Agartala, July 13: Mizoram education minister Lalthan-gliana, said the state government was concerned over the spread of HIV/AIDS among the youth and emphasised the need to impart awareness at the high school level.

The minister was speaking at a discussion on methods of imparting sex education to teenagers, held at the SCERT auditorium on the occasion of World Population Day.

?It is a disconcerting fact that while everybody considers us to be a very healthy and clean society because of our Christian religion, we have been invaded by the dreaded HIV/AIDS. There is an urgent need in teaching the basic facts about this in all schools at the district levels within this year,? the minister said.

The minister said that while it was mostly the high and higher secondary students who fell victim to the disease, there was also a need to impart awareness at middle school levels.

Principal secretary, education, Vanhela Pachuau, who also spoke at the meeting, said learning about the virus through textbooks was not enough. He said awareness about HIV/AIDS should not be seen by students only as a means to fetch marks in examinations, but as something that could affect them personally.

?Instead of teaching these students about HIV/AIDS through their textbooks, they must be encouraged to learn about the disease through the news media,? he said. With the proliferation of commercial sex workers in the state, it was necessary to promote the use of condoms among students.

The joint director of the State Council of Education and Research Training, Sangchhuanmawii, said AIDS awareness campaigns had been conducted in several districts of Aizawl, Lunglei, Champhai and Serchhip and surveys had revealed that AIDS victims were mainly between the ages of 15 and 29.

She stressed the need to impart sex education to students and said an ongoing programme of the education sector would try to cover 90 per cent of the state schools within this year.