Hela teachers trained on Personal Development Curriculum

Teachers from Tari recently completed a training course aimed at providing them with necessary skills to teach adolescents and young adults about sex and sexuality as part of their Personal Development (PD) curriculum.

The five-day training was developed and facilitated by the Oil Search Foundation in partnership with the Hela Provincial Education Department to provide the teachers with strategies, skills and new ideas for presenting sensitive subjects.

Like in many parts of Papua New Guinea, in Hela sex and sexuality remain culturally sensitive issues and not a matter that is normally discussed lightly.

Maria Peters, a facilitator from the Oil Search Foundation, said that many teachers do not feel comfortable speaking about sexuality. However, sexual education is an important part of the National Department of Education curriculum for Personal Development. “The training and mentorship workshop was to assist the teachers to improve their skills and confidence in presenting topics related to sex and sexuality,” said Maria.

Some of the topics in the PD curriculum cover respect, sexual orientation, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, contraception, life choices, pregnancy, communication, sexual roles and gender.

The participants were taught a range of techniques and strategies. They used these new skills to prepare and present in practical sessions that were captured on video and replayed to allow immediate feedback from their peers.

Many of the participants described the training as unique and specifically tailored to their needs. The teachers are now confident to include important topics such as sexuality into their lessons, as prescribed by the national Personal Development curriculum, as they now feel their skills are greatly improved to breach these sensitive topics.

The Oil Search Foundation will provide school follow-up sessions to support the teachers in the classroom.