Comprehensive Sexuality Education
1. Context and background
Jordan has a population of over 11 million with 34% of the population made up of young people under the age of 15, and 63% of its population under the age of 30. Jordan has made progress in achieving gender parity in education, having achieved equality in literacy rates and enrolment rates for primary and secondary education. Adolescent fertility has decreased since 2010, and in 2020 it was nearly the same as the average rate in peer countries, with 26 of every 1,000 girls aged 15-19 giving birth. In 2018, 10% of girls in Jordan were married before the age of 18 and 1% before the age of 15. The Personal Status Law No. 36 (2010) stipulates that the legal age for marriage is 18. However, a judge may still allow the marriage of minors who are 15 years old or older if there is a ‘general interest’ as defined by the sharia court, but not younger (article 10 (b)).
Physical violence at the hands of a lifetime and/or intimate sexual partner accounted for 18.9% of all women in 2019. The rate of unmet needs for family planning has been stable at between 12% and 15% since 2002. Other significant indicators are: a large percentage of women do not use contraception; the number of young women and men with comprehensive knowledge of HIV has decreased; and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) awareness among Jordan youth, people with disabilities and refugees is limited.
Currently, while some schools deliver lectures on SRH, there is no standardized curriculum on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and no specific teacher training on this is provided. Jordan’s General Framework Curricula mention certain aspects, such as life skills, human rights issues and health issues as cross-cutting subjects; however, school curricula lack educational programmes that cover adolescent health, including SRH.
Some policies, including the Ministry of Education's Education Strategic Plan 2018-2022 and the National Strategy for Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030, and the earlier National Sexual and Reproductive Health/ Family Planning Strategy 2013-2018, propose to incorporate life skills education and citizenship education in all schools as well as to include SRH and gender-based violence (GBV) concepts into the school curricula. The National Strategy for Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 also strives to develop enabling and supportive legislation and policies for integrated SRH services, as well as an enabling environment.
2. Terminology
No formal or consistent terminology or definitions were found.
The term ‘life skills and/or citizenship education’ is used in the Ministry of Education's Education Strategic Plan 2018-2022 and in the National Youth Strategy 2019-2025.
The National Strategy Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 uses the term ‘sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education’.
3. Laws and policies
3.1. Relevant international/regional agreements to which the country is a signatory
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INTERNATIONAL |
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Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Ratification date: 1992 |
Acknowledges the need to guarantee sexuality education free from discrimination and stereotypes, conveying gender equality values. |
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Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Ratification date: 1991 |
Commits to the right to access appropriate health-related information. |
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Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Ratification date: 2008 |
Commits to the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities. |
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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Ratification date: 1975 |
Acknowledges that the right to sexual and reproductive health is an integral part of the right to health. |
3.2. Relevant national laws and policies mandating comprehensive sexuality education
There is currently no legal framework that mandates or proposes the incorporation of school-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). However, some policies promote the integration of education for life, citizenship education, and SRH-related topics into the school curricula, such as the Ministry of Education’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2022, and the National Strategy Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030.
The 1994 Education Law does not address the teaching of sexuality education in schools.
The 2008 Public Health Law No.47 (as amended in 2017) states that the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the responsible ministries, must ensure the health of women and children by providing them with the necessary services. This includes: care for pregnant woman during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum; monitoring the child's growth; and administering vaccinations, in accordance with the necessary reproductive health requirements and other health matters concerning women and children. The law also notes the requirement to provide health services and preventative health services to students in government schools, kindergartens and nurseries.
The National strategy for Human Resource Development 2016-2025 is a national vision that incorporates different sectors of the educational system as well as plans for addressing challenges in the education sector in relation to access, quality, accountability, innovation and mindset. The strategy does not specify the incorporation of CSE into the educational context.
The Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2022 of the Ministry of Education proposes the implementation of life skills education in all schools, along with teacher training on life skills education. The plan includes the incorporation of educational counsellors in initiatives to promote a safe and stimulating school environment that contributes to the improvement in the overall quality of Jordan's education system.
The overarching goal of the National Strategy for Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 from the Higher Population Council is to provide universal access to integrated SRH services and information to achieve the wellbeing of individuals and families in Jordan. The strategy notes the need for stronger programmes, services and awareness programmes on SRH and adolescent and youth health. The Strategy contains four strategic goals across four pillars: i) develop enabling and supportive legislation and policies for integrated SRH services (enabling environment); ii) provide inclusive, integrated, quality SRH information and services for the whole population (individuals) across the kingdom (information and services); establish positive social trends, perceptions and attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health within communities; develop integrated, institutionalized and sustainable SRH information and services within effective sectoral partnerships (sustainability and governance).
The National Strategy for Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 supports SRH education programmes for adolescents and youth within both formal and informal education, and the integration of SRH and gender-based violence (GBV) issues in school curricula and textbooks.
The Communication Strategy for Sexual and Reproductive Health 2022-2024 from the Higher Population Council provides a conceptual framework that enables institutions and individuals to generate, disseminate and share knowledge about sexual and reproductive health in an innovative way using different tools.
3.3. Curricula
Mandatory or optional
There is no formal SRH education curriculum at present.
Model of delivery
There is no specific course dedicated to SRH education at present. Jordan’s General Framework Curricula include a set of ten common issues to be integrated across all academic subjects. (See the following table.)
Comprehensiveness of content
The General Framework Curricula 2020 include the following concepts in each of the ten cross-curricular common issues:
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Common Issues |
Concepts |
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Communication, dialogue, decision-making, innovation, etiquette, traffic awareness, and protocol etiquette. |
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Analysis, reflection and questioning, evidence and proof, critique, prediction, creativity, philosophizing, doubt and hypothesis testing, knowledge production, planning, and emotional intelligence. |
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Sustainable development, environmental balance, natural disasters management, conservation, environmental responsibility, environmental safety, pollution, and relation with the environment. |
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National and world awareness, identity, national unity, Palestinian people’s rights, civil state, gender, diversity, and citizenship. |
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Self-management, participation, flexibility and adjustment, stress management, time management, content and aspiration, continuous learning, and initiation. |
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Homemaking, volunteerism, work change and development, project management, safety and security, professionalism, work value, and productivity. |
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Respect, dignity, justice, responsibility, executing duties, beauty, right, freedom, love, truth, apologizing, and tolerance. |
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Vision and mission, change, change leadership and management, planning for the future, and futuristic planning. |
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World conventions, respecting rights, seeking rights, women’s rights, child rights, and the rule of law. |
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Health awareness, self-protection and vaccination, body protection, periodical testing, avoiding infection, health resources, personal hygiene, and immunity. |
Learning resources
Jordan’s National Strategy for Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 from the Higher Population Council states that SRH- and GBV-related issues are to be integrated into school curricula and textbooks.
3.4. Teachers
According to Jordan’s National Strategy Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education to develop training programmes and materials on SRH, to train health supervisors and coordinators in schools as well as concerned teachers to raise awareness of SRH themes and concepts, and to conduct specialized SRH awareness workshops.
3.5. Schools
No information was found regarding the existence of protocols or regulatory frameworks for providing contraceptive methods to students in schools or for the referral of students to health clinics by school personnel.
The Jordanian National Strategy Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 proposes integrating SRH and GBV into preaching and counselling programmes. Youth centres and organizations working with people with disabilities are encouraged to participate in the promotion and awareness of SRH programmes and information.
4. Governance
4.1 Responsible ministries
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health work in collaboration with international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the integration of sexuality education in school contexts.
4.2. Level of responsibility/decentralization and autonomy
No information was found.
4.3. Government budget allocation
No information was found.
5. Monitoring and reporting
No information was found on the education management information system (EMIS) regarding collecting data on CSE in schools.
Jordan’s National Strategy for Reproductive and Sexual Health 2020-2030 intends to provide a national information system to collect and provide information and indicators for SRH services. A list of the strategy’s indicators has been developed, classifying four types of indicators: input, process, output and outcome indicators. The indicators are linked to goals and assigned base values and targets for the period 2019-2030.
