By Andrew Magombo:
Stakeholders in the Education sector have been urged to support government in enhancing participatory approaches between students and teachers on matters relating to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).
District Education Manager for Mchinji district, Nelly Kamtedza made the call recently at Magawa Secondary School at the end of a two-day Youth-Teacher Dialogue on CSE which was organised by Art and Global Health Centre Africa (ArtGlo) in partnership with Her Liberty.
According to Kamtedza, open conversations between learners and teachers are key towards making well informed decisions by policy makers in regards to youth initiatives in the country.
She said, “Most of our students are not open enough to their teachers during CSE lessons and the same is also noted in teachers when they are teaching sensitive topics.”
“We commend Art Glo and Her Liberty for carrying out this all inclusive assessment in our district as it will help us get facts on the ground from the youth hence enabling sound implementation of relevant initiatives for them across the country.”
Kamtedza therefore challenged students to express their freedom when seeking clarity on CSE as the topic also has a bearing in their everyday lives across their respective communities.
Christopher Hussein, 15, a Form 1 learner at Magawa Secondary School described the Youth-Teacher dialogue on comprehensive sexuality as an eye opener having gained insightful knowledge related to his adolescence.
He said, : “I open up to both my peers and my teachers because I am always willing to have knowledge which can help me solve my life challenges but some teachers fail to express sensitive topics clearly I wish they could work on that.”
Programs Manager for Art Glo, Lekodi Magombo, said similar assesments funded United Nations Educative, Scienctific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have already been undertaken in Nkhatabay and Mulanje districts with Mchinji being the last one before submission of findings to the Ministry of Education.
“We want to understand challenges that are there and fill in the gaps that are currently existing between learners and teachers in comprehensive sexuality education.”
“We are yet to make a final analysis but so far we have noted cultural clashes being one of contributing factor which hinder communication on CSE in subjects like Biology and Life Skills,”
The assessment on gaps and delivery of comprehensive sexuality education gauged experiences and perceptions of learners and teachers from 20 secondary schools across Mchinji.
