Abstinence-only or comprehensive sex education at Myanmar schools: preferences and knowledge among students, teachers, parents and policy makers

ABSTRACT

Sexuality education in school is important for students’ reproductive health; however, devising ways of tailoring it to the needs of a particular society can be challenging. We compared preferences for type of sexuality education in high schools and the level of knowledge of reproductive health among students, parents and teachers in Myanmar. A cross-sectional study was conducted in public high schools in Pyin Oo Lwin. Students, their parents and teachers were asked their preferences for sexuality education and their reproductive health knowledge. Focus group discussions were held to explore their insights on sexuality education for students. We found that 73% of students preferred comprehensive sex education whereas 62% and 56% of parents and teachers preferred an abstinence only approach, respectively. Reproductive health knowledge was low, particularly among students, and particularly with respect to knowledge of sexually transmitted infections. Cultural issues, training and manpower emerged as key themes from the focus groups. Over half of the students said that they were not receiving any form of sex education at school. Reproductive health knowledge was unsatisfactory among all participants reflecting the insufficiency of current sexuality education classes. Training and support for teachers should be provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Reproductive health
• students
• parents
• teachers
• sexuality education
• myanmar

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability

Data supporting the findings of this study are available from the authors on request.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by a biennial grant from the World Health Organization [Reference SEMMR-1408499] which had no involvement in study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, the writing of the report, or in the decision to submit this paper for publication. The results presented and their interpretation are those of the authors alone.