Perceptions on the relevance of comprehensive sexuality education by high school graduates - A case study of students at Davis College in Kigali, Rwanda.

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the perceptions of the relevance Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) amongst high school graduates in Rwanda. The Republic of Rwanda joined with other nations under the banner of the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) into declaring ways to ensure that world populations are generally happier and enjoy the gift of life to the fullest. Amongst many commitments made by member states was to introduce CSE in schools for awareness and as a pre-emptive measure against Sexual and Reproductive Health related hazards that bedevil the youth the world over. The International Conference of Population Development (ICPD) was born, part of what was the agreement to introduce CSE. In 2021, 17 years later, the Republic of Rwanda had CSE firmly established in basic education schools. It was important to find out what the most recent graduates of the CSE curriculum think about it in terms of relevance with the aim of finding out what to keep and what areas of improvement exist for a better CSE program. The three specific CSE thematic areas investigated were CSE’s relevance to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) awareness, SRH-related rights awareness and readiness for parenthood and childbearing amongst the youth. A qualitative approach was employed with a case study inquiry carried out in Davis College, Rwanda. In-depth interviews were conducted using phone calls. The reason for using phone calls was to comply with measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus which measures include social distancing. Findings from the field revealed that high school graduates in Rwanda do appreciate and find CSE to be valuably relevant in their lives. However, its failure to exist as a stand-alone examinable subject, being weighted way less than other subjects and constrains arising from an already existent taboo against sexuality related discourses have caused CSE to fail to meet the trendiest needs of the youth and fail to significantly overtake other sources of sexuality related information some of which may not be credible. The research, thus concluded that there is great room for improvement, recommending that CSE be made a stand-alone subject, be examined as an equal subject, be given a practical aspect and its tenor be sensitized to the general public.