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Plans for undergraduate sex education at the University of Delhi were dropped after a majority of academics said they did not know enough about the subject to teach.

The university now plans to put lecturers through a "refresher course" in sex-related subjects.

The problem is who would teach the teachers and whether its academics would come forward. A college principal said: "The main problem is that teachers are not prepared to talk about sex in the classroom.

Some of them have told me it would be difficult for them to discuss sex- related issues, especially in a co-educational class.

India has a prudish attitude to sex issues. Attempts to introduce sex education in schools met resistance both from parents and school teachers. Now it is university academics who are reluctant to teach.