Assessment of Teachers’ Perceptions on the Integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Mathematics: A Case of Kitwe District

The study assessed the perceptions of teachers on the integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in Mathematics in Kitwe district on the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. It aimed at achieving the following objectives; to establish the extent to which CSE is integrated in Mathematics, to determine the challenges and opportunities of integrating CSE in Mathematics and to assess the views of teachers on the integration of CSE in Mathematics. The research design employed was a descriptive case study. A sample of ten public secondary schools from a population of 36 secondary schools was randomly selected for the study. The respondents were the senior secondary school teachers of Mathematics, heads of Mathematics department, guidance teachers, education standards officers, district resource centre coordinators and district representatives of the Zambia Association of Mathematics Educators (ZAME). The study used both the quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data by using questionnaires and an interview schedule. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically whilst quantitative data was analyzed using excel to obtain descriptive statistics. The study found out that utmost four (4), representing 66.7% of the six (6) CSE topics covered by the CSE framework were integrated into eight (8) topics representing 26.7% of the thirty (30) senior secondary school Mathematics topics. The study pointed out that, teachers of Mathematics faced some challenges when integrating CSE which included; insufficient time, inadequate training, difficulties in integrating CSE in all Mathematics topics, lack of guidance, inadequate materials within schools, cultural factors and lack of policy guidance. Despite the stated challenges, it was established that integrating CSE in Mathematics has its own opportunities these are; relating Mathematics to real life, enhanced positive attitude towards Mathematics learning, improved communication with learners and providing accurate information. The study concluded that teachers’ perceptions towards the integration of CSE in Mathematics were positive. Based on the findings, the study recommended that; the government may consider clearly specifying the CSE topics to be integrated in Mathematics at senior secondary school level, as some of the topics are already incorporated in subjects such as; Biology, Civic Education, Religious Education and Home Economics, the government through the ministry of general education may consider training the in-service teachers adequately concerning the integration of CSE into their classes and school managements may consider providing teachers with support and guidance to effectively implement the policy. Comprehensive Sexuality Education has gained a significant attention. It has become a key component of the adolescent’s development and effective decision making as well as the transition to adult life. According to WHO (2017), investments in adolescent health and wellbeing bring a triple dividend of benefits now, into future adult life, and for the next generation of children. The argument that children and adolescent especially need comprehensive education about sex and sexuality has even heightened due to incidence of teenage pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted infections and the emergence of HIV (Esia-Donkoh, KumiKyereme, Awusabo-Asare and Stillman, 2018). This makes the teaching of comprehensive sexuality education especially in secondary schools not only critical but timely.