FWRM calls for comprehensive sexuality education in schools

Another call is being made to include mandatory comprehensive sexuality education in schools as it is essential for equipping young people with factual, age-appropriate information about their bodies, relationships, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

While speaking during consultation on Education Act 1966, Fiji Women's Rights Movement Human Rights Training Officer Ala-Cassandra Singh says comprehensive sexuality education covers critical topics such as consent, contraception, puberty and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, and has been proven to reduce the risks of unintended teenage pregnancies and STIs.

She says it enhances young people's knowledge and supports them in making responsible and informed choices about their health and well-being.

Singh says in Fiji, the need for comprehensive sexuality education is increasingly urgent as growing patterns of sexual activity in adolescents, teenage pregnancies, and HIV infections often linked to drug use and multiple sexual partners demand an informed and proactive response.

She says many young people are engaging in sexual activity without adequate understanding of consent, contraception, or the emotional and physical consequences of their actions.

The training officer says teenage girls, in particular, are placed in vulnerable situations due to the lack of open conversations and education on sexual health, leaving them unprepared and at greater risk of unwanted pregnancies and STIs while, many boys grow up without learning about consent, contraception, or how to engage in respectful and equitable relationships

FWRM has also stressed on the need to implement all water, sanitation and hygiene standards in every school through a gendered lens so that students, especially girls, can freely access WASH facilities without compromising their privacy.

She says access to clean toilets, safe water, and appropriate menstrual hygiene management facilities is crucial to upholding girls' health, dignity, and educational outcomes in all their diversity.

She says when these basic needs are unmet, girls are more likely to experience absenteeism during menstruation, contributing to learning disruptions, reduced participation, and increased dropout rates.

Singh says FWRM is particularly concerned about the inaccessibility of sanitary products, unreliable water access, poor lighting, lack of toilet paper, and broken or non-lockable doors in school washrooms-all of which contribute to inadequate privacy, menstrual trauma, and stigma.

FWRM is also calling for urgent reforms to the Education Act to ensure that all schools are legally required to meet minimum standards for water, sanitation and hygiene facilities which includes the provision of clean, private, and safe toilets; access to sanitary products; clean water; proper lighting; and functioning infrastructure.

Singh further says it is also critically important to integrate Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH) and Child Safeguarding and Protection policies across all levels of the education sector.

She says students interact regularly with school staff, administrators, and Ministry of Education employees, making it imperative that all personnel are equipped to prevent and respond to risks of sexual misconduct.

Singh says while the current requirement for school staff to sign Code of Conduct is step in the right direction, it is not enough.

She says FWRM is particularly concerned about the experiences of girls, who continue to face sexual abuse and exploitation both within and outside of school environments.

Singh says the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse must be a universal priority that protects all students, regardless of gender as boys who are survivors often experience intense stigma, while students part of the LGBTQI+ community are at heightened risk due to gender non-conformity and persistent discrimination.

She also says gender-responsive safeguarding training must be made mandatory for all staff within the Ministry of Education and throughout the education sector which includes trainee teachers, for whom such training must be a prerequisite for employment.

While highlighting the acute shortage of trained school counselors, FWRM is also calling on the Ministry of Education to ensure that each school is assigned a qualified, gender-sensitised counsellor who can respond to students' specific emotional, psychological, and gender-related challenges.

She says this responsibility must not fall to teachers, who are already overstretched and may lack the specialised training required to offer practical support.

FWRM is also calling for urgent reforms to make Fiji’s education system truly inclusive for girls with all types of disabilities, not just those with visible impairments.

Singh says the current system fails to address psychological, neurological, and learning disabilities, which often go unnoticed.

While highlighting that over 2,296 students with disabilities are enrolled across 18 special schools and 378 mainstream schools in Fiji, Singh raised concerns over the lack of publicly available data and routine audits to monitor whether schools are consistently providing inclusive services.

Consultation on the Education Act continues at Nausori Parish Hall this afternoon and in Levuka tomorrow.