Caregivers' awareness of and support for sexuality education and life orientation in Secondary Schools in Durban, South Africa

Abstract

The study focuses on caregivers' support for their children's assimilation, practice and reinforcement of sexuality education taught in their schools.It is hoped that caregiver support will assist in reducing high rates of HIV and teenage pregnancy in KwaZulu-Natal, a province in South Africa. Focus group discussions which were semi-structured were conducted with six caregivers per four schools of different poverty quintiles in KwaZulu-Natal. This qualitative data was analysed by using Thematic Content Analysis.Caregivers selected were representative of the different socio-economic statuses categorised as Poverty Quintile two to five in the Umlazi district of KwaZulu-Natal. The study's results are that caregivers are generally unaware of sexuality education being offered in schools nor the Life Orientation curriculum. Should caregivers be made aware of the sexuality education and the Life Orientation curriculum, they would attach more importance to it and more likely to support it. It is recommended that awareness for sexuality education and Life Orientation for caregivers be created by the schools via communication such as meetings and letters. In marginalised communities, more resources should be provided to schools to increase their ability to communicate with the caregivers of learners, to increase awareness of sexuality education and LO.

Keywords: Adolescent Health; Caregivers; Health Communication; Health Education; Health Promotion; HIV/AIDS