The Youth Harvest Foundation of Ghana has held a one day engagement with religious leaders in the Upper East Regional Capital of Bolgatanga to disseminate research findings on the Comprehensive Sexuality Education and to solicit their views on the adoption and implementation of the CSE.
The platform was also to enable stakeholders explore opportunities for collaboration on the education of adolescents and young adults on sexual and reproductive rights.
Comprehebsive Sexuality Education is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values aimed at helping them in life to be assertive in taking decisions on their sexual rights .The accepted path for doing this is by providing learners with information that is scientifically correct, appropriate to their age and development and sensitive to local cultures as well as legal provisions through education.
To achieve the objectives of the CSE, the government of Ghana attempted introducing the national guidelines for the CSE in 2018 but it was met with public resistance including the National Coalition for Proper human Sexual Rights and Family Values and Religious leaders. The group argued that the CSE guidelines was aimed at introducing adolescents to LGTBQ+. This forced the government to redraw the guideline in 2019.
However with the rise in the cases of teenage pregnancies and high prevalence of HIV Aids among young adults and adolescents, where data from the Ghana Aids Commission reveal that about 5,211 new infections out of 18,128 were young adults between the age of 15-24 in 2020 and separate data from Ghana Health Service also revealing that 2,865 girls between the ages of 10-14, and 107,023 girls between 15-19 got pregnant in 2020, the Youth Foundation Ghana, carried out a study on the perspectives of religious leaders on the Comprehensive Sexuality Education Guidelines.
The research findings reveal among other things that religious leaders acknowledge that adolescents and young adults are sexually active and that teenage pregnancy was on the rise. Also, participants attributed the rise in teenage pregnancy to parental neglect, poverty or irresponsible parenting.
The study also revealed that participants hold different views on the best solution for the social Vice . While some argued for Comprehensive Sexuality Education with moral education, some argued that good parenting moral upbringing provides a better solution to teenage pregnancy.
Reasons for Resistance of CSE
The study according to the YHFG , revealed that most participants did not know what the CSE entails but joined others to resist its implementation because they heard that the policy is not good for their children. Some participants also said they were not consulted on the implementation of such a national policy.
Some of the participants were however okay with the policy but called for brother consultation to allay the fears of Ghanaians that government was imposing foreign culture on their children.
Speaking on the sidelines of the engagement, Rev. James Awuni ,the Chairperson of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Upper Presbytery who was representing the Christian Council, said the engagement was successful because it has exposed them to some of the issues that formed part of the CSE.
” I must say the engagement was fruitful because it is an eye opener to some of the issues put forward by the CSE.”
Mr. Awuni said some of the people were mislead to reject the policy partly because of the the name of the policy which brought misunderstanding to stakeholders.
“It is true that when the issue was brought up, some were mislead and I must say the name actually brought a lot of different understanding for people. Immediately you say Comprehensive Sex Education, even without looking at the content, the question will be that where are we going?”
Mr. Awuni also suggested that the CSE should be integrated into subjects that already contain some aspects of the CSE in the schools like social studies or, the name be relooked at to take away the fear of the public that has been associated with the CSE.
A representative of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council of Ghana, Upper East Region, Rev. Thomas Ayine, added that the young adults and adolescents who are the future of the county need to be taken good care of to become responsible leaders in future. He advised the leadership of the country not to blindly accept and implement foreign culture into the social fiber to the detriment of the norms and culture of societies.
“We should not just allow foreign things to come and destroy our cultural values. Religion has come to supplement somethings that society already had. Previously it was possible for a man and a woman to sleep on the same bed without them engaging in any sexual activity which was a sign of proper parenting.”
To reduce the high prevalence of teenage pregnancy among the adolescents, Rev. Thomas suggested to government to regulate the telecast of movies with obscene content.
“Previously, a matured woman could sleep on the same bed with the opposite sex without them doing anything. I suggest that the media should regulate the telecasting of some movies that are so disgusting because it teaches the children to practice the same thing.”
The religious leaders all expressed their fear on the rice in the cases of teenage pregnancy and its associated challenges for the young adults in Ghana but appealed to government to be mindful of the culture of the societies and the beliefs of the various faith based organisations when implementing the Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
They also called for more collaboration and consultation with the various stakeholders to prevent a repeat of the public resistance that greeted the first attempt to introduce the policy.
By: Simon Agana Blessing/mywordfmonline.com