Teen sex education planned

Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The new chief of the National Family Planning Coordination Board (BKKBN), Yaumil C. Agoes Achir, will embark on an information campaign on reproductive health education for teenagers.

"It is part of the campaign to improve the quality of family life," Yaumil said at a media briefing on Thursday.

With better knowledge of reproductive health, teenagers would be better prepared economically, physically, and mentally when they started their own families, she said.

The campaign would cover various topics, including sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and sexuality.

The campaign is part of BKKBN's new vision called Quality Family 2015, focusing on improving the quality of family life and controlling population growth.

Launched in 2000, it also aims to increase the participation of men in family planning and increase attention on reproductive health, particularly for women.

Yaumil has been installed as the head of the BKKBN, replacing Khofifah Indar Parawansa.

Yaumil, a professor of psychology at the University of Indonesia, said that although family planning had significantly lowered the country's birth rate, reproductive health remained largely ignored resulting in problems such as a high maternal mortality rate.

In the past 30 years, the national family planning program has cut the size of the average Indonesian family from 5.6 children to 2.79 children. About 25 million married couples are currently following family planning programs.

However, the maternal mortality rate has stayed at 334 deaths per 100,000 births per year, the highest among any Southeast Asian country.

Pregnancy among the young was one of the causes of the high death rate, Yaumil said.

Yaumil said she would continue programs initiated by her predecessors, such as those to lower maternal and infant death rates, economic empowerment to families, to improve distribution services for poor families and distributing educational information.

Siswanto Agus Wilopo, BKKBN deputy for family planning and reproductive health, explained that reproductive health education covered the process and function of human reproductive organs, sexually transmitted diseases, as well as mental and social aspects, he said.

"For instance, we explain the risks of teen pregnancy or the disadvantages of marriage at a young age," Siswanto said.

According to Siswanto, teenagers, aged between 10 and 19 years made up 40 million of Indonesia's 210 million population.

The government has increased budget for teen reproductive health from Rp 2 billion in 2001 to Rp 3.1 billion this year.

At present, BKKBN has been preparing educational materials consisting of books and CD-ROMs on reproductive health, including guidelines for parents.

The materials have been made available to BKKBN offices in the regions as well as in schools and public libraries.

BKKBN has worked with the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Health during the campaign.