Teen sex education planned

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.