Policy - Authorized Teaching/Learning Materials

8.1.6 Policy - Authorized Teaching/Learning Materials

Another key policy issue and legal responsibility for education ministries is the authorization or recommendation of teaching learning materials. Since these materials are often a source of controversy in sexuality education, it is not surprising that the levels of compliance with the list authorized by the ministry are relatively high.

Figure 19

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Figure 20

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90.9% of education ministries had such a list. 67.9% of school districts had an authorized, recommended or funded list of teaching/learning materials in sexuality education. 77.7% of school principals reported that they regularly ensure that teachers have a copy of the authorized list of materials.

A relatively high number of teachers responding to the written survey (3.09 on a 9 point scale, with 1 being "very often" and nine being "never") reported that they used the recommended materials often or very often. (T-IV-5)

Similarly, 77.4% of public health nurses (PHN-22) said that they used the materials recommended by the education or health ministries in their work with schools. An additional 10.1% said that they had done so within the last 3 years.

36.6% of education ministries (MOE-14) said that they have criteria specific to sex education for materials. In addition, 45.5% said that they have general criteria for all educational materials. Similarly, 26.6% of school districts (SD-17) said that they have sexuality-related criteria for materials, with an additional 29.0% saying that they have general criteria for all materials.

A majority of school principals (SP-16c), 63.7%, said that they reviewed those criteria regularly with their staff. An additional 16.6% reported that they had reviewed the criteria for these materials with their school staff within the last 3 years.

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