In Ghana, a country with a large youthful population, where people under 25 years of age makeup 57% of the total population, access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education should be a crucial priority for programme planners and policymakers. Around 43% of females and 27% of males aged 15-19 are reportedly sexually active, with data indicating a relatively low use of contraceptives among young people in the country. There is consequently a need for high-quality education on sexuality for adolescents.

PROGRESS IN ESTABLISHING SEXUALITY EDUCATION

Ghana has for decades seen a significant improvement in implementing SRH learning in schools. In-school teaching of adolescent SRH was first pioneered with the establishment of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), which stemmed from the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1967. This set the ball rolling for the country, and many more policies and initiatives followed. In 2000 the government published the first Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy (ARHP), which enabled access to SRH materials for primary, junior high, and senior high schools. In 2015, the ARHP was revised and renamed the Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy for Young People in Ghana. Collaboration between the national government, PPAG, and several other civil society groups led to the development and promotion of more comprehensive sexuality education for adolescents, both those in and outside school, through the establishment of the National Comprehensive Sexuality Education Guideline.

In 2019 the Ministry for Education launched a more advanced, comprehensive sexual education (CSE) policy under the banner Our right, Our lives, Our future, to be added in the school syllabus as a core subject. Topics under this 2019 CSE policy are wide-ranging and include sexual and reproductive physiology, gender and SRH Rights, HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention, contraception and unintended pregnancies, vulnerabilities and exclusions, gender-based violence and sexual abuse, and interpersonal skills.

This incorporation by the government of Ghana of sexuality education in schools is important for equipping children and young people with “knowledge, skills, attitudes and values aimed at helping them in life”. Because the programmes in schools are well structured and can easily be regulated to suit various age groups, monitoring of what learners consume is easier. As children develop, they can access information relevant to their level of development and advance to more complex content. Providing SRH education to children at a young age of between 9 and 12 years, though considered an undue burden by some critics, has shown to have a lasting impact. Delaying the training is more likely to expose them to risks associated with sexual choices in a world where access to uncensored information on sexuality, including through the internet, is common.

POLICY V. PRACTICE

Yet in a culture that has for a long time regarded SRH education as a private issue only discussed within family setups, incorporating sexuality education in formal learning can definitely be an uphill battle. In as much as the country has for decades made significant steps in promoting sexuality education, researchers show that there is a high rate of non-compliance to these set guidelines.  In 2012, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the assistance of IPPF assessed the quality and the comprehensiveness of CSE content delivery and approaches by schools and civil society groups in Ghana. Their findings suggest that much focus was on abstinence and theoretical knowledge. Less focus was on issues such as modern contraceptive methods and practical skills.

The implementation and training of teachers on the new 2019 CSE policy did not sit well with all the members of the society. Because the scope of the new policy was taking an internationally acceptable standard, some aspects of it were highly contested. Clergymen and leaders across the country both from Christian and Islam religions were against the implementation of the policy, particularly because it included creating awareness on homosexuality. These critics consider this inappropriate content, meant to corrode traditional cultural understandings and replace them with “Western” sexual norms.

Research conducted in the three geographic regions of Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo, and Northern, indicates setbacks in implementing quality sexuality education in senior high schools. One challenge that stands out relates to the grievances of teachers, who not only lack appropriate skills to administer this high-end education plan, but also face other challenges including lack of teaching aids and adequate time to cover all the issues set out in the national guideline. Furthermore, the approach taken while imparting SRH knowledge to learners is usually negatively perceived, instilling fear in the learners’ minds.

In Ghana, like in other African countries, policies to address SRH education are hardly translated into practice, due to a lack of clear implementation frameworks, coupled with weak regulation and supervision strategies.  Further, content on SRH has for a long time been touched on only briefly, as it is fit under other subjects dealing with human anatomy, the environment, or social studies.

TECHNOLOGY TO COMPLEMENT SEXUALITY EDUCATION

To supplement SRH education, innovators in Africa are using modern technology such as digital media to develop creative computer applications where young people can access relevant and factual information on their SRH. Popular sites include: The World Starts With Me, which was launched in Uganda and was later adopted in several other African countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Malawi. Other popular sites include Cyber Senga in Uganda and TuneMe in Zambia and Malawi, launched by UNESCO and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Other out-of-school CSE programmes include the MEMA Kwa Vijana Program in Tanzania, an initiative by health workers to offer community training on sexual and reproductive health.

The government, programme planners, policymakers, and citizens of a country must join hands in educating its younger generation on sexual and reproductive health based on facts and relevant knowledge. Access to such information helps the youth to understand their health and their rights, even as they continue to learn about their social needs and aspirations. Additionally, access to contraceptives and reproductive health services ultimately results in a more sustainable development of a state. Reproductive rights also relate to many human rights protected in national laws, and denying young people access to such content may result in the violation of several other human rights. Both international and regional human rights law, including the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which Ghana has ratified, contain provisions on the right to access adequate and acceptable health services, including sexual and reproductive health.

This article was written as part of the Human Rights Pulse Writer’s Workshop programme.

Diana is a final year student pursuing a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication (Public Relations) at Kibabii University. Digital Activist at Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa. A passionate advocate of SDGs 4 & 5. A volunteer Mentor for the Equity Group Foundation based in Kenya.

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