Sexuality Education in Schools: The International Experience and Implications for Nigeria

摘要

Nigeria is in the early stages of carrying out its new national policy on sexuality and reproductive health education. Worldwide, school-based programs are an important element of efforts to improve the reproductive health of young people. This paper reviews the international experience and its implications for Nigeria. The main findings are as follows: (1) Comprehensive sexuality education is effective in improving key youth reproductive health (YRH) behaviors. (2) Virtually everywhere, sexuality education is controversial and difficult to carry out on a national scale, especially while trying to maintain the quality of that education. (3) Despite these problems, even conservative countries have made headway in incorporating high quality sexuality education in the schools. (4) Programs, to be effective, must do it right. It will be important to implement a sound curriculum and adequately train and support teachers and students. and (5) The challenges to implementation vary from country to country and even within countries. Local adaptation to culture, language, religion, and so forthis often necessary.