UNFPA/IND8U602/ Assessment of Adolescence Education Programme in India, 2016

Background

India has a long standing history of a continuously evolving initiative to respond to the needs and concerns of school going adolescents. Some elements of adolescence education were introduced in secondary schools as early as in 1980, via the National Population Education Program (NPEP), supported by UNESCO and UNFPA. NPEP was recognized as an important area in school education in the National Policy on Education as early as in 1986 and the focus was retained in the revised version in 1992. In the mid-1990s, the framework broadened, from the early pre-occupation with population and demographic issues, to include adolescent sexual and reproductive health, gender equity and HIV-AIDS education. The core mandate of sexuality education initiatives were contextualized to India-specific realities and named the Adolescence Education Program. The National Curriculum Framework (2005) also emphasizes Adolescence Education as an important area in school education. In 2005, government initiatives on Adolescence Education were harmonized by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under the umbrella term, ‘Adolescence Education Program (AEP).’ It is acknowledged that AEP merits a legitimate space in school education as it responds to needs and concerns of adolescents and is aimed at enhancing life skills among learners to respond to real life situations in positive and responsible ways. It is hypothesized that empowered with skills; young people are more likely to make decisions based on a logical process of “what to do, why to do, how to do and when to do.” In recognition of these facts, the new education policy that is being formulated has identified life skills as one of the core themes in its framework. Positioning AEP in the wider context of an educational approach to develop life skills and empower young people with scientifically accurate and culturally sensitive information proved to be a useful strategy to reduce anxieties around this initiative, and safeguarded it from negative politicization.

A long standing initiative of this nature also needs periodic stock taking for improved outcomes. With this objective, Concurrent Evaluation of the Adolescence Education Programme under the MHRD co-ordinated by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and supported by UNFPA was conducted in 2010-11.  The evaluation assessed knowledge and attitudes of adolescents towards issues related to their health and well-being, and knowledge and attitudes of teachers, towards adolescent health and wellbeing. The study determined the influence of AEP on school environment, and identified gaps in programme design and implementation. A total of 21967 students and 1070 teachers from approximately 200 schools, including the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV), Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and private schools participated in the assessment. The overall results clearly indicated positive impact of AEP, although the impact is modest on most counts: indicating the need for sustained and focused inputs and efforts in programme implementation. Students appreciated the AEP sessions being conducted in a participatory way. They found AEP sessions different from other classes because teachers encouraged questions; discussed things students may face in life rather than bookish knowledge; and teachers were friendly. Students enjoyed and understood issues better with participatory methodologies such as, roles plays, poster making, case studies, essay writing, drama, question box, special sessions and interaction with doctors, gynecologist, psychologist, and so on. They also articulated that they liked it when `our issues were raised, discussed and suggestions given to take the right decisions.’ They reported enjoying `discussion with psychologist on internal changes occurring during adolescence’, and when their teachers ` shared about the problems that are prevalent in society nowadays’. A student appreciated, ‘Whatever was told was part of our life…. All the things that were discussed, we had experienced them…. It was very interesting. They were told to us with the help of activities.’ Another noted, `We can share our issues as everybody goes through the same thing. It relieves stress.’

`Concurrent Evaluation of Adolescence Education Programme, 2010-2011’, UNFPA and NCERT

Rationale of the Proposed Assessment

Given the long history of continuously evolving AEP that is implemented by several entities, there is merit in undertaking this assessment in the country at this point of time for the following reasons:

• The regional offices of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNFPA and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Asia-Pacific have partnered to undertake a survey of school-based Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) in selected countries of the Asia and the Pacific region. Given the long standing history of the programme in India, it will be valuable to undertake this assessment in India to pitch it at the regional forum as an initiative that is steadily progressing towards institutionalization. This assessment will be fielded under the leadership of NCERT with due approval from MHRD.

• The findings from the above mentioned concurrent evaluation of AEP (2010-11) paved the way for certain changes in programme implementation. The key changes included:

• Updation of guiding principles, scheme of content for different stages of schooling and resource materials for master trainers, teachers to organize school-based activities for students in classes 9 and 11.
• Improved programme effectiveness by sensitizing school principals and increasing the trained human resources, including, master trainers and nodal teachers.
• Advocating for defined spaces for AEP in the school, for example, time table, school assembly, SUPW and others as relevant.

It is approximately 5 years since the data were collected for the concurrent evaluation and it is time to examine how some of the changes mentioned above have influenced programme implementation in the field.

• In order to get an objective overview of school-based initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of adolescents, it is important to review different formulations of the AEP implemented in the country by different entities including the following:

• NCERT co-ordinated programs implemented by the national school systems of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti.
• Civil Society Organisations, such as Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS)

Objectives of the Assessment

The main objective of the assessment of AEP in India is to better understand how AEP is being implemented at the school level. Specific objectives are to determine successes gaps and challenges in the programs, as well as to examine values and attitudes of teachers and students towards the themes covered in the AEP.

Given the increasing mental health concerns among school going adolescents, this study also aims to identify mental health concerns using the standardized General Health Questionnaire.

The study is expected to examine a range of issues in the domains of programme inputs, enabling environment and curriculum implementation, including:

• the integration of adolescence education in the formal curriculum;
• the topics, content and lesson plans of the adolescence education classes (including whether and how gender, power and rights are addressed);
• the time allocated to the AEP sessions;
• whether AEP is mandatory and/or examinable;
• the pedagogy of the classes;
• whether teachers who are delivering the classes have been trained and how;
• whether teachers report feeling adequately trained for teaching about AEP and have the adequate materials to do so; 
• level of senior management support for teaching adolescence education in the school;
• whether parents are aware and supportive of AEP being taught in school;
• communications on AEP with parents and the larger community; and,
• How the impact of AEP sessions are measured (if at all).

The results of the assessment will provide inputs for further strengthening of AEP – through the following measures:-

1. Revision of National policies and guidelines on AEP
2. Creating more supportive school environments to support AEP including through teacher training, new pedagogic techniques, supportive policies, etc. It will help increase the visibility of the successes achieved and inspire states to consider incorporating AEP into their curriculum (including those where AEP is suspended).
3. A revised AEP module and training toolkit for teachers and education specialists in India.