Assessing the Education Sector Policy for Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy and the Life Skills curriculum on prevention of learners’ pregnancies in Ohangwena region, Namibia

Abstract

The education sector policy for the prevention and management of learner pregnancy (ESPPMLP) and Life Skills curriculum are being implemented in schools as pregnancy prevention intervention tools, but still pregnancies are increasing in the Ohangwena region. This study assessed the implementation of the ESPPMLP and the Life Skills curriculum on the prevention of learners’ pregnancies in the Ohangwena region of Namibia. There is a concern that the Ohangwena region has experienced an increasing number of learner pregnancies in five consecutive years, surpassing the other fourteen regions in Namibia. The objective of this research was to develop a framework for implementing the ESPPMLP and the Life Skills curriculum to keep learners from getting pregnant in the Ohangwena region, Namibia. This is a qualitative case study carried out in ten schools of the Ohangwena region. The population for the study was the schools with grades 8 and up, head girls, Life Skills teachers, heads of departments, and senior education officers. A purposive sampling method was used to select ten schools, ten head girls, ten Life Skills teachers, ten heads of departments, and two senior education officers in the Ohangwena region and documents for analysis. Data were collected by interviews, observations, and document analysis methods and analysed by thematic and content analysis methods. The study found that the ESPPMLP and the Life Skills curriculum were not successfully implemented in some schools. Teachers had various experiences and challenges in the implementation of the ESPPMLP and the Life Skills curriculum. Schools and Life Skills teachers had no full capacity to implement the ESPPMLP and the Life Skills curriculum to keep learners from getting pregnant. The study also found that there was insufficient engagement by parents and communities in matters relating to the prevention of learner pregnancy. Finally, the study proposed a strategic framework for implementing the ESPPMLP and the Life Skills curriculum to prevent learners’ pregnancies in the Ohangwena region of Namibia.