Challenge 3
Teachers often do not have the time or the interest in delivering your program
Teachers are often busy enough with their mandated curriculum and may not see SRH information as important or relevant to what they teach. Equally, many teachers do not feel comfortable talking about sex and sexuality with their students. Some may even find it immoral.
Strategy
If teachers are unable or unwilling to execute the activities required due to competing demands on their time or resistance to talking about sex, try and find ways to integrate the program activities into existing systems and lessons to increase the likelihood that activities will be delivered and contribute to the sustainability of the intervention. Opportunities for mainstreaming can be found by working with school administrators, health workers, teachers and parents to design curricula that teachers are equipped and comfortable to teach or bring outside educators into schools to deliver this information.
Other actions that you can take to obtain more teach engagement include:
- Lobbying with the Ministry of Education and partnering with education institutions to develop training of trainers on how to teach SRH.
- Setting up an inter-ministerial committee where all relevant parties discuss how best to incorporate SRH in the school curriculum.
- Engaging teachers from the beginning when you are designing your program.