By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Accra, Dec. 14, GNA – Savana Signatures and Edukans, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), have held a stakeholders’ meeting in Accra to discuss the findings and lessons of the two-year Ready Steady Ghana Pilot Project.
The Project involved the development of a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme to address the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) needs of young people in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions in the country.
Ready Steady Ghana uses a two-pronged approach; capacity building and development of a SRHR guideline for TVET providers based on which a new CSE curriculum for TVET institutions was developed.
The Project was funded by Nuffic, a Dutch NGO, and implemented by Edukans and Savana Signatures, Ghanaian NGOs operating in the Northern, Upper West and Volta Regions.
Mr Frederick Yenbaar Nuuri-Teg, the Project Coordinator in-charge of Ready Steady Ghana at Savana Signatures, said a 2015 study by the two organisations found that young people between ages 18 and 24 suffered high cases of SRHR related conditions namely teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and sexual and gender-based violence due to limited knowledge, attitude and skills.
The study found that 80 per cent of girls and 73 per cent of boys between 15 and 24 years did not have adequate knowledge on SRHR, which affected their ability to make decisions regarding their health and future.
It further revealed that 10 per cent of girls and boys in the country had their first sexual intercourse before 15 years and 47 per cent of young women and 32 per cent of young men lack knowledge on SRHR.
Mr Nuuri-Teg said: “We really need to engage and interact further with Government through the relevant state institutions to explore the possibility of adopting the SRHR curriculum, manual and guidelines at the national level to ensure more young people in TVET institutions have access to CSE.”
Mr Herman Kruijer, the SRHR Specialist for the Ready Steady Ghana project at Edukans, said: “There is overwhelming evidence on the existence of sexual and reproductive problems among adolescents in Ghana, one of these problems being the huge knowledge gap of SRHR among adolescents in the country.”
“These and some other factors influenced the piloting of the Ready Steady programme in Ghana.”
To develop a workable curriculum, Savana Signatures and Edukans successfully piloted the Project at six formal and non-formal TVET partner organisations — BIBIR, Challenging Heights, Heifer International Ghana, Kumasi Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Network for Community Planning and Development, and Suglo N-Nya Behiagu Women’s Association, and the outcomes have been positive.
The analysis indicated significant improvement in knowledge on SRHR and positive attitudes toward SRHR issues among beneficiaries.
Mr John Stephen Agbenyo, the Executive Director of Savana Signatures, stated that “Ready Steady Ghana comes along with guidelines for its implementation and, therefore, serves as a starting point for policy development and implementation of programmes for improvement of SRHR for TVET trainees.”
“It further seeks to reach and empower more young people by scaling-up to reach other formal and informal TVET institutions in Ghana by building the capacity of TVET providers to facilitate the Ready Steady Ghana curriculum.”
GNA
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