Teachers' Attitude is Not an Impediment to Adolescent Sexuality Education in Enugu, Nigeria

• Published in: African journal of reproductive health 2006-04, Vol.10 (1), p.81-90
• Main Authors: Iyoke, C. A., Onah, H. E., Onwasigwe, C. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent sexuality; Adolescents; Adult; Attitude; Cross-Sectional Studies; Education; Faculty; Female; Focus groups; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nigeria; Political attitudes; Reproductive health; Secondary school teachers; Secondary schools; Sex Education; Socioeconomic Factors; Teacher education
• ISSN: 1118-4841
• DOI: 10.2307/30032447

Studies have shown that adolescents in Nigeria have poor knowledge of reproductive health issues and that there was a need to provide them with correct broad-based information on reproductive health as part of a nationally-approved school curriculumⁱ,⁲,⁳. However, the non-application of the curriculum on sexuality education in many secondary schools in Nigeria has been blamed on a negative attitude of teachers⁴. This study was undertaken to determine the attitude of secondary school teachers in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria, to adolescent sexuality education and to determine whether this depends on their socio-demographic characteristics A cross-sectional study of the attitude of teachers to adolescent sexuality education was done. A total of 249 teachers were studied. Their mean age was 38.7 years ±8.08 SD. Two hundred and ten teachers (84%) were females. Two hundred and twenty-four teachers (90%) were married and 168 (67.5%) were of Roman Catholic faith. The awareness of reproductive health activities was high. There was a high proportion of respondents who approved of sexuality education for adolescents (77.5%) and an equally high proportion who believed that it was important (89%). One hundred and ninety-eight (79%) of the respondents were willing to teach sexuality education. The attitude to sexuality education was independent of religion, sex or marital status (p>0.05). It was concluded that secondary school teachers in Enugu urban were willing to offer sexuality education to adolescents under their care irrespective of their religion, sex or marital status. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers in Enugu be given the necessary special training in the teaching of sexuality education now and that sexuality education be officially incorporated into the school curriculum in Enugu, preferably as part of moral studies. /// Lesétudes ont montré que les adolescents au Nigéria n'ont qu'une faible connaissance des questions concernant la santé de reproduction et qu'il y a la nécessité de leur fournir une information correcte de tendance très large sur la santé de reproduction comme faisant partie d'un programme scolaire approuvé dans le pays entier12·3. Pourtant, l'attitude negative des enseignants est considérée comme étant responsable de la non-application du programme sur l'éducation sexuelle dans plusieurs écoles secondaires au Nigéria4. Cette étude avait pour objectif de déterminer l'attitude des enseignants au niveau de l'école secondaire à Enugu, a