Decision to stop CSE commendable
We salute President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for assuring Ghanaians that he would never allow comprehensive sexuality education to be introduced into the Ghanaian school curriculum. This write-up aims at discussing some pragmatic measures that can be taken to prevent our present and future leaders from introducing or accepting comprehensive sexuality education in Ghana.
What is comprehensive sexuality education?
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The importance of educating our children cannot be overemphasised. It is highly crucial to instil or inculcate sex education into children at a tender age, and not introducing comprehensive sexuality education into schools’ curricula.
What is the difference between sex education and comprehensive sexuality education? The major difference is that comprehensive sexuality education promotes sexual promiscuity or perversions while sex education encourages or teaches decent education in sex, particularly teaching children abstinence and not teaching children how to practise safe sex. Can the two terms be used interchangeably? The answer is an emphatic NO.
According to Sarah C. Keogh, Melissa Stillman, Ellie Leong, Kofi Awusabo-Asare, Estelle Sidze, Ana Silvia Monzón and Angelica Motta (2019), in their work, “Measuring the quality of sexuality education implementation at the school level in low- and middle-income countries”, “Ghana scores very high on the use of effective teaching methods for CSE, particularly interactive activities and the inclusion of graded written assignments.”
Can we refute that CSE is not in Ghana? Can the Ministry of Education or the Ghana Education Service refute the assertion of Keogh et al (2019)?
What are some of the pragmatic measures that can be taken to prevent the possible introduction of comprehensive sexuality education in Ghana?
In the first place, as Ghanaians, we have to become educationally and financially independent as a nation devoid of foreign influence and intervention. Without becoming educationally and financially independent, the introduction of Comprehensive Sexuality Education into Ghanaian schools’ curricula will be imminent and inevitable. This is because a beggar has no choice. Once we continue depending on tied loans, tied aid and embracing foreign curricula as a nation, Ghana will be compelled to adhere to the directives of foreign donors/colonial masters, hence making our independence meaningless.
Also, considering the rampant rape cases and even people indulging in unsafe sex, particularly practising homosexuality and lesbianism clandestinely in Ghana, it would be highly necessary to intensify sex education in schools without pursuing and embracing the content of comprehensive sexuality education which is at variance with our culture as Ghanaians. In other words, the intensification of sex education in schools is important and not the introduction of comprehensive sexuality education in Ghana.
English Language
Let us all study the new English Language curriculum for P4 to P6 and the work of Panchaud et al (2018), “Towards comprehensive sexuality education: a comparative analysis of the policy environment surrounding school-based sexuality education in Ghana, Peru, Kenya and Guatemala” which is available online to deduce the impending introduction of comprehensive sexuality education into the school curricula without making statements out of context.
In short, even though the confession/assurance of the President of the Republic seems to be positive and promising that he would never accept and endorse the introduction of comprehensive sexuality education into the schools’ curricula, it may not be out of place if a long time or timeless bill is passed by Parliament to prevent the possible introduction of comprehensive sexuality education and same-sex marriage in Ghana.
Last but not least, if it is possible, representatives from all religious bodies in Ghana must be involved in any curriculum development in Ghana. This is because it is an irrefutable fact that there are competent and well-qualified educated people in all religious organisations who can contribute immensely and effectively to curricula development from pre-tertiary to tertiary levels.
May the Lord deliver us and our children’s children from Comprehensive Sexuality Education!
The writer is a lecturer at the Ghana Technology University College