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Adolescence Education

Pankaj Arora

Youth holds the promise of our future. Working with young people and helping them have always been a priority across time and cultures. Recent changing times have challenged us, in exceptional ways, to develop means to protect and empower our young people, not only to live, but also to become happy and healthy adults.

Physical, mental, emotional and social developments are natural processes of human life. As in other organisms, changes in human life, also, occur in stages. These changes take place according to the different stages of human life. Psychologists have categorized the period of human development into six stages: (1) prenatal, (2) infancy, (3) childhood, (4) adolescence, (5) youth and (6) adulthood and oldage.

Out of these six stages, ‘adolescence’ is the stage of the maximum changes and growth of human life. The report of the National Conference on ‘Adolescence Education’ organized by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (1996) says that, according to the definition given by World Health Organization (WHO), the adolescence period ranges between 10 and 19 years of age, whereas the Indian Adolescence Health Organisation considers the adolescence period ranges between 10 and 25 years.

According to the psychologist, J.J. Conger, ‘Beginning of adolescence is biological and its end is cultural and in this stage, along with physical changes many sexual changes take place, rapidly. As a result of these changes boys/girls acquired maturity for reproduction. The culture of every nation becomes helpful or a hindrance to the assimilation of these changes.’

The duration of adolescence development ranges between four and five years. In girls, this development takes place approximately two years earlier than boys. One-fifth of the population of India (i.e. 20%) consists of adolescent boys and girls, which is considered the most important human resource for any country. ‘Adolescence’ is a link between childhood and youth. Adolescents try to construct their self-esteem i.e. individual identity from this stage. In the beginning of this stage, changes occur very fast, but, later on, or in the last two years, they get a little stability. Because of diversity in the pace of change, this stage can be divided into three phases.

Early Adolescence (Age: 10–13 Years)

This is also known as puberty. It is a stage of rapid changes, in which, due to hormonal activation, changes and maturity take place in sex organs, change in voice, appearance of hair on different parts of the body and breast budding (among girls) take place.

Mid-Adolescence (Age: 14–15 Years)

This is a stage of physical, emotional and mental developments. Genital organs get developed and boys and girls attain the ability to reproduce. In this phase, a fast increase in height can be observed. Their curiosity about ‘sexuality’ increases. They tend to be attracted towards the opposite sex.

Late Adolescence (Age: 16–19 Years)

In this phase, the rate of physical development gets slowed down. Symptoms of complete physical development become clear. Adolescent girls and boys start attaining emotional and mental stability. Boys and girls become more aware towards their physical appearance. It is directly related to the development of their distinct image and identity in society.

The stage of adolescence is determined by different societies, according to their social and cultural contexts. We cannot consider adolescence just in terms of chronic age because it differs from person to person. Generally, the period of adolescence ranges between 9 years and 14 years. During this age, many physical, psychological and social changes take place, which take one from childhood to adulthood. This age comes to an end with complete sexual development. The concept of ‘adolescence’ is new. Although for thousands of years, a change occurring at this stage of human development has been the centre of study, for the first time this term was used in America, in the 20th century.

According to the famous Indian sexologist, Dr. Prakash Kothari, it is strange that in a country of one-fifth of the world’s population, there is no authentic source of sex-related knowledge. Government, media, school, college and even parents are not willing to take this responsibility.

Developmental psychologists have accepted ‘sexual development’ as fundamental and universal as moral, social, cognitive, emotional and physical developments of human begins. Therefore, sexual development should be given acceptance and recognition, as other human developments and with the same interest. Facilities should be given to attain knowledge in this field. India has entered the third stage of the HIV epidemic. Therefore, keeping the future in mind, efforts in this field should be started on a war footing. Sex education is a less expensive shield which can protect from undesired results of unnecessary mental stress, sexual regression and loneliness, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and sexual behaviour.

Sexual development, occurring during adolescence, has its impact on all aspects of the personality. Myth and wrong notions about sexual development leave a deep impact on adolescents, which are clearly reflected in their behaviour, interests and future life. To cope with stress and anxiety, this generation needs special mental, moral and social supports. This generation should be made aware, through sex education, so that ignorance and misconceptions, if any, can be removed.

It is a challenging thought to introduce adolescence education in a country with such diversities of culture, language, customs and beliefs. In India, this thought came into cognition in the early 1970s, when people started visiting hospitals for problems such as unwanted pregnancies, incompatible marriage, role of the husband in sexual behaviour and dissatisfaction in sex. People’s life style and sex behaviour are changing rapidly. In such a situation, besides population-control programmes, it has become inevitable to control problems and anxieties related to sex behaviour.

In the ninth decade of the last century, with the identification of the epidemic AIDS and its incurable nature, it is being said that ‘proper sex education’, at the appropriate time, is the only cure for AIDS.

Changing socio-moral norms and values, along with the tendency of marketization, in our country, have put immense pressure of competition on a very important section of our society i.e. adolescents and youth. The age of marriage has been rising due to competition, to get higher education and a desire for getting established in one’s professional life. For these reasons, adolescents are taking pre-marital sex as normal. These relations are causing problems such as early age pregnancy and abortions, along with sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS). Therefore, keeping the Indian social and cultural contexts in mind, it has become inevitable to inculcate true faith towards the limits of acceptable sexual behaviour.

Today, the world scenario is changing rapidly. Scientific researches and revolutionary changes in the realm of media have brought the world closer. It is affecting our youth immensely and this generation is getting all sorts of information and exposure. The influence of Western culture is deteriorating the sex-related values among the youth. There is a need to rejuvenate those Indian values such as respect for the opposite sex, respect for your life-partner and marital life, condemnation of premarital and extramarital sexual relationships. Sociologists treat the present social scenario as good for nothing because problems related to interpersonal relations are increasing day by day. An ‘Adolescence Education Programme’ would be helpful in preventing destruction of society.

Prevailing Nomenclatures Regarding ‘Sex Education’

There are many prevailing nomenclatures used in different countries of the world regarding sex- related knowledge and information; namely, Population Education, Sex Education, Family Life Education, Reproductive Health Education, Sexuality Education, AIDS Education, Abstinence only Programme, Puberty Education and Life Skills Education. Recently, the nomenclature debate has been summed up by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development when they term it as School Adolescence Education Programme (SAEP) commonly called ‘Adolescence Education’.

Adolescents — the population in the age group of 10–19 years — constitute more than one-fifth of the population of our country. While there are commonalities during the adolescent years, there are also differences that need to be taken into consideration. Adolescents are not a homogenous group. Their situation varies by age, sex, marital status, class, region and cultural context. Various sectors including peers, media and the various ‘interested parties’ — the education, health and social sectors — impact their knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviour. Adolescents and young people (10–24 years) are agents of change in their societies, a resource to be nurtured and developed as productive citizens and leaders of tomorrow. They are the future, but they are — more importantly — also the present. Our society needs to recognize these facts and invest resources for promoting ‘adolescent wellness’. Healthy and well-adjusted adolescents of today will become productive citizens and pragmatic leaders of tomorrow.

Not all adolescents are healthy or well adjusted. Poor information and skills, lack of a safe and supportive environment, being sexually active, substance abuse, violence and injury, early and unintended pregnancy and infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections threaten the health and lives of adolescents. A large number of them are malnourished and stunted which has implications, not only on their physical and cognitive performance, but also has ‘inter generational’ impact. These factors have serious social, economic and public health implications. These, also, adversely impact the learning potential of a significant number of adolescents, by undermining the physical and emotional well-being that is not only necessary, but crucial for learning. The education sector, thus, is a major stakeholder in promoting adolescent wellness.

Adolescents’ Needs and Rights

As adolescents, in India, live in diverse circumstances, they, naturally, have diverse needs. The adolescents require guidance and assistance — both covert and overt — from their parents, teachers, peers and society in general to complete the various ‘tasks’ of development. They have a right to a safe and supportive environment, accurate and age appropriate information, skills building, positive role models, empowerment and friendly health services and counselling. They require these for metamorphosing into responsible and productive citizens. Informed and skilled adolescents are likely to make better decisions concerning not only their careers and relationships, habits, physical and mental health, but will be socially adept, successful and an asset to the society.

Social and Public Health Impact of Issues Related to Adolescence

The various issues and the ‘needs’ related to adolescence and adolescents are not only important for the individual or the family but also impact the public health indicators adversely. Adolescent malnutrition is rampant in most parts of the country. Up to 89% of girls and 67% of adolescent boys are found to be anaemic, and up to one-fourth are stunted, in some parts of the country. This has an adverse bearing on the cognitive capacities and learning performance of the adolescents. Not only this, adolescent malnutrition negatively impacts maternal mortality and has intergenerational impact. The loss, in social and in monetary terms, to the nation is colossal.

National data point out that early marriage is still widely prevalent at places and is quickly followed by early pregnancy. Approximately 17% of the total fertility rate is contributed by adolescent pregnancies. Adolescent pregnancy has higher risks and the maternal death related to pregnancy and its outcomes are significantly higher in this age group. The infants born to adolescent mothers, also, have higher morbidity and mortality.

A major issue, looming on the horizon, is of HIV and young people. Globally, 50% of the new HIV infections every year occur in young people aged 15–24 years. The devastating impacts of HIV on the individual, family and national development are well known. Thus, reaching out to adolescents provides us with a ‘window of opportunity’ to reduce the incidence of HIV and the total burden of disease in the country.

Substance abuse, including smoking and drinking, anxiety and depression, suicide, violence, accidents and sexual abuse are some other significant issues that impact individual adolescents and the social, economic and health indicators of the country. Dropping out of school and low motivation for academics are some of the other problems that the education sector would desire to address.

Responding to Adolescents

We, thus, need to effectively address a variety of issues related to adolescence. No society can sit back and watch its young people acquire diseases, be addicted to drugs or be maladjusted. Much thought and effort have gone into devising methodologies to respond to the above-mentioned issues. However, most of these efforts, till now, have been directed at dealing with individual issues or problems. Many of them have been unisectoral in nature or stand-alone programs, thus reducing or limiting their impact. Most of such efforts did not take into account the common origins of these issues, or incorporating the various ‘risk and protective factors’ that impact adolescent behaviour into the design.

Every society and nation has to strive to promote the health of adolescents. They can benefit from acquiring the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills in a variety of ways. Such knowledge and skills can improve their scholastic performance, lead to behaviours that prevent disease and injury, foster healthy relationships and enable young people to play leadership roles. The developing adolescent can be engaged actively in learning experiences that will enable him/her, for example, to practice safe sex; or advocate for a tobacco-free school or community.

What is Adolescence Education?

Adolescence education is a new education area, emerging in response to the pressing demands for introducing, in the school curriculum, the elements relating to critical problems that confront adolescents, during the process of growing up. The period of adolescence, usually characterized by the youthful exuberance as its most endearing hallmark, is a distinct phase of dramatic physical, emotional and behavioural changes. The suddenness of these changes, coupled with the non-availability of authentic information, results in anxieties and causes confusion and unrest among adolescents. It has, therefore, been advocated that education in these concerns should be imparted in schools. The demand has gained momentum, in the point of view of the growing problems relating to sexual behaviour of adolescents. The arrival of the AIDS pandemic has also added the element of urgency to this need. Moreover, the growing incidence of drug abuse, tobacco and alcohol among adolescents has generated demands to incorporate preventive education in the school curriculum.

When NCERT decided to organize a National Seminar, in 1993, to discuss the various implications of introducing sex education in the school curriculum, it used the concept of adolescence education. The term adolescence education was used for the first time by UNESCO (PROAP), Bangkok, as the title of a package on sex education. However, NCERT used this term, not only as a euphemism for sex education, with a point of view to enhance its acceptability, but also to broaden its scope to incorporate the adolescent reproductive health.

In this context, three major interrelated areas, namely the process of growing up, STD and HIV/AIDS and drug abuse have been identified to constitute the core content of adolescence education. Adolescence education may, thus, be understood as education to provide the learner an opportunity to have an access to authentic information and knowledge about the process of growing up, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. Its aim is to inculcate in them a rational and positive attitude towards sex and sexuality, including HIV/AIDS and HIV vulnerability, through drug abuse.

Adolescence

The term adolescence is derived from the Latin work adolescere which, literally, means ‘to grow to maturity’. This is a transition between childhood and adulthood; it begins with pubescence and terminates with adulthood. Pubescence refers to biological changes of adolescence that precede sexual maturity. Puberty is defined as a period of transformation, from a stage of reproductive immaturity to a stage of full and reproductive competence. This encompasses a number of physical, physiological, emotional and psychological changes. The age of the onset of puberty varies from individual to individual; the girls, on an average, reach puberty earlier than the boys. The geographic, ethnic and genetic factors interact with socio-economic status, health, nutrition and emotional levels to determine the age of onset of puberty for any single individual. The duration of adolescence varies greatly; it may start at nine years and end at around 18 years in some, and it may start at 14 and end at around 25 years in others. Everybody grows up in a different way and at different rates. According to WHO, the adolescence period is from 10 to 19 years.

Need for Adolescence Education

It is in this context that the need for educational response at the school stage is strongly felt. The aim is to provide scientific knowledge to adolescents about various aspects of the process of growing up; in particular, reference to the reproductive health needs, and, thus, enable them to cope with the problems during this transitional phase. This need is, particularly, felt in India, because the school curriculum has not been able, so far, to incorporate several elements of reproductive health, such as sexual development during adolescence, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, which are closely interrelated concerns, having a decisive bearing on their reproductive health. The education, in these elements, cannot be complete, by giving biological information, alone. There is a need to make educational efforts primarily aimed at influencing attitudes, behaviours and value orientation.

In the light of the latest trends veering towards the introduction of adolescence education in schools, all students in classes VI to XI should receive accurate information on growing up, clarifying myths and misconceptions relating to RTI/STI, HIV prevention and a safe space to reinforce life skills essential for HIV prevention; there is a need for CIE, as a premier institution in teacher preparation, to assume a proactive stand. The need and relevance of adolescence education as an integral component of the school is no longer a disputed domain.

All state organizations such as the CBSE, NCERT and SCERTs, under the aegis of UNESCO, MHRD and NACO, have taken strong initiatives in this area.

• CBSE has developed a comprehensive teacher training module and study package material for teachers. They have, also, conducted teacher training workshops. In principle, they have consensually approved the introduction of adolescence education, as a compulsory activity, in all the schools of India.
• NCERT had been involved in the process of disseminating adolescence education actively for more than five years. They had, initially, developed a set of five modules covering various aspects of sexuality, life skills and HIV/AIDS as part of their programme. These modules were used as a training base and for self-study of teachers. They were widely disseminated. For purposes of training, partnerships with SCERTs were made and the cascade model was followed. Their original modules have, recently, been upgraded and contemporized and expected to be available shortly.
• Legitimation for adolescence education has also emerged from NCF 2005, wherein adolescence education has been subsumed as one of the most significant areas in the domain of health education.
• MHRD, in partnership with NACO as part of its endeavours, decided in the year 2003, to organize a pilot tryout of adolescence education in collaboration with SCERTs in nine states of India. The project involved designing of modules in localized contextual settings and training of teachers. The pilot study was completed successfully in the year 2005–06. Based on the results obtained, MHRD has now given a directive to all the 28 states and six union territories to implement adolescence education.
• The Delhi SCERT was one of the first pilot project partners. They developed a comprehensive module celled YUVA School Adolescence Education Programme — which includes: sexuality education, life skills education, HIV/AIDS awareness, mental health and substance abuse and also carrier counselling as its major focal areas. SCERT, initially, prepared comprehensive training modules soliciting the help of experts in the field before they embarked on their training programme. In this, master trainers were identified, who were drawn from the DIET faculty, counsellors and teachers from government schools of Delhi. These teachers underwent rigorous training and, in turn, became the trainers of other teachers. Throughout the summer vacation of 2006, around 200 training seminars of 21 days each were conducted, parallel, to train all government school teachers in Delhi. Although no formal study has been undertaken on the impact, teachers appear to be better sensitized to adolescent needs and problems and are, also, known to be taking initiative through an integrated approach in the well-being of adolescents.
• The NGO sector has been very active in the area of adolescence education — Taarshi, Naaz Foundation and Swasthya have been particularly active. They commenced their work some years ago with sexuality and HIV being the key areas, but have now moved towards the domain of adolescence education.

A one-day seminar on adolescence education was held in Department of Education, University of Delhi on 27 April 2007. Practitioners related to the field of education were invited which included principals, teachers and counsellors from various government and public schools of the Delhi region.

The seminar was conducted in three successive sessions.

Session I : Experiences and experiments in schools.

Session II : Issues that need to be addressed and dealt with in schools.

Session III : Suggestions to develop a suitable curriculum for adolescence education in the B.Ed. programme.

Participants from different government and public school settings shared their experiences, experiments and suggestions in the above-mentioned brainstorming sessions.

The key issues which emerged were as follows:

• Role of teachers in adolescence education.
• Need for sensitization of teachers, teacher educators, parents and society towards adolescent issues.
• Need to develop a feasible approach to adolescence education.
• Working towards better teacher, parent and student interface to achieve the objectives of adolescence education.
• Working towards the development of a need-based adolescence education programme.

Some perceived difficulties and debates which surfaced during the seminar were:

• How teachers, being ill-equipped with the required skills, face problems dealing with adolescent issues.
• The role of political will in implementation and conduct of adolescence education.
• Variation in the nature and intensity of risk behaviour among students of government and public schools.
• Difference in the attitudes of parents of government and public school students towards adolescence education.
• There is still a big question of what, when and how? — as many of the government school representatives feel that the YUVA — adolescence programme tells too much, too soon.
• The role of the media in dealing with adolescents and related issues.
• Wide range of issues which need to be addressed in any comprehensive adolescence education programme — violence and aggression among adolescents, level of sexual experimentation, peer pressure, harassment, friendship patterns, dreams and fantasies body image and sexuality.

The frame work for adolescence education for pre-service teacher education programme, which emerged from the discussion of the practitioners in the seminar, was as follows:

• The programme should help the teachers to gain knowledge and understanding of all major psychological, physiological and social issues confronted by adolescents.
• Teachers should be trained in life skills and counselling, to deal with adolescent issues.
• The mode of adolescence education should be both separate as an intervention as well as integrated with other subjects and activities.
• The curriculum should be objective.
• Assessment: subjective.
• Organizing personality development and self-development workshops for teachers.
• Development of networking skills, among teachers, for better transaction.

Elements of adolescence education have been reflected in the earlier National Curriculum Frameworks developed in 1988 and, again, in 2000. However, the present NCF 2005 provides a considerably comprehensive coverage to various elements of adolescence education in its different sections.

Now, let me make an attempt to sum up the debate on whether or not we should have an adolescence education programme in our schools. Since the year 2004–05, NACO, UNICEF and MHRD made an attempt to introduce adolescence education programme in all the schools of our country. Many states (9–10), including educated Kerala and progressive Madhya Pradesh have suspended adolescence education programmes on various political, cultural and social grounds. The HRD ministry has mellowed down the content of the National Adolescent Education Programme to avoid of potential protests from any quarter.

Further Reading

Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health in India: Status, Policies, Programs and Issues, http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/countryreports/ARH_India.pdf.

ASHE, 2001, Preparing for the VIBES — In the World of Sexuality, Revised Edition for Schools USAID, Jamaica.

CBSE, 1999, Population and Adolescence Education — A Training Package, Delhi

Culture and Adolescent Development, www.ac.wwu.edu.

Department of Education and State AIDS Control Society, 2005, YUVA — School Adolescence Education Programme — Handbook for Teachers, Delhi.

Health Needs of Adolescents in India, www.icrw.org.

Joseph Ammo, The World According to Adolescents, www.hsph.harvard.edu.

MHRD, 2004, Life Skills Modules Adolescence Education Programme, MHRD, NACO and UNICEF, Delhi.

NCERT, 1988, 2000 and 2005, National Curriculum Framework for School Education. New Delhi: NCERT.

———, and NACO, 1994, AIDS Education in School: A Training Package. Delhi: NCERT/NACO.

Package of Lessons and Curriculum Materials, Bangkok, Thailand.

Patel Andrews et at., Gender Sexual Abuse and Risk Behaviors in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Schools in Goa, India, www.who.int.

Sex and the Adolescent, www.webhealthcentre.com.

Sexual Behaviour among Adolescents in Delhi India, Opportunities Despite Parental Control, www.iussp.org/Bangkok2002/s30Mehra.pdf.

UNESCO, 1991, Adolescence Education, UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.

———, 2001, Life Skills on Adolescence Education, Reproductive Health.