CULTURAL AND SOCIAL BARRIERS LIMITATIONS IN ACCESS TO COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION LIMITATIONS IN ACCESSING SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUTH International Comparisons Know the Facts What is UNFPA Doing?
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LIMITATIONS IN ACCESS TO COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION
Young people receive a range of conflicting and confusing messages about sexuality on a daily basis. A thorough and high quality curriculum-based sexuality education programme can help all children and young people navigate these messages and develop positive norms about themselves, about relationships and about their health as well as responsible citizenship.
In Sri Lanka, young people generally obtain sex education from the school education programme and their peers. The issues include:
  • The current school curriculum takes a biological approach when teaching about young people’s sexual needs, sexuality and reproductive health.
  • The school curriculum is inadequate in equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and values to make responsible choices about their sexual and social relationships.
  • The training given to teachers also takes a very theoretical approach on adolescent sexual reproductive health.
  • Teachers lack skills to address the real life issues that young people encounter in their sexual and reproductive health.
  • The idea of educating adolescents on sexuality and matters related to sexual issues is not easily acceptable to parents, schools and society at large.
  • Young people are often found to turn to their peers, tabloid newspapers, magazine or the internet for information of sexual reproductive health. These resources fail to provide accurate information.
Young People’s Knowledge
on Sexual Reproductive Health
  • A national study on adolescent sexual and reproductive health revealed that 10-14 year old adolescents had poor knowledge of the physical changes of puberty
  • A 2004 UNICEF study indicated that 38.2% in the 15-19 year age group were able to spontaneously name at least two modern methods of contraception
  • School going adolescents have a poor knowledge of contraceptives, the best known methods being condom (28.9%) and pill (24.2%)
What needs to be done?
  • Advocacy with policymakers to provide young people with comprehensive and good quality education on sexuality and reproductive health in schools and universities that enable young people to take on life’s challenges.
  • Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and life planning skills need to be incorporated into young people’s non-formal education and vocational training.
  • Accessibility of out-of-school youth to sexual reproductive health information needs to be ensured.
  • With increasing penetration of information communication technology among young people across the country and across social strata, more innovative ways need to be used in communicating about sexual reproductive health.