Put emphasis on sexuality education too
Dr Madhvi Dalal speaks to pupils of Mara Girls' Leadership Primary School, in Narok West Sub-county on February 13, 2021.
On Wednesday last week, the Ministry of Education launched the new physical education (PE) and sports policy, which seeks to make the subject compulsory by requiring teachers to be trained and regularly retrained in its delivery.
This is a great move towards strengthening quality education, challenging stigma and overcoming stereotypes. Physical, sexuality and life skills lessons have faced similar challenges for decades in the 8-4-4 system. Despite the subjects being on the timetable, they are often ‘grabbed’ by teachers eager to complete the syllabus of the examinable subjects early.
Similarly, the need to take a similar move in pushing for proper delivery of sexuality and life skills education as required by the School Health Policy is evident. Data from the Health ministry around pregnancy between teenagers and sexually transmitted diseases is proof that adolescents and young people require much more than HIV and Aids education. Educators should focus on abstinence, resulting in a limited scope of sexuality topics offered in school.
Sexuality education
A Guttmacher Institute study cites the main barriers to teaching sexuality, education as reported by teachers, as lack of teaching materials, time or training and embarrassment. It’s time we formalised sexuality education, which also involves relationships and personal feelings, as well as individual and societal values.
Inclusion of all sexuality topics in life skills education has become even more important because of the rapid spread of social media, the internet and mobile phone technology, which have enormous positive and educational potential but are of concern given the risks of access to online pornography that come with them.
All these have triggered the need for quality education to enable young people to deal with their sexuality in a safe and satisfactory manner. Schools can be safe spaces and learning environments for discussions on sexuality. Training and re-training of teachers should also be a priority.
