Teachers’ perception of sex education in primary schools

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.