Sexuality Education and Its Implementation: The Views of Students and Teachers of Secondary Schools

The views of students and teachers on school-based sexuality education (SBSE) play a crucial role in the implementation of SBSE. This study assessed students’ and teachers’ attitude towards SBSE and explored issues related to the implementation of SBSE. Data on secondary school students (N = 818, mean age = 15.3 year) and teachers (N= 135, mean age = 35.8 years) were collected via convenience sampling from three secondary schools. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The data revealed that both students and teachers were supportive of SBSE. Teachers considered the sexuality topics included in the education program as important and felt comfortable in teaching the topics. They showed more positive appraisal of sexuality topics than did students, though students also appraised the sexual topics positively and their ratings were related to that of the teachers. Students and teachers believed that SBSE should start as early as in elementary school. Majority of the students expressed no strong preference of mixed gender to single gender classes, but teachers generally preferred classes of single gender. While only around one-fifth of the students considered teachers’ training in SBSE adequate, less than one-tenth of the teachers considered themselves adequately trained to teach sexuality education. Both students and teachers perceived resources for SBSE as insufficient. Students’ and teachers’ attitude and appraisal were conducive to the promotion of SBSE. However, professional training for the teachers should be enhanced and supportive resources be provided for the effective implementation of sexuality education in the secondary schools.