MPs Are Advocating Sex Education as A Subject In Schools
In order to better prepare adolescents for the challenges that come with sexual activity, members of parliament advocate for the inclusion of sexual education as a subject in public schools.
Legislators are outraged by the high incidence of unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS infections, and other sexually transmitted illnesses. As a means of tackling this issue, which poses a huge threat to adolescents, legislators have pushed the state to establish sex education in schools.
The resolution was sponsored by Representative Njeri Maina of Kirinyaga County, and she encouraged the federal government, through the State Department of Basic Education, to incorporate comprehensive instruction on health, wellness, and sexuality into the curriculum of key topics.
There are some lawmakers who do not believe there is a pressing need for comprehensive health education because they are of the opinion that if sex education is taught in schools, then young people in this country will be exposed to sexual activity at a younger age.
A delegate from Langata named Phelix Odiwuor voiced support for the idea but questioned what it means when something is described as “comprehensive” and what other aspects it addresses.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) dismissed requests for comprehensive sexuality education to be implemented in Kenyan institutions in 2021.
Education in schools regarding HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), contraception, and the avoidance of unplanned pregnancies had been a priority for civil rights organisations.
However, the Senior Deputy Director in Charge of Curriculum and Research Services, Jacqueline Onyango, stated that such practises would represent a violation of the constitutional rights of a kid under Kenyan law, hence this possibility was ruled out. Onyango is in charge of the Curriculum and Research Services.
According to KICD, kids in primary and secondary schools are considered to be juveniles, and as such, it would be unethical to provide them with information about contraceptives because they do not have the legal competence to make their own decisions regarding sexual consent.
“These are children between the ages of 10 and 17, and according to the constitution of Kenya, such information is inappropriate,” said the Kenyan Institute for Child Development (KICD).
The Kenyan Institute for Child Development (KICD) has maintained that it has made efforts to integrate Kenya-specific sexuality education into the existing curriculum at Kenyan primary and secondary schools.
According to Onyango, “Sex education is actually incorporated into our education system; for example, when they are young, we teach them about the parts of their bodies; when they are in upper primary, we teach them about reproductive health; and as they progress, the lessons become more complex.” “Sex education is actually incorporated into our education system.”
During the COVID-19 lockdown, more than 160,000 young women between the ages of 10 and 19 got pregnant or married, according to a report that was commissioned by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Following the discovery of COVID-19 in the middle of March 2020, educational institutions were ordered to close for nine months. The report made an attempt to determine the repercussions of this decision.
According to the findings of a study conducted in 2017 by the research and policy organisation Guttmacher Institute, more than one-third of Kenyan teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 have already participated in sexual activity.
Roughly one-fifth are sexually active at any given time. In spite of the fact that only four out of ten sexually active, unmarried adolescent females choose to utilise modern contraception, the vast majority of them want to prevent becoming pregnant.
MPs Are Advocating Sex Education as A Subject In Schools
