- Title
- Teachers’ understandings and experiences of policies on learner pregnancy in their schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Creator
- Tshozi, Nomawethu Caroline
- Subject
- Sex instruction
- Subject
- Family life education
- Subject
- Education, Secondary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Date Issued
- 2025-04
- Date
- 2025-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/71893
- Identifier
- vital:79149
- Description
- Learner pregnancy has increased over the past few years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa and particularly in the province of the Eastern Cape where this research study is conducted. There have been policies formulated and promulgated in the past to prevent and manage learner pregnancies, however, they have not been successful in lowering numbers of learners getting pregnant. Government has responded to this by revising these policies and introducing comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in the curriculum from primary school. This has been met with resistance from school governing bodies and religious groups in the country, thereby delaying implementation. Teachers are having to deal at the coalface with this problem of learners getting pregnant at an early age in their schools. This research study explores teachers’ understandings and experiences of policies on learner pregnancy in their schools in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It takes on qualitative research and an interpretive paradigm following a participatory visual methodology using photovoice and document analysis as data generation methods which culminated in policy briefs. Three township secondary schools from quintile 3 were purposively selected for this study from which eight were Life Orientation teachers and one a learner support agent (LSA) participated. The findings revealed that teachers feel incapacitated in handling sexuality matters and are not adequately enabled to effectively implement the formulated learner pregnancy policies in their schools. In addition, monitoring of the implementation of the learner pregnancy policies and support from the DBE were lacking. Moreover, collaboration with key stakeholders, such as parents, healthcare professionals (including nurses and social workers), and the community, was missing. This study recommends that the Department of Basic Education, through schools, should strengthen prevention strategies and rigorously push for the integration of CSE into the curriculum emphasising responsible decision-making, pregnancy prevention and reproductive health. Additionally, the DBE should provide ongoing training for teachers through in-service development workshops to enhance their understanding of learner pregnancy policies while also monitoring their effective implementation. This has implications for policymakers and curriculum developers to advocate for and design appropriate strategies and resources.
- Description
- Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, School of Education, Research and Engagement, 2025
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (102 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Education
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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NMU School for Education Research and Engagement
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | TSHOZI, N.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |