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.
