KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF PARENTS TOWARDS SEXUALITY EDUCATION IN ILORIN METROPOLIS KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

There is concern over the increasing rate of unwanted pregnancy and abortion among primary and secondary school students in Kwara State, which is having negative impacts on the educational development in the State. Sexuality education curriculum is not fully implemented in Kwara State; it is sparsely and inappropriately covered in most public and private schools. The aim of this study was to assess parent’s knowledge and attitude towards sexuality education in school. A cross-sectional design was used; The target population were parents in Ilorin metropolis (Ilorin East, South and West) Kwara State, Nigeria. Respondents were selected using probability sampling (multi-stage sampling technique). 37 items interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Three hundred and eighty five questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 22, descriptive statistics in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that parents had good knowledge on the meaning of sexuality education, the purpose and the key concept at the aggregate level (73.8%) but they have poor knowledge on the general concept of sexuality education (46.4%). Attitude of parents towards sexuality education was good at mean of (3.88). It was recommended that Government should make policy that sexuality education (SE) should start in primary school and to be age appropriate and the government should also air programs to the media like the Television and radios on Sexuality Education topics and the need for parents to synergize the school’s effort to prepare adolescent mind on sexuality issues.   Key words: Parent, Knowledge, Attitude, Sexuality Education