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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ismat Bhuiya, MSc MPH1, Ubaidur Rob, Ph D1, M. E. Khan, PhD2, and Laila Rahman, MCom3. (1) Population Council, House # CES (B) 21, Road # 118, Gulshan, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh, 880 2 882-3334, ibhuiya@pcdhaka.org, (2) Bangladesh Country Office, Population Council, Asia & Near East Region, House CES (B) 21, Road 118, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (3) Bangladesh Country Office, Population Council, House # CES (B) 21, Road # 118, Gulshan, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
Thirty million adolescents live in Bangladesh. One-third of them attend secondary schools. Majority of adolescents lack information on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and many indulge in risky sexual behavior. Despite that, no initiative has so far been taken to introduce SRH in schools. A project was launched in 2000 in eight urban secondary schools (2356 students) to test the feasibility of introducing SRH in school curriculum. Major challenges were faced in developing an SRH-curriculum that caters to adolescents’ needs, gets societal acceptance including school management committee and ensures teachers’ comfortability in delivering sessions. These challenges, eventually, have been encountered. The curriculum underwent three revisions incorporating feedbacks from students, education-experts and program-personnel given in 30 discussion-sessions. For diluting SRH sensitivity nine general issues got incorporated along with nine SRH topics. Action learning, participation, entertainment and realistic views were built in the curriculum. The adopted methods included: visuals, poems, stories, exercises, brainstorming, quiz, games, riddles, dialogues, plenary and lectures. Impact of the curriculum was measured by group discussions with students and opinion leaders. Students welcomed it (76% attendance) and no objection was raised from opinion leaders. Pre-test and post-test surveys showed major increases in SRH knowledge in the area of human fertilization 56%, RTI 44%, ANC visits 26%, contraceptives 32%, HIV/AIDS 18%. As a result, this program is being replicated in another 45 schools in 2002. Thus, it has been learned that developing and implementing SRH-curriculum is possible provided that it is lively and fine-tuned with vigorous field-tests, and classroom experiences.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants in this session will be able to
Keywords: Curricula, Sexuality
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Population Council
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.