Background
It’s been widely acknowledged that schools play an important role when it comes to sexual health promotion. In Uganda, there is currently no standardized educational material on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for primary school pupils, and the material that does exist is limited to HIV prevention. This is the situation in Mbarara district, where school dropout rates are also increasing and teenage pregnancy is reported to be one of the main causes.

About the project
This project was created to increase teachers’ capacity to deliver SRHR education in two primary schools in Mbarara district. Through moderated group discussions with selected teachers, the project team identified gaps in their knowledge and perception of SRHR education. All teachers agreed that sexual education is important, but many felt they needed more knowledge in order to feel confident teaching the pupils. Based on this, the teachers were given a comprehensive training on how to educate and facilitate classes on adolescents’ sexuality. The training included topics like STIs/HIV, puberty and unintended pregnancies – but also issues like self-esteem, emotional changes and how to keep clean, fit and healthy.

Results
By the time the project ended, 16 teachers had been trained and started to implement the sexual education programme in their respective schools. The fact that the teachers were so involved in identifying the gaps and creating the educational content made them feel a strong ownership of the programme and a motivation to continue with it after the end of the project. The involvement and approval of other stakeholders, like Ministry of Health and Education representatives and district health and education officers also led to the success and sustainability of the project.

Year: 2015