South Africa School-Based Sexuality and HIV Prevention Education Activity

(EDC) in consortium with partner Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD). The program aims to increase the number of teachers qualified to teach sexuality education, strengthen the Department of Education's (DBE) capacity to provide education and training for teachers, and improve the quality of school-based sexuality and HIV education programs. The program focuses on seven of the nine provinces in South Africa, with a particular emphasis on 14 priority districts with high HIV infection rates and disease burden. The objectives of the program include increasing the number of teachers qualified to teach sexuality education, improving the quality of school-based sexuality and HIV education programs, and reducing teenage pregnancy levels. In the reporting period of April to June 2021, the program achieved several milestones. A total of 1,547 Life Skills and Life Orientation (LS/LO) educators were trained in Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Scripted Lesson Plans (SLPs) in 13 of 14 implementing districts. The districts with the highest numbers of educators trained were City of Johannesburg, Mopani, and City of Cape Town. The program also facilitated senior management teams training (SMT) with 362 principals, orientation sessions for school governing bodies (SGB) with 101 SGB members, and orientation sessions for parents with 1,143 parents. The program also conducted training of trainers (ToT) with 100 Department of Education officials and participated in USAID Joint Program Planning meeting (JPPM). The program's implementation approach is outlined in Figure 2, which shows the graphic presentation of the Activity. The program focuses on reaching learners in implementation site schools through LS/LO educators, who receive the curriculum and refer learners to social asset building (SAB) and economic strengthening (ES) interventions. The program's technical activity progress is summarized in the following sections: 1.2. In-service teacher training and development: The program trained 1,547 LS and LO educators in CSE SLPs, with the districts with the highest numbers reached being COJ, Mopani, and City of Cape Town. 1.3. Improve skills of school management teams (SMTs) and other support structures including school governing bodies (SGBs) on sexuality education: The program facilitated SMT orientation sessions in Limpopo, Free State, and Western Cape, and facilitated parents' engagement sessions in Gauteng. The program's progress towards performance indicators is summarized in the following table: Table 1: Educator SLP Trainings, April – June 2021, Number of Educators Trained | Location | Educators Trained | | --- | --- | | EC Alfred Nzo | 117 | | EC Buffalo City | 160 | | GP City of Johannesburg | 276 | | GP Sedibeng | 112 | | LP Capricorn | 140 | | LP Mopani | 316 | | MP Gert Sibande | 87 | | MP Nkangala | 134 | | WC City of Cape Town | 205 | | Total | 1,547 | Table 2: Participants Reached During SMT and SGB Orientation Sessions | Location | Participants Reached | | --- | --- | | Limpopo (Mopani and Capricorn) | 75 | | Free State (Thabo Mofutsanyana) | 25 | | Western Cape (City of Cape Town) | 50 | | Gauteng (CoJ and Sedibeng) | 1,143 | | Total | 1,293 | The program's overall progress towards its objectives is positive, with significant achievements in educator training, SMT and SGB orientation, and parents' engagement. However, the program faces challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the implementation of some activities.