The Race is Not for the Swift

More often than not interventions are introduced for young people and in the grand scheme of things leaves out certain groups of young people who are not directly in the mainstream or formal education sector. Attention is paid to the formalized settings maybe because of the unavailability of policy guidelines in the informal or technical education sector to allow for easy integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and measurement of indicators and results. 

The conversation about access to sexual and reproductive health and rights information is no longer a banter, it is clear and evident that the absence of it is inimical to the health and development of young people in Ghana. A situation that has derailed the education and life plans of many young people over the years due to unplanned pregnancy, child abuse, harassment, drug abuse, etc.

The 'what you do not know cannot harm you' posture many actors including religious bodies and state agencies adopted to the SRHR needs of young people has in the past yielded disastrous consequences to say the least. National and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), Civil Society Organizations, Development agencies have introduced a number of interventions to deliver CSE to young people in schools and communities while championing the formulation of policies to guide the implementation of interventions in that regard. 

The focus has however often been on the formal basic, high and tertiary institution levels, where young people are provided with knowledge and skills to enable them take responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. This has been to the detriment of young people in the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutes and other informal groups that can be found across the country. There is already a bias in terms of how these institutions are perceived by parents and the consequent unwillingness for their wards to pursue education in these institutions. Governments through state agencies with oversight responsibility over TVET institutions have also not done enough to improve the image of the institutions, a situation that could also be blamed for the current state of affairs.

A 2015 study by two NGOs, Savana Signatures and Edukans, working in the field of SRHR revealed that, young people between ages 18 and 24 in TVET institutions suffered high cases of SRHR related conditions — teenage pregnancy, STIs and sexual and gender-based violence — due to limited knowledge, attitude and skills. It found that 80 percent of girls and 73 percent of boys between 15 and 24 years do not have adequate knowledge on SRHR, which affects their ability to make decisions regarding their health and future. It further revealed that 10 percent of girls and boys in Ghana had their first sexual intercourse before 15 years and 47 percent of young women and 32 percent of young men lack knowledge on SRHR.

Ready Steady Ghana is a 2 year capacity building and curriculum development pilot project with the goal of meeting the SRHR needs of young people in TVET institutions. The project has developed an audio-visual curriculum that has also been translated into local languages to promote its easy facilitation among non-literate young people. There is an urgent need for Government to adopt this very important and useful curriculum the project has developed to ensure that more young people in TVET institution benefit from CSE.

It is bad enough that such a framework did not exist, but now that it does it beholds on the state actors to take active interest in making it a priority to adopt the guidelines and curriculum. The race is indeed not for the swift but for those that are ready to accept change when it comes knocking. There is indeed  lot to still be gained by ensuring the sexual and reproductive health of young people in TVET institutions are taken care of, especially for a nation that seeks to increase the level of skills of its youthful and entrepreneurial population.