Cape Town - A national school governing body association says distributing condoms in schools could send the wrong message to pupils and that schools should, instead, focus on instilling positive values in their pupils.
The issue of condoms in schools is back on the agenda with the Department of Basic Education announcing it is reviewing its HIV policy for schools.
Elijah Mhlanga, a spokesman for the department, said school governing bodies were able to decide, with the assistance of a professional nurse, whether to distribute condoms at their school.
The department wanted to ensure that drastic steps were taken to deal with the problem of diseases affecting young people, while many girls were also falling pregnant.
“We can’t sit back and do nothing.”
Mhlanga said the department was relooking at the issue of condoms in schools and while it agreed with law centre Section27, which has called for condoms to be made available in schools, the necessary processes had to be followed and the outcome of the review could not be predicted.
Paul Colditz, chief executive of the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools, said the federation was opposed to the distribution of condoms in schools.
While it acknowledged that many young people were sexually active, Colditz said having condoms in schools could lead to the idea that premarital sex was the right thing to do.
Last year in a submission made in response to the department’s draft policy on HIV and TB, law centre Section27 said that to curb the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections at schools, the policy “is constitutionally required to make provision for easy, discreet access to condoms on school premises”.
It said that although consultation with governing bodies was important, they should not be the gatekeepers for compliance with national requirements.
Nikki Stein, an attorney at Section27, said: “ We can’t teach them (pupils) about responsibility without giving them access to condoms.”