Earlier this year the Department of Basic Education (DBE) announced plans to introduce Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) lessons in the curriculum.
This decision has been met with a mixed response from parents and schools.
The governing body of Laerskool Onverwacht in Ga-Nala took a strong stance and in a letter said they will not implement the sexual education in their curriculum.
Other schools followed suit and said if they are compelled to add this to their curriculum, it will be done with the utmost discretion.
According to Mr Elijah Mhlanga, head of communications at the DBE Research findings indicate high birth rates among adolescents and teenagers; in addition, more than a third of girls and boys (35.4%) experience sexual violence before the age of 17.
This has necessitated the great need for the department to provide age appropriate child abuse prevention education that builds resilience, confidence, and assertion amongst young people, who often do not know when they are being violated by sexual predators.
“CSE has been part of the curriculum since the year 2000. The only change is that in 2015 the DBE developed Scripted Lesson Plans (SLPs) which are currently being tested in five provinces in order to strengthen the teaching of CSE in schools. SLPs are learner and teacher support materials that are designed to aid teachers and learners to address these important topics in a systematic manner,” Mhlanga said.
Local psychologist Mr Abie Smit said that there are organised groups who claim that sexuality education is the responsibility of the parents and the department should stay out of it.
“That is true and good for those parents who do it. Unfortunately, most parents don’t do it – for various reasons – and it becomes somebody else’s responsibility,” Smith said.
“Sexuality Education is not a new idea that the department has come up with. It is part of the school curriculum for many years. It was always part of the grade seven Life Orientation program to coincide with the commencement of puberty. The reality of the increase in teenage pregnancies and sexual deviant behavior shows that the program needs a serious upgrade,” he said.
Smith explained the upgrade to Comprehensive Sexuality Education means that it will now commence in grade four.
This is the next problem for concerned parents – the age of these learners average nine.
“Psychologically speaking, that should not be a problem. The guideline for sexuality education is that a child of eight understands exactly what it is all about! To be honest: You should start with your child, especially girls at a much earlier stage. Your child should, for example, know by the age of four that strangers are not allowed to touch them. Go to the website of the Department of Basic Education and download the Scripted Lesson Plans and familiarise yourself with the content. Also ask at the school if the responsible teacher is sufficiently trained in the subject,” Smith advised.
WITBANK NEWS ran a poll earlier this week and asked readers whether they agree or disagree with the department’s decision to introduce Comprehensive Sexuality Education in the curriculum.
The response was overwhelming.
Of the 957 votes 903 disagreed with the introduction and 54 agreed with it.
