Life Skills, Sexual Maturation & Development
During 2000,
The Rockefeller Foundation supported a series
of exploratory research studies in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda. The central focus of these studies
was on understanding what key stakeholders (parents, teachers, teacher educators, learners, government
officials, and the wider business community) regarded as the essential competencies (skills, values,
and attitudes) which should be provided by a quality primary education system. In exploring the notion
of 'basic learning competencies' in relation to primary education, a sub-set of questions which merited
specific investigation were also identified. These questions - dealing with the way in which the education
system managed the process of sexual maturation - arose out of two complimentary concerns, both related
to the acquisition of essential skills within the formal education system.
In the first instance, a special focus on managing sexual maturation was justified on the basis
that successfully navigating the process by which a 'child' becomes an 'adult' 'is one of the most
fundamental of all 'life-skills'. One need look no further than the HIV/AIDS pandemic to understand
the extent to which the acquisition of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health - but also the
capacity to use this knowledge effectively - has literally become a life or death issue for young
people on the continent. The formal school system has an increasingly important role to play in providing
direction and guidance around the process of sexual maturation, particularly as more traditional
structures have either broken down in the rush to modernity and urbanisation, or have become less able to
deal with contemporary demands and responsibilities.
Second, it was felt that the poor management of the process of sexual maturation within the education
system might itself be acting as a hidden barrier to the acquisition of other basic learning competencies,
particularly those competencies (such as literacy) which demanded regular and sustained attendance at school.
In designing the exploratory research programme, it was felt that while there was ample evidence to
demonstrate that broader socio-economic and cultural factors inhibited students access, persistence and
achievement in school , that little attention had been paid to exploring what impact the management of
sexual maturation has on the full participation of girls and boys at school. Exploratory evidence, however,
suggested that the impact was potentially very important. For instance, with regard to girls, a lack of
affordable menstrual protection, coupled with an uninformed or uncaring institutional culture,
and inadequate school sanitation facilities was giving rise to a reluctance to attend school during
menarche, resulting in some school drop out on the part of girls reaching adolescence in primary school (
GAPS 1999), a not uncommon occurrence, given the late age enrolment in many countries on the continent
UNESCO 2001).
Hence, it was felt important to highlight the management of sexual maturation within the exploration
of basic learning competencies in a quality primary education system. Within the three country studies,
three sets of questions were asked around the process of sexual maturation, and its impact on participation
and learning at school:
a) The first set of questions, concentrated on exploring the ways in which boys and girls learned about
the process of sexual maturation, and what role the primary education system is currently, and should in
the future, play in this regard.
(b) The second set of questions concerned the way in which the process of menstruation was dealt
with in primary schools. Specifically, studies looked at what kind of information girls and boys
had access to, and from what sources; what forms of protection girls were using; and what impact
the experience and management of menstruation had on girls participation at school.
c) Finally, a set of more general questions were asked about the broader management of school
sanitation particularly in relation to school hygiene and health.
The exploratory research programme in all three countries reached the same major conclusion,
namely that the current management of sexual maturation within the primary education system is
systematically failing to meet the needs of all children, but especially girls . Moreover
(and this is explored in greater detail in the following section) it was found that the poor
management of the process of sexual maturation was negatively affecting the acquisition of basic
learning competencies. It was found that the education system was failing children at three
different levels:
(a) to provide accessible and accurate knowledge and information about the process of sexual maturation;
(b) to provide essential facilities to ensure that children (especially girls) are not excluded from
full participation in the system because of their maturing bodies; and
(c) to provide an adequate and appropriate value system through which children can be guided into
safe and healthy adulthood.
For more information:
Follow this link to the
three books