How Project X is imparting sex education to school students in Kerala

In October 2022, a 13-year-old eighth grade girl student went missing from her home in the Ernakulam district, only to be located the next day in Tamil Nadu. She fled because she feared she might be pregnant after hugging her boyfriend in the school auditorium. She received this information from a friend, causing her and the boy to panic. Later, the boy was also identified and both of them are receiving counselling now.

The day after Christmas vacation, when Azhan noticed his classmate Angha bleeding in her pants, he knew she was getting her period, but opted to remain silent. Although his mother explained to him that menstruation was a normal occurrence for girls her age, Azhan hesitated due to uncertainty about his teacher's reaction. Subsequently, Angha fainted in class and had to be sent home.

These anecdotes are accounts shared by high school teachers regarding the sexual awareness of their students. A study conducted among 5,530 students from 50 schools in Thiruvananthapuram revealed that 98.17 per cent of them did not know what menstruation is. Only 1.93 per cent knew about it. Of the 5,530 students who were part of the study, 63.37 per cent were girls and 36.63 per cent were boys.

The study was part of pre-implementation analysis of 'Project X', the collaborative initiative between the Thiruvananthapuram district administration, the General Education Department, and Kanal, an NGO that aims to provide comprehensive sex education in schools within the district.

Lack of awareness

Most participants in the study responded to the question, “What is menstruation?” by stating that it is “a thing” that happens to girls.

The study revealed that 99.7 per cent of the students lacked understanding of the distinction between sex and gender, with only 0.32 per cent having knowledge of child sex abuse. Only, 6.33 per cent demonstrated proper knowledge of sex organs, while a significant majority, 96.02 per cent, were unaware of toxic relationships.

This study was conducted before the project was launched in July 2023. After the initial phase of the project, the outcome was incredible, according to Anson Alexander of Kanal.

Encouraging outcome

The post-session analysis showed that 93.33 per cent of the children learned about menstruation and 95.02 per cent about toxic relationships. Similarly, 99.1 per cent became aware of the age of consent and 90.87 per cent of child sex exploitation.

“We can say Phase One of the project was very successful and we could educate the students through the sessions and even identify the sexual problems they encountered including assaults from the adults. There were many cases in which our volunteers guided them to the authorities to report about the violations they had suffered,” said Anson Alexander.

According to Kanal, sex education should encompass a high-quality discourse covering a wide range of topics related to sex and sexuality. The goal is to foster a progressive attitude and knowledge that ensures everyone understands the sensitivity and importance of the subject, encouraging individuals to reconsider their behaviour and personal development.

“The Project X campaign is dedicated to reframing sex education as comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). By focusing on age-appropriate knowledge dissemination and adopting a participant-centered approach, our Project X campaign aims to make CSE more effective,” added Anson.

“High school children generally receive information about sex and sexual acts from their peer group, which is often misinformation. This could potentially lead them into serious trouble. It’s an area we need to focus on. We must be open to them to a certain extent but also maintain boundaries,” opined Manju MK, head teacher at the Government High School Jagathy, Thiruvananthapuram.

Manju said the response from the students to Project X was relatively positive. "Although we didn’t receive enthusiastic questions from them, most were very attentive, and we’ve noticed a positive impact on them afterward,” he said.

“Children are very astute at this age, and they may not disclose everything to you. As a teacher, you need to be aware. It's relatively easier to gauge girls' moods with their mood swings during the menstrual period or distractions due to crushes on their friends etc. However, it's more challenging with boys, and they should be handled with care. We need to educate our boys as well to prevent sexual harassment and similar issues which we seldom do,” Manju added.

Training for teachers

“During the initial phase of the project, we conducted a session exclusively for students, providing individual attention to those aged between seven and 15. Many of them had experienced sexual assaults from someone close to them, highlighting the need for care and protection. The second phase focuses on addressing this issue. As a pilot session, we will be providing training to 200 teachers from 100 schools in the Thiruvananthapuram educational district. The objective is to raise awareness about potential cases and teach them how to handle such situations effectively,” said Anson Alexander of Kanal.

The module developed for Project X includes various aspects ranging from gender and sex, managing emotions within relationships, distinguishing characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships, consent and sexual boundaries, the impact of pornography and body image issues, puberty and personal hygiene, fundamentals of sexual hygiene, personal and sexual rights and responsibilities, and an overview of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) and related acts and a basic idea about the Constitution of India.