Adolescence Education Program Where is the Program Today The Journey Going Forward

1. Adolescence Education Program Where is the Program Today The Journey Going Forward

2. Evolution of Adolescence Education Program • National Population Education Project (NPEP) initiated in 1980 with focus on Demographic Issues and Family Life Education Support from UNFPA and Technical Assistance from UNESCO • National Policy on Education 1986 (revised in 1992) identified NPEP as a thrust area • In 90s: Focus on ICPD Goals and two major thrust areas : Population and Development Concerns and Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health • National Curriculum Framework (2005) recognized Adolescence Education as an important area in school education • In 2005, different government initiatives on Adolescence Education were harmonized by the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the umbrella of AEP

3. Reaching Young People in Educational Institutions NCERT Coordination & Monitoring

4. Goal of Adolescence Education To empower young people with accurate, age appropriate and culturally relevant information, promote healthy attitudes and develop skills to enable them to respond to real life situations in positive and responsible ways

5. Guiding Principles Recognize adolescents as a positive and valuable resource that needs to be accepted, respected and appreciated rather than a problem Realize the transformational potential of education based on principles of equity and social justice rather than coping and managing paradigm or a status-quo orientation The program is participatory, process-oriented and non-judgmental, not prescriptive, stigmatizing or fear inducing Strong focus on enhancement and application of life skills in real life contexts rather than treating it as a knowledge domain Adolescence education aims to influence the entire school curriculum and ethos, rather than being an isolated, stand-alone component.

6. Themes • Understanding Changes during Adolescence and Being Comfortable with Them (including differences in the process of maturation and their effects on body image) • Establishing and Maintaining Positive and Responsible Relationships • Understanding and Challenging Stereotypes and Discrimination Related to Gender and Sexuality • Understanding and Reporting Abuse and Violation • Prevention of Substance Misuse: Causes, Access to safety net (protection from substance misuse), Consequences, De-addiction, Care and Support • Prevention of HIV and AIDS: Prevention, Vulnerability, Dealing with Stigma, Access to Services, Linkages with RTIs/STIs

7. Structures and Activities • Sensitization of school principals • Capacity building adopting cascade approach with system-specific mentors/ resource persons who further orient nodal teachers • The key activities in the 2 national school systems (KVS and NVS) include: • Allocation of 23 hours in school time table for transaction of learner-centric participatory activities in classes 9, 10 and 11 (ages 14-16) by 2 nodal teachers • Question box activity where student concerns are answered in an anonymous manner • Thematic school assemblies and events such as role plays, creative writing, poster making and others based on students and teachers imagination • Peer facilitators (4 per school)

8. Structures and Activities • Integration of adolescent concerns, life skills and participatory pedagogies in • Text books in the formal school systems • In selected scholastic subjects through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) at secondary level

9. Teachers Training National Role Play/ Folk Dance Competition Activities organized in more than 481 Districts

10. Structures and Activities • An online resource centre on different • aspects of adolescent health and well • being, also supports an electronic • discussion forum for teachers • (www.aeparc.org). • Launched in June 2014. • Online reporting by individual schools • operational zed for academic year, • April 2014-March 2015  

11. Key Milestones • Recognized as an important area in school education in Education Policy (1986), National Curriculum Framework (2005) and the upcoming Education Policy (2016) • Continuous engagement of schooling systems (adolescents, teachers and principals) , civil society, academic institutions and independent experts led to revisions in • Conceptual framework:2009 • Guiding principles of AEP: 2010 • Curriculum that integrates concerns related to health and well being of young people including RSH across all stages of school curriculum: 2010

12. Current Status • AEP implementation in all 1120 KVs and 590 JNVs with approximately 700 master trainers and 3400 trained teachers (2/school) • Online MIS with quarterly reporting functional • Commitment for: • 23 hours in the school time table in both KVs and JNVs • Opportunities for including AEP issues in existing principals’ sensitization and induction and in-service training of teachers in the 2 school systems • Support for mentorship programme through which a school-system specific master trainer is assigned 4 additional schools for providing oversight and quality checks to AEP through monthly phone calls/skype and at least one visit to each of the 4 schools in an academic year on official duty

13. Opportunities for Institutionalization and Scaling Up • International evidence supports implementation of contextualized comprehensive sexuality education programs • Young people recognized as an important resource; hence, ongoing political engagement • In tandem with the current discourse on educational reforms related to learner-centric pedagogies and real life connect • Majority of adolescence education initiatives in partnership with Government school systems • Consensus on initiating the program in upper primary classes • Concurrence for institutionalization within the education system with • Inclusion in school time table • Willingness to allocate time and resources for induction and in-service training of teachers • Integration in self learning materials of open school

14. For Institutionalization and Scaling Up: Enhanced Focus on • Sensitization of officials in the Department of Education at all levels • Creating opportunities for continued learning • Inclusion in induction and in-service training • Encourage learning and exchange among neighborhood schools • Web-based learning • Distance learning opportunities and certification • Monitoring and supportive supervision • Integration in regular planning and review mechanisms • Focus on reviewing processes rather than numbers • Performance linked recognition by the system (certification, increments) • Meaningful involvement of parents • Advocacy with media

15. Challenges in Institutionalization and Scaling Up • Duplication in the roles of different implementing agencies and insufficient linkages between departments of Education and Health • Adolescence education often seen as sub-ordinate to more ‘cognitive’ subjects • Imbued with moral values and judgments • Necessitates curricular change and enhancing knowledge and skills to transact effectively • Expand in a phased manner with better quality control vs. reaching everyone • Building in elements of AE in formal school assessments • Resource allocation

16. THANK YOU