Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Kenya is a populous country in east Africa with a large economy. The country has a very sizeable youth population, with about three-quarters of Kenyans under the age of 35. The median age is 20 years. Kenya has made progress in lowering the HIV prevalence rate. However, the maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate have remained high. Young people are particularly susceptible to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), particularly women and girls. This is because the age of sexual debut has dropped and rates of adolescent pregnancy remain high. Six out of ten married women use contraception, which is a higher rate than that of non-married women. 

Kenya was the first sub-Saharan country to launch a nationwide family planning programme, which it did in 1967. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum and Development developed an approved syllabus and resources for teaching about HIV in primary schools. The Ministry of Education then mandated the teaching for all primary schools and trained teachers through the Primary School Action for Better Health programme (PSABH). A 2011 study by the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality found that more than half of all Kenyan students lacked knowledge about HIV, according to the benchmark indicator of mastery of at least half of the official school curriculum. In 2014, the Ministry of Education reviewed the curriculum and overhauled it so that it was more relevant and age appropriate and included comprehensive sexuality education (CSE).

The 2013 Education Sector Policy on HIV & AIDS defines comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) as: ‘the provision of accurate information on human sexuality and HIV; provides opportunities to explore values, attitudes and norms regarding sexuality and gender; promotes the acquisition of interpersonal and relationship skills and encourages learners to assume responsibilities for their own sexual behaviours.’ 

The 2022-2032 National Reproductive Health Policy defines Life Skills Education as: ‘Education geared towards character development of individuals to equip them with values, appropriate knowledge on risk-taking behaviours and develop skills such as sexual risk avoidance, communication, assertiveness, self-awareness, decision-making, problem-solving, inter-personal relationships, critical and creative thinking to protect from and respond to abuse and exploitation and to help children to practice abstinence.’

The 2010 Constitution of Kenya bestows on every person the right to education and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. This includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care. The constitution also guarantees equal rights to women. 

The 1980 Education Act (revised in 2012) and the 2013 Basic Education Act is the main legislation governing the education system in Kenya. While both acts refer to health standards that are to protect students, neither discusses sexuality education specifically. 

The 2004 Education Sector Policy on HIV & AIDS was developed to provide a safe environment for HIV prevention, treatment and care for all citizens. The policy requires that all learning institutions develop and implement HIV policies to protect learners, teachers and employees. The 2013 revision of the policy included more goals such as raising the age of sexual debut and meeting the needs of learners living with HIV. Strategies include reviewing the Life Skills Education curriculum and other subjects, to: enhance the provision of age-appropriate CSE; reinforce the capacity to implement, monitor and evaluate CSE; and ensure that HIV education is mainstreamed at all levels including in alternative, adult and continuing education; develop an age-appropriate curriculum on CSE for educators (pre-and in-service) to prepare them for effective mainstreaming of HIV issues into lessons and programmes at all levels; build the capacity of educators to effectively implement this curriculum at all levels; and develop age-appropriate teaching and learning support materials for HIV for use by educators in all learning institutions, including alternative, adult and continuing education. 

The 2005-2010 Kenya Education Sector Support Programme required the inclusion of HIV in the curriculum, as well as training materials for pre- and in-service teachers (PRESET and INSET). The main objectives include the provision of life-skills to students and training teachers on life-skills development. Indicators include increased level of knowledge skills and attitudes towards sex and sexuality, increased levels of abstinence, reduced drop-out due to pregnancy by 60%, and reduced levels of HIV. 

In the 2013-2018 National Education Sector Plan, age-appropriate CSE is included in the curriculum and supported by teacher training materials. Pre-service training is provided in both public and private teacher training colleges. HIV has been incorporated as a cross-cutting issue. Specific objectives include: ‘train two teachers per school on Life Skills Education including sexual and reproductive health and HIV education.’ 

The 2022-2032 National Reproductive Health Policy prioritizes reproductive health educational programmes with an emphasis on marginalized populations. The policy seeks to ‘establish a universal reproductive health literacy framework for the population, which will ensure adequate age-appropriate Reproductive Health information and awareness for all persons including adolescents and young people.’ The Ministry of Education is also responsible for supporting the use of ICT and other innovative approaches in delivering reproductive health information to adolescent and young people in learning institutions.

Teacher preparedness and capacity building: The teaching of sexuality education  is mandated to pre-service and in-service teachers. The Kenyan government adapted the Primary School Action for Better Health (PSABH) model for pre-service teacher training to help teachers deliver the new HIV curriculum in schools. In-service teacher training is provided through a cascade model, where trainers are instructed in government-run teacher training colleges. The trained teachers then replicate the HIV training at their own schools. According to a previous UNESCO study on CSE in teacher training in East and South Africa, Kenya has overhauled its curriculum and created teacher training materials for CSE. In this competency-based curriculum, aspects of sexuality/HIV/health education are integrated into core subjects at both primary and secondary level, and students are examined on it within this context.  

Whether teachers are mandated to be trained on provision/delivery of sexuality education either as part of PRESET or INSET: Under the 2006 HIV Prevention and Control Act, the Ministry of Education is responsible for ensuring that teachers who teach HIV prevention are adequately trained and appropriately qualified to teach the course.