Knowledge and Attitude of Secondary School Teachers towards Reproductive Health Education in Schools

Abstract

A study was carried out among secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria in 1994 in order to assess their knowledge of reproductive health and their attitude towards the teaching of reproductive health education in schools. Data was collected with the use of a structured questionnaire, administered to the respondents out of the 550 teachers who had been selected through a simple, random sampling technique from 20 randomly selected secondary schools in Ilorin, 496 completed and returned their questionnaire forms. It was found that the teachers had a poor knowledge of fertility, high level of awareness of contraception but poor knowledge of specific methods of contraception. Almost all the teachers (99.2%) were aware of Sexually Transmitted Infections while their knowledge of the mode of transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus seems confused, they had good knowledge of the preventive measures. Most of the teachers (94.6%) agreed that reproductive health education should be taught in schools and that it should form part of the school curriculum. Those with contrary views opined that teaching of reproductive health education in schools would encourage sexual intercourse among the students. If teachers are to serve as agents for reproductive health education in schools, it is suggested that they should undergo further training in the discipline so that they can be effective in teaching the subject.Nigerian Journal of Guidance and Counselling Vol. 6 (1&2) 1998: pp. 67-78