Sex education in Pakistan

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:12 AM

NOTE:- Sex education does not mean sex education for children in primary schools here.

I don't understand why no serious steps have been taken towards educating masses. In a country where actual literacy rate is not more than 25% & health services are in shambles, this is a really big problem.

There is this argument that it's parents responsibility to educate their children but sex education is not just about "When a girl marries a boy they ............... and that is how babies are born", it goes beyond these simple explanations.

An overwhelming majority of parents themselves are poorly informed or worse not informed at all. In this scenario it is state's responsibility to educate them. Slogans like "kam bachai khushaal gharana" & "bachai du he achai" are not just enough.

Do you think government doing enough to address these issues? or is there a need/room for improvement?

Slickstar · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:15 AM

Well, sex is wrong, thats what I was told by my parents...and still am.

hareem01 · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:28 AM

Logon kay paas khanay ko nahi hai and you're worried about sex education.

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:41 AM

Hareem poverty is mainly because of fewer resources for a large population. In most countries this is tackled by INCREASING resources, controlling population growth and focusing on personal health services. So they all are inter-related issues.

Slickstar · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:54 AM

What are you advocating? Controlling population Chinese style?

hareem01 · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:55 AM

So it's "birth control" that you're talking about.

Slickstar · Nov 6th, 2009, 05:55 AM

as for the OP, honestly, I believe parents should have the right to decide NOT to allow their children learning about sex education in a public school.

Why do you believe "its the states responsibility to teach them" What is this? Tomorrow you will be saying its the state responsibility to feed the population....well some are already pushing for this.

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hareem01

So it's "birth control" that you're talking about.

NOT Just birth control Hareem. I made it clear in 1st post that it has more to do with individual's health issues. Ok let me compare it with British health system. Schools provide basic sex education to children but at the same time NHS provides more comprehensive information not just about birth control but also information about other sexual health issues (like deseaes and how to do self diagnoses and what actions one should take if he/she feels that there is something wrong) There is no such mechanism in Pakistan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slickstar

as for the OP, honestly, I believe parents should have the right to decide NOT to allow their children learning about sex education in a public school.

Why do you believe "its the states responsibility to teach them" What is this? Tomorrow you will be saying its the state responsibility to feed the population....well some are already pushing for this.

Read the NOTE in 1st line of 1st post before assuming that this thread is about sex education in Public schools for children.

As for the state's responsibility goes, don't tell me there is no Government run health services program in Australia where ADULTS can go and find information about their sexual health.

Slickstar · Nov 6th, 2009, 06:14 AM

xeno, my bad. I jumped the gun. In that case I agree with you. My apologies.

I agree with you on certain extent, the government should educate the masses through whatever medium it wishes, but the final decision comes down to the individual. You get my drift?

Slickstar · Nov 6th, 2009, 06:16 AM

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 06:20 AM

It's ok Slickstar, it is very common on online forums that members post replies without even reading or paying attention to actual contents of the thread. :-)

hareem01 · Nov 6th, 2009, 06:48 AM

lolz

Xeno

When I was in Pak around 6 or 7 years ago I remember they used to have health visitors in villages going door to door to inform families about different health issues but within a few years all of them suddenly disappeared because of not having enough funds and their grants were eaten up by the authorities.

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hareem01

lolz

Xeno

When I was in Pak around 6 or 7 years ago I remember they used to have health visitors in villages going door to door to inform families about different health issues but within a few years all of them suddenly disappeared because of not having enough funds and their grants were eaten up by the authorities.

Even that program was designed for people in villages. They used to visit once or twice a month for few hrs that's it. I think it was waste of resources as information was not readily available. Besides those workers had very basic knowledge themselves, more like a glorified version village nurse.

psyah · Nov 6th, 2009, 08:53 AM

Peace Xenophanez

If you think that sex education will decrease the rate of birth or for that matter that the amount of children is a burden on society then you are mistaken.

God takes care of life's sustenance not us

And sex education only increases sales of contraception and increases sex in minors as it makes it more available and reduces the taboo.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3201400.pdf

http://www.unicef-irc.org/publicatio.../repcard3e.pdf

For the same stats they draw very different conclusions that I would draw. Just take a look.

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 09:16 AM

Psyah perhaps I failed to convey the core issue here. Birth control is just one aspect of sex education for ADULTS, let me emphasis on it again, I am talking about ADULTS here which includes parents and soon-to-be-wed individuals in Pakistani society.

The other MORE important factor is individual's health. Sex education is not just about how to do it and how to "protect" it also addresses issues which may harm individual's health, which is then reflected on his/her performancecontribution as individual in society or in a family unit.

Insufficient knowledge or old practices passed on from generation after generations can also be validated OR rejected on the basis of modern scientific developments.

Lemme put it this way, in some village or a small town some woman may have some minor problem or early symptoms for a much major issue (which could easily be treated at this early stage) but since she or her mother did not realise that these symptoms are early signs of a much serious problem, the chances are she would not go to a doctor untill it's too late.

psyah · Nov 6th, 2009, 09:56 AM

Oh ... health/ sanitary/hygiene education.

How to spot tumours, avoiding sexual contact in the case of fungal or bacterial infections in the nether regions ... I get it.

P@GL! · Nov 6th, 2009, 10:06 AM

Xeno people might not be getting your point is because of the way you have worded the first post and the title

But after reading all replies i agree what ur talking about is somthing that needs to be done, but looking at the state of the country i think it has alot of other serious issues the government needs to work on.

Xenophanez · Nov 6th, 2009, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psyah

Oh ... health/ sanitary/hygiene education.

How to spot tumours, avoiding sexual contact in the case of fungal or bacterial infections in the nether regions ... I get it.

Yes, along with other obvious issues.

P@gli:- The reason I chose this title is because this is how it is handled in a conservative societies like Pakistan. In UK and most western countries there is a very distinctive difference between "sex education" and sanitary/hygiene education. Later is taught in schools and information is easily available (out of sex education programs). In Pakistan these basic health issues fall under sex education scheme, nothing is taught or discussed about these issues in schools & colleges. They only get such information in professional courses OR when they suffer and go to doctor or a "HAKEEM".
Beside topic is to discuss the whole package, this being an important aspect of it.

iShaz · Nov 8th, 2009, 09:51 PM

Yeah give them Sex Education, so that kids as much as 11 yr olds in Pak starting giving births, just like in west

Food, basic education, electricity, water etc etc all comes before Sex Education ! Sort this out first and then worry about 'sex education'.

Mamaof3 · Nov 9th, 2009, 10:42 AM

If the masses of people, especially the poor, are educated about sex even in a basic way, it would have much benefit. The last time my hubby went over, there was a servant lady who brought her newborn with her when she came to clean the house. She begged my husband to take her with him, to give the baby girl a good life and care for her. She already had 5 other children and they went hungry sometimes because they were too poor to feed so many kids. They have no money for birth control and no clue as to the timing of cycles and when would be the best time to avoid having sex. If this couple were knowledgeable about the rythym method then perhaps they would be able to avoid pregnancy at least avoid it as often.

Midwives need to be more educated too. Pakistan has a very poor record when it comes to inant mortality and this is due in a good part to poor hygeine. There is no public health system in place and if you cannot afford proper healthcare then theres upward of a 70 percent chance that your child will die before age 5. Thats bad. REALLY bad.

Tax-paying DOES have benefits. In US, we ALL complain about paying so much taxes. Yet, while they may be sometimes excessive, we DO get healthcare and education. Not perfectly for sure. But its a much better situation than having nothing at all.

Education and access to services, even very basic services, is very vital. And paying taxes and avoiding corruption and bribery is the only way to get it going.