Sex Education 12

Is There A Place For Sex Education in Pakistani Educational Institutions?
Sex education is the process of gaining knowledge about sexuality, sex and intimate relationships. It covers a huge range of related topics such as protection from child abuse, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), unwanted pregnancies and complications related to abortion. In Pakistan, the issue of formal sex education system has always been controversial because of the religious and cultural background. Many private educational institutions who tried to introduce a formal sex education system were forced to exclude it from their curriculum within few weeks after its introduction. Hence the issue of sex education remains one of the most pressing issues of Pakistan. Although sex education can be provided by the parents and close acquaintances only, parents only can prevent child abuse and providing sex education in educational institutions may lead to a more sexually charged society, nevertheless, it should be part of education curriculum in order to deal with general unawareness of Pakistanis in important sexual matters, unwanted pregnancies and birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and child abuse.
Sex education in educational institutions is particularly important in Pakistani context because most Pakistanis either have no or false information about important sexual matters. This lack of knowledge is even present in married couples which can really pose problems in their marital relationship. According to Doctor Syed Mubin Akhtar, a senior psychiatrist at Karachi Psychiatrist Hospital, “Young Pakistanis commonly get no sex education either at school or from their parents. They have not seen the sexual organs of other sex and do not know how to have intercourse” ( “Pakistan’s Dr Sex Gives First Time Tips” ). This lack of knowledge especially among married couples is a great barrier to a healthy sexual life. Pakistanis also have the habit of blindly believing persistent fairy tales...