachers are further hindered by their inexperience in giving lectures
on
sex. Consequently, many students aged between 17 and 19 have only the
vaguest notions about how sex and contraception actually work.
Another survey conducted on nearly 5,000 teenagers in the capital city
of
Hanoi and provinces of Thai Binh and Vinh Phuc found almost half of them
carrying genital diseases.
Exasperated by the situation, one teacher at the Nguyen Dinh Chieu
Secondary
School in the southern province of Tien Giang said: "We need to be
talking
about how to teach students about sex rather arguing about whether it's
necessary or not." Many are suggesting that the best way to approach the
issue is by using pictures and photos to stimulate group discussion.
This
would help students put forward their queries in a relaxed environment,
and
give them an opportunity to decide how they would combat their problems.
According to the chairman of Vietnam's Family Planning Association, Pham
Song, sexual health care among adolescents is not "a cause for great
optimism." It is estimated that in Hanoi, 15 per cent of teenagers aged
between 15 and 19 have sex before marriage. In Ho Chi Minh City, 2.5 per
cent of them have had sex.
In the nation as a whole, five percent of women under 18 have given
birth.
Most Vietnamese parents still recoil from the idea of sex education,
believing that their son or daughter is too young to need it. The
reality of
the premarital teenage sex life is becoming more and more apparent, but
many
adults are still unprepared to accept it, according to local media. As
many
parents are busy making a living almost all the time, their children are
often free to live as they wish. This situation has brought about
immeasurable consequences and can only be dealt with by ensuring
detailed
and readily available sex education. Observers, therefore, suggest that
more
clinics should be opened to deal with sex issues, and that more books
and
papers should be published to provide adolescents with the information
they
need.
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