The Lagos State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has organized a three-day capacity building program for instructors on the dissemination of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Curriculum and the use of Teaching Manual in an effort to ensure that both school-aged and unschooled youth are equipped with sex education.
Participants from the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Government Technical Colleges, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), and Skills Acquisition Centers from all over the State attended the program held today at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alausa.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Pharm (Mrs.) Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu, stated that the goal of the program was to provide students with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and values necessary to make responsible and healthy sexual decisions. For their health and survival, it provides young people with accurate, age-appropriate knowledge on sexuality and their sexual and reproductive health.
The program is comprehensive, based on a well-established curriculum, scientifically correct, age-appropriate, and covers a variety of issues related to sexuality and sexual reproductive health throughout childhood and adolescence. The framework it provides spans human development, sexual health, relationships, sexual behavior, society, and culture and is organized into eight modules and 28 subjects.
In order to ensure that the CSE would remain relevant and responsive to the needs of the youth in society, according to Oke-Osanyintolu, who was represented by the Director of Administration and Human Resources in the Ministry, Mr. Adewunmi Ogunsanya, a review of the Curriculum was considered necessary in 2022 as it became expedient to change certain vocabularies and incorporate emerging issues among young people and people with disabilities to ensure that no one was left behind.
According to Alexandrine Danzogbo, head of the UNFPA’s Lagos Liaison Office, the organization opted to work with Lagos State to implement the CSE program.
“This collaboration between the UNFPA and MYSD is to help reinforce the knowledge and competence of teachers in this issue,” Danzogbo stated, urging the participants to spread information about CSE further within their spheres of influence. A significant accomplishment was made with the Revised Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). To guarantee that no one is left behind, the program has been expanded to include those with disabilities.
A lot of young people who were previously unaware of what they now know about sexuality have been positively impacted by Comprehensive Sexuality Education, according to Mrs. Oshikoya Adekemi, Assistant Director, Development Partnership Department, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget.
She continued, “The role UNFPA has played in this as a long-standing partner in the work of imparting sexuality education is deserving of appreciation.
Education