Inferior quality sex education can lead to a huge societal backlash. Unfortunately, sex education is not given high priority in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic. This neglect has led to devastating rates of HIV transmissions.
The rate of HIV/Aids among teens and young adults continues to escalate, a reality worsened by the rise in teenage pregnancies. This is corroborated by the 2022 Age Specific Fertility Rates in Zimbabwe report, which states that 86.7% of the national conception rate was made up of ages 15–19.
The problem is that current methods of sex education are ineffective in reducing the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), teenage pregnancies and situations of sexual violence. Research reinforces the notion that sexual literacy in Zimbabwe has serious deficiencies.
Evidence Chenjerai mentions in her journal article, “Zimbabwe: Teen Pregnancies Are on the Rise. Is Sex Education Reform the Answer?”, that sex education at the secondary school level is only a topic studied as part of the guidance and counselling curriculum, amid various other courses such as human growth and development.
The issue with this method is that it facilitates dancing around the critical issues of sex and sexuality, leading to learners being under informed, heightening their likelihood of being exposed to STDs and procreation.
Other academics, such as Bhebhe, who addressed the myths connected with sex education within the Ndebele culture, placed the Zimbabwean cultural approach to sex education into perspective.
Social norms factor into students’ lack of access to comprehensive and transparent sexual reproduction education.
They fail to take into consideration safety measures, such as urging those partaking in the games to be screened for STDs and to wear condoms. This is detrimental, as exposure to male sperm for girls can result in fertilisation regardless of whether no penetration occurs; likewise, the seminal fluid secreted by the aroused female may be the carrier of sexually transmitted illnesses such as human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
The main objective of sexual games is to function as an alternative to sex, since premarital sex is not acceptable. As a result, young people without adequate details find it difficult to navigate their sexual experiences and end up struggling in solitude when care could have been offered.
Tragically, the ethnic component of sex education fails to transmit all this information to young people.
Condom and contraception distribution initiatives in schools and higher education institutions were once suggested by supporters of formal sex education.
Unfortunately, the former Zimbabwean primary education minister, Lazarus Dokora, rejected the proposal as he regarded it as compromising the nation’s dignity and culturally amiss, as reported in the January 2015 Herald.
Other initiatives, such as non-profit groups, were launched to fill the void left by the formal education system.
In the 2023 national budget, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube stated that most of the limited funds would be put towards teacher salaries and other educational costs.
Moreover, corruption is a factor in depriving learners of adequate material to access and receive comprehensive sex education.
The gross mishandling of funds by leaders of most educational facilities contributes to these disparities in the quality of sex education. Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe and other LGBT organisations have encountered serious discrimination and legal hurdles.
However, it is critical to recognise that the number of nationals who are part of the LGBTQI society is increasing, and as such, there should be attempts to guarantee that they are catered for in sex education, whether in schools, campaigns or clinics.
Inadequate sex education remains a difficult problem that has plagued both Zimbabwe and South Africa.
As raised by Vhonani Petla, a researcher at the Institute for PanAfrican Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the teenage pregnancy rate has almost doubled in the last four years in South
* Tatenda Kufakwame is an emerging scholar at the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Do you have something on your mind; or want to comment on the big stories of the day? We would love to hear from you. Please send your letters to [email protected].
All letters to be considered for publication, must contain full names, addresses and contact details (not for publication)