Exploring Challenges Faced by Male Science Teachers in Teaching Sexual and Reproductive Health Education in Public Schools in Sri Lanka: With Special Reference to Rathnapura District

Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) education is necessary to improve selfefficacy, decrease false information, increase correct knowledge, and explain and reinforce good values and attitudes. SRH education is the key strategy for promoting safe sexual behavior among adolescents. Nevertheless, the national health survey conducted in 2012/13 showed that only 59% of the youth received SRH education in Sri Lankan schools, yet only less than 1% of adolescents were found to have satisfactory SRH level. The key factors that influence comfort in delivering sexual education are identified as disruptive behavior, insufficient time and lack of dedicated classrooms. Therefore, this study explores the challenges faced by male science teachers in teaching SRH education in public schools in Sri Lanka and provide suggestions to overcome those challenges. This is a phenomenological study that used a sample of 10 male science teachers who teach the ordinary level science subject in public schools in the Ratnapura district. Primary data were collected through face-toface in-depth interviews with the consent of the participants by using a semistructured interview guide and done a thematic analysis. The challenges were identified under four major themes: 1) students’ curiosity in SRH consisting with subthemes of age-appropriate knowledge, fear of misinterpretation; 2) lack of teacher training and development for SRH education including sub-themes such as dealing with sensitive topics, continuous professional development; 3) curriculum barriers, comprising sub-themes of insufficient curriculum content, time limitation for teaching SRH, disconnection between biological and social components of SRH, inadequate supporting tools for SRH and 4) parental resistance for teaching SRH education containing sub-themes of educational level of parents, fear of encouraging sexual activity. The study concluded that teaching SRH education in public schools in Sri Lanka poses a variety of challenges for male science teachers and it is required to address those challenges to deliver a comprehensive SRH education for the wellbeing of the students.