Impact Assessment of the Health and Family Life Education in Jamaica
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/ijbsr.v3i1.92Keywords:
HFLE, program, life skill teaching, schools, studentsAbstract
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) program in Jamaican primary schools, paying attention to the impact of life skill teaching on the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and practices of grade six students, 11-13 year olds, exposed to the HFLE program.
A survey was conducted during the month of March 2010 in nine schools fully implementing the HFLE program, which were matched with nine Non-HFLE schools across Jamaica. Participants in the survey were distributed as follows: 273 HFLE and 228 Non-HFLE, for a total of 501. The aptitude of surveyed students was tested using indicators relating to four HFLE thematic areas: self and interpersonal relationships, sexuality and sexual health, eating and fitness and managing the environment.
The findings of the study were mainly two-fold: (i) overall, grade six students from HFLE schools reported more positive attitudes, greater knowledge and fewer risk behaviors than students from Non-HFLE schools; and (ii) the HFLE program had benefited female more than male students.
In conclusion, this research suggests that the HFLE program has been largely successful in Jamaican primary schools, although some HFLE schools were not implementing the program effectively on some HFLE themes.
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