Nitish Kumar’s remarks spark debate about ‘culturally appropriate’ ways of disseminating sex education

While the tone and tenor in which Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar raked the topic of family planning in the State assembly can be debated, it has sparked a controversy over his remarks being ‘culturally inappropriate.’

While the tone and tenor in which Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar raked the topic of family planning in the State Assembly can be debated, it has sparked a controversy over his remarks being ‘culturally inappropriate.’

What Mr. Kumar was referring to in crude terms is withdrawal method or coitus interruptus, one of the methods of family planning where in the act of penetration does not end up in the man ejaculating inside the woman, thus decreasing the chances of conceiving. 

Early roots of family planning are laid in schools as adolescents start discussing reproductive and sexual health in what was deemed as ‘sex education’ in the National Education Policy’s (NEP) draft version released in 2019. 

The draft NEP said that sex education will also be included in secondary school for future judgement surrounding consent, harassment, respect for women, safety, family planning and sexually transmitted diseases prevention. 

But, after the draft went public, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh backed Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas opposed inclusion of ‘sex education’ in the NEP. 

The final version of NEP released in 2020 deleted the paragraph on ‘sex education,’ that was earlier included in the 2019 draft, The Hindu verified. 

States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have been reluctant to implement sex education in school to preserve ‘culture.’