Teachers? Conceptions and Obstacles to Sex Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in Cameroon

Despite the relevance of sex education in schools its teaching is inadequate. This work seeks to identify and analysethe conception of 523 pre-service and in-service primary and secondary school teachers in Cameroon which may promote or hinder its effective teaching. We used a questionnaire of the European project Biohead-Citizen. Multivariate analysis reveal teachers conceptions differ most on value than on practice and knowledge on what, when, and who to teach certain psychosocial aspects of sex education. Their conception favours the transversal approach suggested by government. More than 70 % of respondentsprefer sex in a stable relationship than safer sex to prevent HIV, wish homosexual should not have same rights as heterosexual couples, feel abortion is unacceptable if mother not at risk of dying, do not avoid teaching sex education because of taboo reasons, do not accept to teach psychosocial aspect of sex in primary school and early secondary, and strongly disagree that STI and psychosocial aspect of sex education be taught mainly by biology teachers or health professionals. Some of these conceptions act as didactic, psychological and sociocultural obstacles to the effective implementation of sex education especially in primary schools.