The HIV and AIDS epidemic remains a major health concern among the Namibian population despite interventions to mitigate it. The creation of awareness about the epidemic through school curricula is one of the government’s interventions. However, the provision of Sexuality, HIV and AIDS education in schools today is based on adult ideas of what they feel is right for young people to learn. This leave learners vulnerable and inadequately supported regarding possible questions they may have in this context. With vast amount and variety of conflicting information available to young people regarding their sexuality; and how their sexuality can and should be expressed, some of this information leads them to engage in risky behaviours that exposes them to HIV infection. Hence the need to involve young people in the development of the curriculum, to meet their educational needs in context of sexuality, HIV and AIDS. In this study, evidence for including learners in the construction of educational content regarding sexuality education is sought. This qualitative study used a phenomenological research design, interpretive paradigm and a participatory arts-based research methodology. Drawings, Vignettes (Agony Aunt) and follow-up focus group discussions were used to generate data with junior and senior learners, aged 15-24, from two secondary schools situated in the Oshikoto region of Namibia. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory underpinned and decipher the findings of this study. The findings revealed that the school curriculum has informed learners on Sexuality, HIV and AIDS matters. The data generated about what they want to learn revealed that there is a need for more information on matters of sexuality, HIV and AIDS, which are not provided by the current education system. The data also revealed that the information that young people are exposed to is mostly associated with myths and misconceptions. This study thus recommends that a more comprehensive sexuality education, which takes into account learners’ needs, be provided in order for them to be guided appropriately on issues concerning their sexuality in the context of HIV and AIDS, so that we can move towards as HIV free world.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:27182 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Uugwanga, Iyaloo Tulonga |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Education |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MEd |
| Format | xi, 232 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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