The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala Wednesday (March 1) assured the High Court that steps are being taken to include age-appropriate sexual awareness programs in school curriculums from the next academic session. In response, a single bench of Justice Bechy Kurian Thomas stated that the Court will continue to monitor its implementation status.
Notably, on December 9, 2022, the HC directed the state government to form a committee to carry out the court’s directives for developing a prevention-oriented programme for sexual abuse in schools.
The panel, chaired by the director of general education, was constituted, and its two reports, dated February 17th and February 21st, 2023, referring to various actions suggested by the expert committee for programme implementation, were delivered to the court on February 22, 2023.
Nevertheless, the lawyer arguing on behalf of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) informed the High Court that the reports were misleading because the committee so created had not even convened once by then.
The court ordered the committee members to appear in person before the court on February 27 after chastising the state government for submitting false reports.
While appearing virtually, the panel notified the HC that the committee met on February 23, 2023, and that basic actions had already been taken.
The director of general education also informed the court that additional steps are being taken to incorporate age-appropriate sexual awareness content into the curriculum as much as possible.
The court had previously expressed its concern about the alarming rise in the number of sexual offences committed on schoolchildren, noting that, in many cases, the perpetrators themselves were students, and observed that the voice of the victims of sexual abuse should not be silenced and that it is only through education that the victim can be enabled to speak out.
The court had asked the state to form an expert committee to investigate the matter in August 2022.
The court also directed the committee of experts formed by the State Government to include Advocate Parvathy Menon, the Project Co-ordinator of the Victim Rights Centre under Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) as a member of the committee.
The submissions were made in a matter which is essentially a bail application, but the Kerala High Court invoked its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to issue instructions to the state government and CBSE to raise awareness among youngsters about the repercussions of sexual offences and their ramifications.
