Adolescence Education Programme has been launched to address the needs of

adolescents, especially in relation to their reproductive and sexual health concerns

including HIV and AIDS and substance abuse
Adolescence can be defined in numerous !ays, considering such factors as physical,
social, and cognitive development as !ell as age "hough adolescence refers to an age
range, chronological age is #ust one !ay of defining adolescence $or the purpose of this
document, the term adolescent is used for all individuals in the age group of %&'%( years
)based on the definition given by *H+, It may also be defined as a phase in human life
that begins !ith the onset of puberty and ends !ith reproductive maturation
"oday in India !e have about --. million adolescents in the age group of %&'%( years,
the largest ever cohort of young people to ma/e a transition to adulthood "he physical
changes that herald adolescence are the most visible and stri/ing mar/ers of this stage
Ho!ever, these physical changes represent #ust one aspect of the developmental
processes that adolescents experience "heir developing brains bring ne! cognitive s/ills
that enhance their ability to reason and to thin/ abstractly "hey develop emotionally,
establishing a ne! sense