Comprehensive Sexuality Education
1. Context and background
Fiji is an archipelago of more than 300 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The youth in Fiji make up the largest age group in the country, although the population has decreased in recent decades. Fiji is one of the countries in the region with a high rate of rising new HIV infections, which is a cause for concern. Most of the infections are occurring among the youth. The Fiji Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) in 2021 showed that the level of sexual health knowledge is low. Few adolescents are knowledgeable about HIV prevention, and condom use is also generally low, including among people with multiple sexual partners.
Fiji was one of the first countries in the Pacific region to integrate sexuality education into its education system. The first iteration of the Family Life Education programme was introduced in schools in 1985 as a response to growing rates of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The programme was optional at first, with the expectation that it would be made compulsory. The current Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum was introduced in Fiji schools in 2010, and it forms part of the national curriculum framework. The issue of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is rarely discussed in Fiji households as it is regarded as taboo in local iTaukei and Indian (Indo-Fijian) culture and in certain religious contexts.
2. Terminology
Sexuality education in Fiji is taught under the Family Life Education curriculum. No official definition of the term was found.
3. Laws and policies
3.1. Relevant international/regional agreements to which the country is a signatory
|
INTERNATIONAL |
|
|
|
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Ratified in 1995 |
Acknowledges the need to guarantee sexuality education free from discrimination and stereotypes, conveying gender equality values. |
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Ratified in 1993 |
Commits to the right to access appropriate health-related information. |
|
|
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Ratified in 2017 |
Commits to the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities. |
|
|
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Ratified in 2018 |
Acknowledges that the right to sexual and reproductive health is an integral part of the right to health. |
|
|
UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education Not ratified |
Reaffirms that education is a human right. It highlights states' obligations to ensure free and compulsory education, bans any form of discrimination and promotes equality of educational opportunity. |
|
|
The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action Attended the conference |
Calls for sexuality education, counselling and support mechanisms for adolescents, and identifies essential topics. |
|
|
UN General Assembly 2016 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS |
Includes commitments and calls to scale up and/or attention to scientifically accurate age- and culturally appropriate comprehensive sexuality education. |
|
|
Commission on the Status of Women 2016 Resolution on Women, the Girl Child and HIV and AIDS |
Includes commitments to make universally accessible and available quality comprehensive sexual and reproductive health-care services, commodities, information and education. |
|
|
REGIONAL |
|
|
|
The Asia and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development (2013) (Asia Pacific) |
Commits to the design, funding and implementation of ‘comprehensive sexuality education and life skills’ programmes that ‘provide accurate information on human sexuality, gender equality, human rights, relationships, and sexual and reproductive health, while recognizing the role and responsibilities of parents’. |
|
3.2. Relevant national laws and policies mandating comprehensive sexuality education
Fiji’s Constitution of 2013 protects the individual’s right to education, including health-related subjects. The Constitution also protects the right to health and notes that the state must provide access to reproductive health care. It states that discrimination based on ‘race, culture, ethnic or social origin, colour, place of origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, birth, primary language, economic or social or health status, disability, age, religion, conscience, marital status or pregnancy; or opinions or beliefs’ is strictly prohibited. Fiji’s 1978 Education Act does not mention sexuality education topics such as health education or reproductive health.
The 2007 National Curriculum Framework states that education in schools will help students grow into healthy, happy and caring citizens. One of the key learning areas (KLAs) is ‘healthy living and physical education’ where students will ‘engage in learning experiences appropriate to their developmental level that will foster lifelong health related fitness, prevent illness, injuries and disease, and promote healthy relationships.’ This KLA is taught in primary school. At the secondary level, the KLA is further split into two subjects – ‘health’, and ‘family life education, PE,and sport’. Most of the SRH health content is taught in the Family Life Education (FLE) programme.
The Reproductive Health Policy’s fourth strategic area focuses specifically on adolescent health, with the aim of increasing ‘access to and use of youth-friendly services to help them make responsible choices that protect and safeguard their health, with emphasis on the prevention of unplanned early pregnancy, STIs/HIV and sexual abuse.’ The policy calls for taking necessary actions and providing the necessary resources to deliver gender-responsive and life-skills based education programmes, counselling services, and youth-friendly services, in a comprehensive and integrated way. Strategic area 1 promotes the development of a formal youth-friendly adolescent sexual reproductive health (ASRH) educational programme, which offers school-based and teacher-facilitated information for different age groups, to be delivered through a gender-sensitive and life-skills based approach. This would be followed by the development and revision of the Family Life Education programme to be implemented in all schools, as well as the development of materials, training of teachers, and the development of a monitoring and evaluation system. In the objectives, the Ministry of Health advocates for the integration of Family Life Education in the curriculum and for there to be a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education regarding the implementation of Family Life Education.
Fiji’s 2016 National School Health Policy states that ‘the Senior Education Officer Health and Senior Education Officer Family Life shall collaborate with the Ministry of Health while reviewing the existing school “Healthy Living and Family Life” syllabi’.
A Family Life Education Policy was referenced in news articles, research papers, and research briefs. According to the literature, the policy aims to: direct the curriculum development unit to develop and oversee the implementation in the schools; mandate the curriculum to be taught in all schools; and deliver education on SRH, family life and relationships, STIs and HIV prevention, responsible parenthood, and gender-based violence. The policy draft was mentioned in the Ministry of Education’s Annual Report in 2010.
The Republic of Fiji Ministry of Health’s National Strategic Action Plan on HIV and STIs 2016-2020 seeks to ‘strengthen partnerships with the Ministry of Education to support implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)’ and calls for the ‘strengthening of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in primary and secondary schools.’
3.3. Curricula
Mandatory or optional
Family Life Education is mandatory according to the Family Life Education Policy. In February 2024, the United Nations Population Fund Pacific and the Ministry of Education of Fiji signed an Implementing Partner Agreement under UNFPA Pacific’s Multi-Country Programme (2023-2027) that enabled it to formalize its assistance in rolling out the programme to all Year 4 to 12 students.
Model of delivery
Some contents of sexuality education are introduced to primary school students under the subject of family health. However, most SRH education content is taught at the secondary school level under Family Life Education, which is a standalone subject.
Comprehensiveness of content
The FLE programmes can provide students with opportunities to learn and practice ‘life skills’ such as communications, relationship, negotiation, critical thinking, decision-making, and other dimensions. According to the Family Life Education curriculum guidelines, students learn about the different sexual and reproductive body parts and their functions. They also learn about the reproductive cycle, including pregnancy and childbirth. Other topics include: the use of contraception and family planning methods; the prevention of STIs (including HIV); how to practise safer sex; how to navigate relationships and emotions; how to manage peer pressure; how to make informed decisions about sex; and the relationship between sexuality and gender. According to the UNFPA Pacific director, “Life skills that young children in Fiji learn through FLE will help them cope with some key issues that they may encounter, and avoid bullying, violence, psychosocial distress, substance abuse, and unintended pregnancy so that they can stay in school.”
Learning resources
A guidebook for teaching Family Life Education at the secondary school level is provided by the Ministry of Education. According to the Ministry of Education’s Annual Report in 2010, a textbook for Family Life Education was drafted. Other organizations such as the Reproductive and Family Health Association of Fiji (RFHAF) have also created materials to teach sexuality education. However, they are not mandated at schools. No other materials could be found.
3.4. Teachers
Teacher preparedness and capacity building: In the 2007 National Curriculum Framework, teachers are guided in the different phases of development that students go through, covering the ages 0–18+ years. This includes information on puberty and sexual maturation. No further information could be found regarding teacher preparedness outside of individual studies.
Whether teachers are mandated to be trained on provision/delivery of sexuality education either as part of PRESET or INSET: Under the first strategic area of the adolescent health section in the Reproductive Health Policy, the government planned to incorporate family life education into PRESET in teacher training institutions and provide ongoing capacity building/training for teachers of Family Life Education.
Teachers are not mandated to be trained on delivering the Family Life Education programme in either PRESET or INSET. There is no provision made for special teacher training in family life education. A 2015 UNESCO study stated that the Fiji Minstry of Education had planned to initiate a teacher training programme in Family Life Education at the Fiji National University (FNU); however, no further information was found.
3.5. Schools
Access to school-based health services, including SRH: No information was found.
4. Governance
4.1 Responsible ministries
The Reproductive Health Policy calls for the creation of a MoU between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to provide Family Life Education training for teachers. According to the School Health Policy, the Ministry of Health is an integral partner to the Ministry of Education in the development of the school curriculum that refers to students’ health and wellbeing.
The Reproductive and Family Health Association of Fiji (RFHAF) also supports the implementation of sexuality education in the country.
4.2. Level of responsibility/decentralization and autonomy
Teachers and schools have autonomy regarding the implementation of Family Life Education. For example, a Muslim school may offer classes that are separated by gender.
4.3. Government budget allocation
The Reproductive Health Policy budgets for the development of Family Life Education training modules for teachers and for the conducting of teacher training. The 2016-2020 National Strategic Action Plan on HIV and STIs budgets for the review of life skills education.
5. Monitoring and reporting
The Reproductive Health Policy states that monitoring and evaluation should be conducted by the Ministry of Health. According to the Ministry of Education’s Annual Report in 2010, schools were visited to monitor and evaluate the Family Life Education programme. The Schools Standard Monitoring and Inspection Policy indicates whether a school implements family life education or not.
