By Yunus S Saliu
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) has kicked-start its dissemination program on Comprehensive Health Education (CHE) on Friday and Saturday at St Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, Banjul and Nusrat Senior Secondary School in Greater Banjul Area respectively.
The comprehensive health education (CHE) under the project – Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education in The Gambia is an implementation research project done by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) with funding from International Development Research Center (IDRC). And it is meant to enlighten and educate in and out-of-school students on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH).
43 schools will benefit from the dissemination process of the comprehensive health education research findings. Prior the ongoing CHE dissemination research findings exercise, the Curriculum Research, Evolution and Development Directorate (CREDD) of MoBSE with the project’s investigator team had given first hand information about the findings to different relevant stakeholders which included National Assembly Members, Mayors, school principals/teachers, counselors, communities and religious leaders, youths, representative from different CSOs among others.
Addressing students and their teachers, Mrs Phebian Ina Grant-Sagnia, principal investigator of the project for Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education for in-and-out of School Adolescents in Region I, The Gambia who is also a Principal Health Researcher Ministry of Health gave a comprehensive knowledge of CHE.
Among other importance of the dissemination program, she said it is to engage students and teachers on some key findings from the research and as well the recommendations made during meetings with different stakeholders.
More so, the recommendations would channel the next stage of the implementation of the ASRH project.
The principal investigator, during her lectures in both schools touched different sexual and reproductive health issues.
Sessions were very interactive as opportunities were given to students to ask some rudiment questions about their reproductive health issues.
Marie Therese of St Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, one of the prefects, said it is an interactive exercise which has given them insightful knowledge about the reproductive health matters.
She said the exercise gave them knowledge of some health issues which their parents never discuss with them at home. “Some parents considered it wrong culturally to discuss reproductive issues with children at home,” she stated.
“The speaker (principal investigator) has made it known to us something that we need to know about our bodies such as treatable and non-treatable sexual transmitted infections, age of puberty, our rights, gender based violence and so on as a young girl or lady.”
On her own, Precious M Camara, also a student applauded the MoBSE and team. “She had outlined some reasons why people (parents or elders) don’t talk/discuss reproductive health issues with us (children) and this includes culture, shyness, lacks of knowledge, so these had made them think it is abomination to discuss it with us (children)”
Students of these schools applauded the initiative and approach of the presenter (Principal investigator) as they want more of the sessions across schools in the Gambia.
In her opinion, Mrs A Anyanwu, an economic teacher said students were elated about the session “because they are having one or more reproductive health issues but cannot open up to discuss it freely. But with this type of forum they have realized that they should not be hiding their health problems, because it is all about their bodies.”
She said it is obvious that some of them are sexually active and to protect them and their career they need more enlightens on adolescent sexual and reproductive health which comprehensive health education can address.
Mrs A Touray, French teacher described CHE as a good platform considering the fact that most of the students are very shy “but having this type of exercise they will be able to learn a lot, by very vigilant, careful and self-conscious.”
Taking into consideration the questions the students were asking, she said it is obvious that they will have second thought of what they are doing.
She encouraged MoBSE and team to include it in not just only secondary school curriculum but even at the “tertiary education level while access should not be limited to Greater Banjul Area alone.”