Education experts in KwaZulu-Natal have expressed concern at the distribution of condoms in primary schools, saying it could send the wrong message to pupils.
They warned that instead of solving the problem of pupils falling pregnant, handing out the contraceptives would encourage them to engage in sexual intercourse.
But teachers at a Eshowe school said the distribution of condoms had dropped the school’s pupil pregnancy rate.
“We cannot shy away from the fact that young children are sexually active. We cannot focus on ethics when the world we are living in is unethical,” said Allen Thompson, deputy president of the National Teachers’ Union (Natu).
The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that teachers at Zibambele Primary School in KZN were distributing condoms to children as young as nine as part of a pilot project by Natu.
Teachers at the school told the Sunday Times that three years ago at least five girls a year fell pregnant, but since the distribution of condoms more than a year ago, not one pupil had fallen pregnant.
Thompson said the 2010 project was aimed at reducing the rocketing pregnancy rate among school pupils.
KZN Department of Education spokesman Muzi Mhlambi, said they welcomed a holistic approach to dealing with the problem of teenage pregnancy. He said the department was constrained by sexual realities and a deeper societal problem.
“We need to balance initiatives at schools with efforts outside schools,” he said.
The annual surveys for ordinary schools for 2009-2010, released by the Department of Basic Education this month, showed that 18 pupils in Grade 3 fell pregnant in KZN in 2008 and 2009 .
During the same period, 27 631 pupils between Grade 3 and Grade 12 fell pregnant in the province. Nationally, the figure was 94 875.
According to the report, KZN has the highest concentration of pregnant pupils.
Thompson said the distribution of condoms in schools was closely monitored and it was not encouraging pupils to have sex.
“We have peer educators in schools who are responsible for the project and also hold talks with pupils about the topic, emphasising the importance of abstinence. We identify a school, talk to the school governing body and principal, and if they agree we talk to the health department at district level and get condoms from hospitals for the school,” Thompson said.
However, experts disagreed with the project.
Congress of South African Students provincial chairwoman, Sizophila Mkhize, said this would give pupils the idea that schools were a “sex zone”.
“Yes, pupils are falling pregnant but there is no need for condoms to be taken to schools,” she said.
Local child and family therapist Professor Manorunjunie Mahabeer, said distributing condoms to primary school pupils was inappropriate.
“There are many other things that a child in primary school should be doing from a development point of view. The condoms are just going to encourage the child to have sex,” she said.
Anthony Pierce, KZN CEO of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said sex education did not go hand in hand with the distribution of condoms. He said it was “dangerous” because it could send out the wrong message”.
Vee Gani, chairman of the KZN Parents’ Association Durban south region, said communities needed to look at whether children were replicating the behaviour of adults and why. - Daily News