Adolescents in Bangladesh are growing up as vulnerable population due to their poor knowledge of sexual and reproductive health rights and issues as neither families nor the educational institutions talk on these vital issues, speakers told a programme on Wednesday.
They also noted that teachers feel discomfort in discussing the reproductive health issues in classrooms.
They were addressing the Orientation Programme with Teachers Training College (TTC) and National Curriculum Textbook Board (NCTB) Authority SRHR Issues at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city.
There remains lack of coordination among various programmes undertaken by the government and NGOs, which ultimately come to little help for the adolescent students, the speakers observed.
They called for investing in the human capital of young people, focusing on meeting their needs without further delay and incorporating the sexual and reproductive health issues in the curriculum of teachers' training so that they feel comfort in discussing the issues.
Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (FPAB) organised the programme in association with Rutgers and RFSU.
FPAB president Masudur Rahman was in the chair.
Education secretary (in-charge) Mohammad Mahiuddin Khan who was present as the special guest, however, assured of incorporating sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) issues in the teachers' training curriculum.
Professor Quazi Afroz Jahanara of the Institute of Education and Research (IER) of Dhaka University presented the keynote paper.
She said Bangladesh has an adolescent and youth population, aged between 10 and 19 years, of approximately 52 million, which is one-third of the total population.
It is projected that by the year 2050 this population will become 10-19 per cent.
Despite the size of this sub-population and their unique SRH needs, the scope of ASRH programming in Bangladesh has remained limited.
Adolescents in Bangladesh face a number of difficulties, including high rates of early marriage, high fertility rates, limited negotiation skills and insufficient awareness of information about reproductive health, Jahanara added.
She said sexuality, especially young people's sexuality, is a major taboo in Bangladesh while most people prefer not to talk about these issues.
"Adolescents appear to be poorly informed with regard to their own sexuality, physical wellbeing, health and bodies. Whatever knowledge they have is incomplete and confusing," she said.
The role of teachers in implementation of the reproductive health rights for developing a reproductive health literate citizenry is of great importance, she maintained.
Education secretary (in-charge) Mahiuddin Khan said there was no scope of education academically about reproductive health which has been introduced by this government in 2012.
The Education ministry will take initiative regarding incorporating the SRHR issues in the teachers training curriculum and teachers training college, he added.
Additional secretary of education ministry Javed Ahmed said reproductive health management was incorporated in the school curriculum in 2012 but teachers do not feel comfort in discussing these issues in front of the children.
Prof SM Wahiduzzaman, director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, said there are several programmes on reproductive health.
Teachers of many educational institutions staple the pages of the books on RH and ask the students not to read those.
FPAB vice-president Mustafizur Rahman said the secondary students must know about RHR.
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