Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Southern Africa that shares borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. It has an estimated population of 15.5 million and a young age structure, with 41% of the population under the age of 15, and 67% of the population under the age of 25. Zimbabwe has made significant strides in education since it gained independence in 1980. The government has maintained that education is a fundamental human right and is committed to providing quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all. Primary education is almost universal. However, equitable access remains an issue.  

The National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), 2021-2025’s situational analysis for education highlights the challenges besetting the education sector. These challenges include transition to secondary school, disadvantaged girls and boys not accessing school (especially in rural and remote areas, and disabled pupils), under-resourced schools, dropouts (especially due to lack of fees, early marriage, and pregnancy), and the training needs of teachers. These challenges are manifesting at a time when adolescents and young people are facing a multiplicity of health and education challenges, such as high rates of unintended pregnancies, maternal morbidity and mortality, early marriage, sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), and new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. With youth making up about 40% of the population, figures show that 30% of girls aged 15-19 have begun childbearing, while 7% of boys and 14% of girls aged 13-17 years have used drugs 123. Since 2010, the adolescent birth rate has decreased; however, adolescent fertility remains higher than the global average and the country has one of the highest prevalences of child marriages in the region. 

Zimbabwe is one of the pioneers of the education sector’s response to HIV. In 1992, the then Ministry of Education, Sports, and Culture (MoESC) introduced the HIV and AIDS and Life Skills Programme (also referred to as the AIDS Action Programme for Schools). Having noted that the name and content of the ‘AIDS Action Programme’ did not encompass the element of HIV and life skills, the ministry adjusted the programme and changed the name to Guidance and Counselling, HIV and AIDS, and Life Skills Education. In 1993, to strengthen HIV prevention efforts, the MoESC issued a circular (Chief Education Officer Circular Minute No 16 of 1993), making HIV and AIDS education mandatory to all students from Grade 4 (9–10 year-olds) upwards.  

The 1999 Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training (known as the CIET report), recommended that schools provide appropriate guidance and counselling to all learners. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) developed and implemented its first Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS Education Strategic Plan for the period 2012-2015; through the coordination of the National AIDS Council (NAC) to provide guidance to schools in the provision of education in life skills, sexuality, and HIV. This was followed by a successor strategy, the School-Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme Strategic Plan 2022-2025, which seeks to address the shortcomings of the earlier plan by focusing mainly on practical implementation modalities for an effective ‘School Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme’.  

In 2015, a new competency-based curriculum framework was developed and finalized, and its phased implementation began in 2017. The Curriculum Framework 2015-2022 introduced the Life Skills Orientation Programme. Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is often referred to as Guidance, Counselling, and Life Skills Education (G&C-LSE), a standalone learning area from infant level (ECD A) through Form 6, and as a cross-cutting issue integrated into the education system as stated in the Curriculum Framework 2015-2022.

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in Zimbabwe is commonly referred to as ‘Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV & AIDS Education’ (2012-2015) or ‘Guidance, Counselling and Life Skills Education’ (currently). The term Health and Life Skills Education has also been proposed, though it has not been officially endorsed.  

The National Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Strategy II 2016-2020 under the Ministry of Health and Child Care defines ‘Age-Appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education’ as ‘an age-appropriate, culturally relevant approach to teaching about sexuality and relationships by providing scientifically accurate, realistic and non-judgmental information. Sexuality education provides opportunities to explore one’s own values and attitudes as well as building decision-making communication and risk reduction skills about many aspects of sexuality’. The strategy identifies school-based interventions, ‘Support implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (including drug and substance abuse among adolescents) for in and out of school youths’. 

The School-Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme Strategic Plan 2022-2025 defines ‘Life skills’ as ‘abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enables individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life’ (WHO, 1993).

Zimbabwe has a range of policies and guiding frameworks promoting the delivery of CSE in schools. These include: Zimbabwe's Constitution (2013); the 1987 Education Act, as revised in 2020; the2018 Public Health Act; the 2018 Zimbabwe School Health Policy (ZSHP); the 1999 Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training; the Education Sector Strategic Plan 2021-2025; the National Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Strategy II 2016-2020; the School-Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme Strategic Plan 2022-2025; and the Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education 2015-2022. 

Zimbabwe's Constitution (2013) mandates that the state ensures that girls are afforded the same opportunities as boys to obtain education at all levels. Chapter 4, Section 75, states that every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has the right to a basic state-funded education, including adult basic education. 

The 1987 Education Act, as revised in 2020, establishes the need to determine national curricula and safeguard health in schools. However, no mention of health education in the curricula is made. The 2020 Education Act amendments include the state’s responsibility to ensure the provision of sanitary products and other menstrual health facilities to girls in schools to promote menstrual health. This is in keeping with the principle that no student is to be excluded from school for non-payment of school fees or based on pregnancy and reflects the policy that every child shall be entitled to compulsory basic state-funded education. In fact, any parent who deprives their child of the right to basic state-funded education is to be found guilty of an offence. Moreover, the responsible authority of every school has to draw up a disciplinary policy for the school which prohibits any treatment that: i) does not respect the human dignity of a student; or ii) amounts to physical or psychological torture, or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Under no circumstance is a teacher allowed to beat a child. It also provides for regulations on the appointment of SRH personnel in schools to support health in schools and for the minister to make regulations providing for the management of sexual abuse cases in schools. However, there is no law in Zimbabwe that focuses solely on sexuality education or CSE. 

The 1999 Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training notes that guidance and counselling should be provided at all levels of the education system in schools. In 2005, the Director Circular Minute Number 23 sought to strengthen and institutionalize guidance and counselling in all schools. This circular provides background information and policy implementation guidelines toward the institutionalization of guidance and counselling from early childhood education up to secondary school.

The National Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Strategy II 2016-2020 aims to promote the SRH of adolescents and young people in Zimbabwe. It aims to improve the life skills of adolescents and youth, increase their understanding of sexual health and HIV, and support the ‘implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (including drug and substance abuse among adolescents) programme and in and out of school youths’, as one of the key strategies or interventions.

The 2018 Public Health Act confers on the state the responsibility to take preventative measures which include education and public awareness programmes against the spread of diseases. 

The 2018 Zimbabwe School Health Policy (ZSHP) includes components on skills-based health education, psychosocial support services, safe and sanitary school learning environment, disaster management and risk assessment, school-based health and nutrition services, family and community health services, children with special needs and health promotion for school staff.

The Education Sector Strategic Plan 2021-2025 calls for the strengthening and support of the 2018 School Health Policy. Its strategic lines of action include: implementing a comprehensive school health and safety programme; integrating school health and safety themes, such as road safety, online safety, anti-bullying, mental health and wellbeing into curricula for ECD to Form 6; and strengthening the menstrual health and hygiene programme for girls.

The National Health Strategy 2021-2025 aims to institutionalize health promotion, disease prevention, and emergency preparedness in other sectors and proposes to engage the education sector to review and update policies and curricula in primary and secondary education as one of its strategic interventions. In addition, it intends to integrate health promotion, the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and reproductive health into the curriculum.

The Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS Education Strategic Plan for the period 2012-2015 was developed to provide guidance to schools on the provision of education ion life skills, sexuality and HIV. After the expiry of the 2012– 2015 Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS Education Strategic Plan, a successor results-based strategy was needed to address gaps noted in its predecessor to provide sufficient guidance to schools in these key areas. The School-Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme Strategic Plan 2022-2025 thus aims to address gaps identified in the implementation of the 2012-2015 strategy through six strategic pillars, which include building teachers’ capabilities and incorporating supervision, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

The Zimbabwe National Family Strategy 2022-2026 has been developed to guide the country in the provision of integrated high-quality family planning, adolescent SRH, and HIV-related services from 2022–2026, as well as resource mobilization for effective programme implementation.

CSE content is taught through Guidance, Counselling, and Life Skills Education as a standalone mandatory learning area from primary level (ECD A through to Grade 7) and secondary level (forms 1 – 6). However, the CSE curriculum overlaps with other subjects, including: family, religion, and moral education; heritage studies; social studies; visual and performing arts; physical education; languages; mathematics; science; geography; home economics; ICT, science and technology; agriculture; and sports. For infant-level learners (ECD A to Grade 2) CSE is integrated into different subject areas, including visual and performing arts, physical education, mass displays, language, mathematics, science, social studies and ICT.  

CSE is also being implemented for out-of-school young people through the 2018 Manual Community with the Comprehensive Sexuality Education for out-of-school young people in Zimbabwe.

The Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education 2015-2022 mandates the integration of various SRH issues such as sexuality and HIV, as well as other topics, such as heritage studies, disaster risk management, enterprise skills, and others across the education system.  

Guidance, Counselling, and Life Skills Education topics include relationships; gender; gender-based violence (GBV); human growth and development; health and wellbeing; child rights and responsibilities; educational and career guidance; citizenship; and safety and protection. 

The Objectives of the Guidance and Counselling – Life-Skills Orientation Programme: 

• Exhibit Unhu/Ubuntu/Vumunhu, which will help learners to interact meaningfully with others in society; 

• Apply the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to manage their environment; 

• Familiarize themselves with the world of work through work-related learning that leads to appropriate career choices; 

• Develop critical thinking, individual initiative, interpersonal, enquiring and problem-solving skills; 

• Develop an awareness of children’s rights and their responsibilities; 

• Practise health habits that will prepare them for responsible family, community, national, regional and global life; 

• Demonstrate patriotism, volunteerism and the celebration of human diversity.

Unhu/Ubuntu: This is the Pan African philosophy of humanism, which nurtures respect for human dignity and promotes values such as empathy, honesty, fairness, good neighbourliness and hard work, among other virtues.

The Guidance and Counselling syllabus for forms 1-4 comprises six topics: Unhu/Ubuntu/Vumunhu (norms and values); relationships; health, including sexuality and HIV; human growth and development; child protection; and career guidance. The Guidance and Counselling syllabus for forms 5 and 6 is based on the philosophy of Unhu/Ubuntu/Vumunhu, which encompasses moral development, norms, values and beliefs. The syllabus covers topics such as the concepts and principles of guidance and counselling, child protection, health, enterprise, and career guidance.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has developed material for the Guidance, Counselling, and Life Skills Education subject, including the syllabuses, a teacher manual and a learners module to guide the teaching and learning process. 

The 2017 Teacher's Guide on Guidance and Counselling for Secondary School (forms 1–6) provides guidance for teachers. The guide is divided into two parts. Part A of the guide focuses on the critical documents that the teacher must have during the course of curriculum delivery for Guidance and Counselling. Part B of the guide focuses on the curriculum delivery itself, including the objectives, methodology, instructional materials, class management, and assessment. 

Also, the Strengthening Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS Education: Teacher's Manual for Infant and Primary Education (2018) provides guidance for teachers in the delivery of Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS education for the infant and primary levels.

The Health and Life Skills Education module is compulsory in all teacher education colleges. The ministry has a standard four-day programme for training teachers on guidance and counselling. Trained facilitators from the ministry and development partners train teachers during school holidays. 

The School-Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 incorporates teacher training as one of the strategic pillars of the Strategy. The Strategy aims to provide capacity building to teachers on school health programming, guidance and counselling. This includes the strengthening of the HIV response and disaster-risk reduction (DRR) preparedness.

The 1987 Education Act, as amended in 2020, states that regulations may be provided for the appointment of SRH personnel in schools to safeguard health in schools.  

The National Youth Policy of Zimbabwe highlights the need for the provision of health services within the context of youth development. It provides for the establishment of youth-friendly health services, including reproductive health and youth counselling services and life-skills teaching and education in every district.  

Zimbabwe has ratified most international and regional child rights instruments and has an enabling national policy framework in relation to SRH. However, the 2018 Public Health Act restricts children under the age of consent from accessing SRH rights services such as contraceptives and emergency family planning pills.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is responsible for incorporating CSE into the national curriculum and is also the administrator of the School-Based Guidance and Counselling Support Programme: Life Skills, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS Strategy (2018-2022). 

The Ministry of Health and Children is responsible for SRH policies and initiatives, such as school health.  

The coordination of the Strategy of School-Based Life Skills, Empowerment and Support Programme is the responsibility of the National Coordination Committee. The National Coordination Committee is responsible for: the development of implementation and coordination guidelines; monitoring implementation; and mainstreaming Guidance and Counselling – Life Skills Orientation Programme into the curriculum. It is also responsible for keeping communication channels open for ongoing feedback and providing feedback to higher management levels and generating reports to relevant constituencies.