Teachers’ Perception of Sex Education in Primary Schools

Abstract

With a declining average age of reproductive fertility, a significant proportion of children
experience signs of puberty in primary school. Moreover, child sex abuse is considerably
prevalent among primary school students. Therefore, sex education in primary school is
imperative for the well-being of students. This article describes the results of a study among
primary school teachers about their perception of sex education at the primary level. This
study adopted a descriptive quantitative design. Data collection was from the randomly
selected primary school teachers in the Beluvai village of Karnataka, India. Their perceptions
of the needs, barriers and benefits of sex education were measured using a questionnaire
developed by the researchers. The sample size for this study was 60, including males and
females. Data analysis of this study was in SPSS, which proved the positive attitude of
teachers towards sex education, although some of their views varied with their age group.
However, this study proved that teachers’ unwillingness is the major obstacle to sex education
at the primary level. Therefore, this article recommends adequate teacher training and support
for the effective implementation of sex education in primary schools in India