Through LexQuest Foundation’s initiative- Civic Architects: The Policy Generation Group, we promise to answer all your questions as we invite you for comprehensive sessions which will:

• Educate you about issues that need your attention.
• Enable you to think of policy solutions to deal with the menace such issues cause.
• Initiate you into the space of effective mass action.

Civic Architects seeks to bring together civilians who will architect policy solutions to assist, aid and accentuate the necessary course of action required on issues that remain unnoticed even as they lurk on the fringes jeopardising the well being of many of our people. We call upon all those of you who intend to make a difference by changing the discourse of public participation and demystifying the idea of active citizenry.

Call For Action: Compulsory Sex Education in Schools

India has been toying with the idea of compulsory sex education for our adolescent population for over a decade now. Back in 1994, India was party to the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) which affirmed the Sexual and Reproductive Rights (SRRs) of adolescents and young people. It was acknowledged that if our adolescents and the youth were to freely make informed decisions on all matters concerning their sexuality and reproduction, they would require comprehensive education on sexuality. Thereafter, in 2005, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) chalked out the Adolescence Reproductive and Sexual Health Education (ARSH) project, however, as it is not a uniform framework and only suggestive in nature, States implemented the program only in parts. In 2007, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the Adolescent Education Program (AEP) tried to introduce a compulsory sex education policy. Given the cultural, social and political bottlenecks, a large number of State governments opposed the AEP, thereby deeming sex education not a compulsory part of the school curriculum.

As a result, even to this day there are no formal fora or enabled groups that can impart sex education in an efficacious  manner to India’s 256 million adolescent population. This means that while India’s public schools completely avoid the issue, its private schools have no concrete framework to ensure that if and when sex education is imparted, it is done in the most efficient manner possible. As a result, most of our adolescents grow up to become ill-informed adults who don’t acknowledge the significance of sexual and reproductive health or understand the need for safe and hygienic sexual and reproductive practices.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 34% of HIV infected individuals in the world belong to the 12-19 years age group. Moreover, a study conducted by the WHO also suggests that sex education does not encourage young people to have sex at an earlier age or more frequently and that it in fact encourages young people to have safe sex and lowers the tendency of irresponsible sexual behaviour.

For a country that has been struggling with its population growth for over a decade now, has avoided an HIV/AIDS epidemic, consists of a huge unrecognised sex-workers’ industry, has a high rate of incidents of rape and sexual abuse, imparting sex education to adolescents inside and outside our public as well as private schools should be a mandatory policy issue. This issue therefore, needs urgent attention from all quarters before the government can recognise the crucial role that effective classroom interventions can play in aiding and eliminating our sexual and reproductive health challenges as a country of a billion plus people.

As we believe that every little act of sensitisation starts with acknowledgement of an existing reality as a problem, we intend to lead an informed and aware group of citizens who wish to aid and advocate for crucial policy changes that we as a society, a culture and most importantly a democracy require to acknowledge and address.

Join us, as we enable acknowledgment, awareness and revelations surrounding sex education in India, by putting an entire gamut of issues under a scanner, before we set out to demand and devise the much needed policies for Compulsory Sex Education in Schools.

Deadline for Application: 23rd January, 2019

Event Date: 27th January, 2019

Timings for the Event: 10:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m.

Takeaways:

• Engage with civil society entrepreneurs, government personnel, grassroot workers and lawyers.
• Elaborate discourse on issues that need urgent attention for empowered action from your end.
• Knowledge dispensation through interactive pedagogical methodology.
• Socratic Group Discussions for effective reflections.
• Device efficacious policy solutions which will be collated and sent to the Government.
• The Top 3 Civic Architects will get to work with us closely, on formulating and compiling the Policy Recommendations to be sent to the relevant Ministry. Their names will also be included in the Working Document.
• Each participant will be eligible to receive a Certificate of Participation.
• Each participant will be eligible to receive a Concession in Fees and First Preference for our successive events.

Fees: Rs 1000 per Participant. [This is inclusive of Registration, Certificate, Architect’s Kit and Food].

Venue: LexQuest Foundation’s Office, Gujarat National Law University, Ahmedabad

Method of Selection: Fill this form to be considered for selection. As the seat intake is limited, we will follow the ‘first come, first serve’ approach.

Contact Details:

Email ID: events.lexquest@gmail.com

Contact Numbers: +91-8448922751 | +91-7042068202 | +91-9929451140