According to a representative from the Ministry of Education and Training Bui Phuong Nga, a programme on population and reproductive health education has been officially applied for the one-grader curriculum since the 2006-2007 school year with a view to resolving urgent issues related to unwanted pregnancy and HIV/AIDS infection among children and adolescents.

The Ministry of Education and Training began to draft a set of curriculums on population and reproductive health in the 1980s, but it was only completed 20 years later. The Ministry put the delay down to the test-run process taking a certain amount of time.

Despite this being the education sector’s new effort in teaching pupils about “sensitive” issues, education experts expressed their concern over difficulties in implementing the curriculum at schools. On the other hand, many teachers are still hesitating about participating in training courses on human reproductive health and puberty-related issues while parents disagree with the teaching of the subject as they think that children will be able to understand when they grow up. However, things that schools and families are avoiding, have done children harm unintentionally.

Doctor Nguyen Thi Lan from the Research Centre for Genetics and Family Studies said, “The issue of sex education should have been addressed a long time before. It is important to provide reproductive healthcare for adolescents who will provide the future generations of the nation.”

According to a representative from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Union Le Van Cau, young Vietnamese people often find it difficult to get access to full information about sex education and do not know about how to address sex-related issues and where to ask for help.

Reality shows that 65 percent of new HIV infected people are aged from 15-19. This age group also runs a high risk of getting unwanted pregnancies and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Vietnam has been 20 years late in educating young people about sex-related knowledge. However, experts from the Research Centre for Genetics and Family Studies still insists that this is a case of better being late than never and the country still has opportunities to address this issue.

According to recent statistics, most young Vietnamese people know at least one contraceptive measure while up to 80 percent of them do not use condoms in the first sexual relations. Of every five young Vietnamese aged from 15-24, one claims to have had sexual intercourse.

A representative from the United Nations Population Fund Mr lan Howie said, “Vietnamese agencies should help young people gain full information about sex education so that they will feel more confident.”

In order to make children, especially adolescents fully aware of reproductive health, parents and teachers should show sympathy and responsibility towards sex education, which is introduced at the beginning of each academic year. However, this is not enough to change the behaviour of parents, teachers and adolescents who are especially vulnerable to sensitive issues on sex and reproductive health.