‘Teachers should discuss about reproductive health in schools’

A study shows that despite reproductive health, including menstruation, being a part of school curriculum, teachers choose not to discuss it with students.

Institute of Development Studies official Kanchan Mathur, in a her presentation during Consultation on Menstrual Health and Reproductive Rights organised on Friday, said a survey was conducted in 2015, among school going and non school going girls, aged 10 to 18 years, on ‘Menstrual Hygiene Management Intervention in Jaipur – An Impact Assessment’ in Jaipur. 130 girls from five government schools and 140 non school going girls in Jaipur were a part of the survey.

The event was organised by IDS in collaboration with Department of Woman and Child Development and United Nations Population Fund.

Mathur said that apart from other issues, it came to light that school teachers avoid teaching about menstruation and reproductive health despite the topic being a part of the curriculum in class IX and X. The teachers ask the students to read the chapter on reproductive health on their own, Mathur added.

WCD principal secretary Roli Singh, taking serious note of this, said, “If there is a chapter in the class 9 syllabus, then teachers should discuss it with students.”

Singh further said that if this is the situation, then teachers need to be trained to handle such subjects. On being quizzed on the issue, ARSTU president Ramkrishna Agarwal said that there are chapters on human anatomy from class 6 to 10.

JAIPUR: