Life skills are behaviors that enable Individuals to adapt to and deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. There are many such skills, but core life skills include the ability to: Make decisions, solve problems, and think critically and creatively, clarify and analyze values, communicate, Including listen, build empathy, be assertive, and negotiate, Cope with emotions and stress, Feel empathy with others and be self-aware. UN report mentioned that one In every five persons on the earth is an adolescent aged between 10-19 years, and 85% of these adolescents live in developing countries.
An estimated 1 7 million adolescents die every year mainly from accidents, violence, pregnancy related problems or illnesses that are either preventable or treatable. As per study, the majority has no idea about the changes associated with puberty (e. G. , menstruation or wet dreams) until they experience them, though the strong family structure plays a major role in the lives of adolescents but it fails to respond to their needs for reproductive health information.
An estimated 1 7 million adolescents die every year mainly from accidents, violence, pregnancy related problems or illnesses that are either preventable or treatable. The best investment in and education and health sector should go to this segment of population to shape the future of mankind. Bangladesh statistics mentioned about 23% of the total population is adolescents. Among them 52% are male. While 48% are female. The approximate number of adolescent is 33 million in the year 2001 and the absolute size already raised to rise to 35 million by the year 2010.
Almost 60% of adolescent girls are married off before 1 OFFS teen reach ten age AT B years, one Tanta AT teen start nine Dearly In tenet teenage years, while about 28% of adolescent girls are already mothers. These young people have tremendous demographic significance as their individual development and social contribution will shape the future of the world, investment in children’s health, nutrition and education is the foundation for national development. Adolescents in Bangladesh have very limited access to reproductive health and life skills information due to cultural, social and religious belief and practice.
Nationally, it is reported that only 37. 6% of girls and 19. 9% of adolescent boys discuss pubertal changes with parents, and 37% of girls and 61% of boys discuss the issue with friends and peers. Discussion about their marriage and marriage partners with parents is even lower. It was reported that most adolescent discussions about Reproductive health (RE) and marriage issues take place among friends and peers. It has been shown that teen mothers are more likely to suffer from severe complications during delivery and infants born to adolescent mothers have a greater possibility of dying early.
Overall, adolescent girls in the age group of 15-19 contribute 20% of the total babies born in a given year in year 2000. Analysis of available data on variables, such as education, nutrition, fertility, marriage, use of lath services, and knowledge and use of contraceptives, confirms that adolescents in Bangladesh are exposed to the same RE risks as adolescents in other developing countries. Male to male sex is not uncommon in Bangladesh, and often adolescent boys are forced to participate in such sexual acts.
Due to lack of awareness and information, most of these sex acts are unprotected and result in the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Healthcare seeking for the girls and the boys seemed to be different. Generally, the girls did not seek any help for such problems. However, if they felt that the symptoms ere becoming severe, they only then would consult their family members. If the family members, especially their mothers, perceived the problem as a serious one, only then would she be taken to a doctor or a hospital or traditional healer, such as Siberia, or Fakir.
The boys followed a similar pattern for seeking RE care; however, they might independently also seek treatments directly from the healthcare providers before consulting any family member. The boys might directly seek treatments from canvassers, pharmacies, or village doctors. However, if traditional treatments failed, they would go to a doctor or hospital. They did not find free time to visit the health facilities because of school timings. Many female respondents expressed reservations in seeking RE care from the male doctors.
I en emergence AT H s gave many governments ten Impetus to strengthen Ana expand reproductive health education efforts and, currently, more than 100 countries have such programs. U. N. Organizations such as UNAPT, UNESCO, and EUNICE have traditionally been the leading international supporters of reproductive health education. The World Bank, through its intensified efforts to help countries fight HI AIDS, has also become a major fund provider. Many other bilateral donors and private foundations and organizations support and promote reproductive health education worldwide.
Reproductive health Education (ERE) system first established on a national scale in Europe in the sass, developing countries introduced school- based reproductive health education in the sass. The objectives of the RAH Strategy are- to improve the knowledge of adolescents on reproductive health issues, to create a positive change in the behavior and attitude of the gatekeepers lie parents/guardians, teachers, religious leaders of adolescents awards reproductive health, to reduce the incidence of early marriage and pregnancy among adolescents, to reduce the incidence and prevalence of Sty’s, including HIVE/AIDS, among adolescents.
To provide easy access of all adolescents to adolescent friendly health services (RASH) and other related services, to create a socio-political condition, where adolescents are not subjected to violence or abuse, and which discourages substance abuse and other risk taking behaviors among adolescent. RE and ELSE programs is preventive in nature and are relatively low-cost. A review of YR programs in different developing countries of Asian and Africa found that such programs cost between IIS$O. 0 and IIS$71 per year per person, with a median cost of about IIS$9 per person per year. Moreover, recent studies have found that reproductive health education programs offer a good return on investment. For example, a study in Honduras found that for each $1. 00 invested in reproductive health education to prevent HIVE infection among youth, the program would generate up to $4. 59 in benefits from improved health and reduced medical care costs.
This estimate only includes the economic benefits of averted HIVE infection and does not include the benefits of other potential program outcomes such as increased education, reduced Sty’s, and reduced teen pregnancies and abortions The Bangladesh Government has shown exemplary farsightedness in creating an overall supportive policy and legal environment to promote adolescent reproductive health.
The Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees equal rights for men and women irrespective of caste, creed, and color. All citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law. A number of laws are in places which directly or indirectly dissuade adverse practices.
These include the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980 which provides aging and giving of dowry an offence and punishable by fine and imprisonment; Cruelty to Women (Deterrent Punishment) Act, 1983 which makes punishment by death or life imprisonment for the kidnapping or abduction of women for unlawful purposes, trafficking women or causing death or attempting to cause death or grievous injuries to wives for dowry; the Immoral Traffic Act and the Women and center Repression (Amendment) Act, 2 enacted to regulate offences (l Eke sexual harassment, rape, trafficking, kidnapping, dowry) against women; the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 (Amended in 1983) enacted to restrain child marriage and ascertain the legal age of marriage, which is 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls, and the Children Act, 1974 which provides provisions relating to protection and treatment of children and trial and punishment of youth offenders. The Population Policy of 2005 has provision of information, counseling and services for adolescents as one of its objectives and outlines a number of strategies for achieving this goal. The draft revised Population Policy have an exclusive section, with the heading of Adolescent Welfare Services, which shows the importance given by the government to the adolescent population. Bangladesh National Food and
Nutrition Policy 1997 highlights importance and state duty of raising the level of nutrition and improvement of public health among the primary duties of the State. The National Youth Policy 2004 defined youth as a citizen within 18-35 years. Unfortunately this definition leaves out the adolescents of 10 to 18 years – a good 25 million young people who need special focus. The different section of the policy emphasis the importance of information and education on RE, HIVE/AIDS etc. National WAITED and SST Policy has given specific guidelines for access to information and services regarding sexual health for adolescents and identified as he most neglected section of the society.
It also denotes about the child prostitution, sexual abuse and trafficking and safe sex practice of men and development of appropriate strategies in relation to male sexual and reproductive health. Bangladesh is working on education for all before 201 5 and expected to have more children than ever receiving an education, schools are an efficient way to reach school-age youth and their families in an organized way. The last 30 years have seen an impressive improvement in enrollment rates and reduction of school dropout. Bangladesh Adolescent Reproductive Health Strategy, July 2006 have the vision and AOL to achieve safe and complete reproductive life through access to appropriate knowledge, skills and services in a socially and legally supportive environment, by 2015.
All adolescent girls and boys, including the disadvantaged, will be able to enjoy Virtually all comprehensive life skill based reproductive health education programs promote abstinence from sexual activity as part of the curriculum, and try to teach young people how to resist pressure for unwanted sex. The experience of India is encouraging, the Andorra Pradesh AIDS Control Society took the lead in implementing a scaled program in all schools of the state in 2001. The program was developed in partnership with Department of Education. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Education imparts knowledge on adolescent reproductive and sexual health through its program on Family Health Education.
In 1989, the curriculum was Introduced to secondary cocoons students Ana In December 1 elements of it were also introduced to primary school children through Physical and Health Education. In Sir Lankan, the life competency program was introduced into the junior secondary curriculum from grade 7-9 under the education reform in 1997 and implemented in all schools by 1999. A Uganda program that targeted primary school students produced significant, desirable improvements in reports of sexual initiation; sexual initiations was reduced from 43% to 11% in the experimental group with no change in the control group. There are problems of introduction of ERE and ELSE due to traditions and beliefs, including the expectation that young people abstain from sexual activity until marriage.
Thus, traditional leaders-?who view themselves as the repository and transmitters of community values and beliefs-?are often in the forefront of opposition to reproductive health education in the schools. These conservative forces often mobile parents and some teachers as allies. In India, conservative forces have effectively blocked sex education in the schools. In Malaysia, although a nationwide family health education curriculum is in place, it gives students little or no information on reproductive health or sexual practice, in large part because of strong resistance from parents and religious leaders. Political leaders are reluctant to risk a religious backlash by openly supporting sexuality education.
This is more interesting that religious groups have strongly opposed school-based sexuality education in the United States, Mexico, and Kenya. Some teachers and school administrators find reproductive health education personally objectionable or lack sufficient understanding of the subject and thus are reluctant or refuse to go along with such programs. Despite the resistance and obstacles, the school based Reproductive heath and life skill development programs are successful in developed and developing countries and all government policy documents support the program. This is the time to include the Reproductive Health and Life Style education in national school curricula.
