Sex education should start at Pre-School level – Director of Nursing

Parents have been tasked to start teaching their wards basic issues relating to sex education at the pre-school level.

According to Madam Rejoice Nutakor, Head of Department of Community Health Nursing at Wisconsin International University College in Accra said it was proper for parents to continue to build on sexual education as their children grew, so that they could make informed choices.

Madam Nutakor was speaking at a day’s meeting to quick start a project dubbed; “Empowering Adolescent Girls through improved Access to comprehensive Sexuality Education and Rights Based Quality Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Ghana.”

The project, which would be embarked by Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), a non-governmental organization with support from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), seeks to empower adolescent girls between the ages of Nine to 19 years who are out of school within the Accra Metropolis, Komenda-Edna- Eguafo- Abrem (KEEA) and Nzema East Municipalities.

The project is expected to provide these girls with comprehensive education and information on their sexuality and gender based related issues. Additionally, under the project, girls are expected to be linked up with health providers at Adolescent friendly health centres in the country.

Madam Nutakor said the increase in teenage pregnancies in the country was essential that adolescents were given the right information on their sexuality.

She said parents who may find difficulties discussing issues of sexuality with their wards should refer them to health centres where they could obtain information on the changes they might go through. According to Madam Nutakor, adolescents should be discouraged from watching and feeding their minds on pornographic materials.

“We need to arm our adolescents’ with information on self-care, livelihood and leadership so that whenever they are faced with challenges in life they could over them,” she added.

Madam Nutakor noted that availability of sexual education reduced misinformation and improves perception about peer norms.

“Ghana’s guidelines on sexuality education for young people are truly comprehensive. It is important to help young people to know, own and live to it in order to contribute to achieving SDG’s by the year 2030.

Madam Vicky Okine, Executive Director of ARHR, said young people needed to get information on their sexuality and referral centres that will empower them with adequate information.

According to Madam Okine, often times adolescent girls got pregnant before they got access to sexual education, adding that girls needed to know the implications of reproductive health issues, so that they could make informed choices.

Nii Ankonu Annorbah-Sarpei, Programmes Manager, ARHR, said under the project over 20,000 girls would be armed with gender responsive topics relating to abortion and Sexual Reproductive health issues.

According to Nii Annorbah-Sarpei over 300 girls with disabilities would also be trained and provided with adequate information on legal literacy.

As part of ARHR’s strategies, Nii Annorbah- Sarpei, said Adolescent Health Fairs including sports and entertainment events would be held in communities to attract girls who would be educated on their Sexual Reproductive Health Rights.