Knowledge and attitude of secondary school teachers in Enugu to school based sex education

Abstract

Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitude to sex education among secondary school teachers in Enugu.

Materials and methods: A cross sectional study of 300 teachers drawn from nine randomly selected secondary schools in Enugu metropolis was carried out. Pre-tested self administered structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection.

Results: Three hundred teachers, 215 females and 85 males were interviewed. The mean age of the teachers was 38.1+/-7.5 years. Sixty-nine (23.0%) had adequate knowledge of sex education and 282 (94.0%) approved the inclusion of sex education into the school curriculum. The commonest reason for disapproval of sex education was fear that it would lead to promiscuity amongst the students. Educational status and marital status of the teachers were significant determinants of positive attitude to sex education p<0.05. The most appropriate age to introduce sex education according to the teachers is 11-15 years. Two hundred and thirty eight (79.3%) respondents were of the opinion that teachers needed to be trained to provide sex education to students and 244 (81.3%) admitted that sex education was not in the school curriculum.

Conclusion: Secondary school teachers are in support of provision of sex education to students. However they need training and skills on how to present sex information in a positive manner to achieve the desired goal. There is need to include sex education in the school curriculum.