Challenges in implementation
Participants, particularly teachers identified some challenges regarding
training needs, time constraints and hesitancy in talking to all
students together about pregnancy and menstruation.
The teachers included in the study varied by background and were not
necessarily science teachers. A one-day training was arranged for all
teachers, and some felt that the training duration should have been
increased, whilst others expressed that, more details should have been
included for teachers in the training manual.
A few teachers (both male and female) were hesitant to discuss
menstruation and pregnancy-related session to all boys and girls
together and felt that the students were not interested in the topics or
were more suitable for older students. As one teacher mentioned,
“…We called the 7th grade girls separately and told them
about changes in body during puberty” (Teacher, IDI). On the
contrary, several teachers and students expressed that it was the topic
which was most interesting.
Although all teachers expressed interest in continuing the sessions,
lack of time was also consistently mentioned as a barrier. To overcome
this and ensure sustainability, teachers suggested incorporating these
topics as part of the primary and secondary school curriculum:
“Instead of keeping it as a separate subject, if it is
incorporated in our subject textbooks, it will be better…if this
happens, the basics will be covered in the primary school and as the
child goes into higher classes, it will be taught more and more in
depth.” (Teacher, IDI)
Other suggestions included incorporating more activities, such as drama,
plays, and videos to stimulate learning and using these methods to teach
other topics.