Stakeholders in the child development sector in Nigeria have called for restructuring of Comprehensive Sexuality Education, CSE.
READ ALSO:Lagos state Engages Religious Counsellors On Sexual Violence
The call was made at the a dialogue forum in commemoration of this year’s Day of the African Child hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AHF, in Abuja, Nigeria.
Speaking on the theme “Fostering Health and Education Through CSE”, AHF Country Director Echey Ijezie said it is important to have age appropriate sexuality education in order to properly address how an adolescent addresses sex.
The Director Policy, Advocacy and Marketing AHF, Mrs. Kemi Gbadamosi-Braimah said CSE is very vital as it contributes to abstinence, and the need for adolescent to learn how to protect themselves through conduct and prevention methods.
She noted that “research has also shown that when people are exposed to age appropriate CSE it also helps them to delay sex because they know the implications”.
Mrs. Gbadamosi-Braimah also said age appropriate Sexuality Education requires exposing young people at different levels to information based on their age.
“It is the right of every child and young person to have access to age appropriate information that can help them make more informed choices, make better decisions that will eventually improve their educational outcomes as well as their health outcomes. We want a generation of healthy young people, we want a generation of educated young people and we want a time when we can actually say that we are no longer picking up new HIV infections”. She said.
Also, the Director, Federal Capital Territory, FCT Secondary Education Board, Mrs Okhilua Maria called for parental, teachers and policy makers involvement in CSE.
“For CSE to get into the schools and make headway, the policy makers, the agencies, the supervisory bodies, those are the first set of people that most have this understanding. And when we have this understanding then we can now begin to look at how do we structure this information for presentation so that it is not distructive”. She said.
Meanwhile, an Assistant Director Sports and Health Division, Ministry of Education, Mrs Ogbuke Njideka said cultural barrier in Nigeria has influenced the remodeling of CSE into Reproductive Health Education and Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education, FLHE.
“That doesn’t mean we are not implying education that is comprehensive. We teach reproductive health, we teach everything that helps a young person to acquire the necessary skills to navigate through life”. She added.
However, Mrs Njideka said the Ministry of Education is looking at approaches to feed young people with the information they need in the most favourable way to yield results.
The event also featured views from young pupils from different schools and Non-government organisations on their understanding of CSE.
