The Guyana Foundation in collaboration with The George Washington University and the Elliott School for International Affairs, recently hosted research personnel M. Elliott and C. Pereira during their stay in Guyana.
A wide cross section of interviews was completed. The report concluded that as Guyana looks to the future, a comprehensive sex education curriculum that addresses the needs of Guyanese youth in primary and secondary schools will be crucial to increasing inclusive and equitable education for all.
The research study posits that the implementation of a comprehensive sex education curriculum in Guyanese schools for youth under 18 will decrease teen pregnancy, decrease the transmission of HIV/Aids, prevent gender-based violence, and promote bodily autonomy and empowerment.
The full report will now be submitted to the Ministry of Education and other educators. This collaboration has gone further to prepare a sample curriculum and a detailed lesson plan which is available through the Guyana Foundation.
In a comment, Supriya Singh-Bodden, Founder of the Guyana Foundation shared that she and her team would sincerely like to thank George Washington University, particularly Professor Jennifer Fox and the Elliott School of International Affairs for their invaluable contribution to Guyana. “We will make good use of your findings. These results clearly point out that if we start early enough with sex education, we can save lives and empower people not to fall victim to gender-based violence, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy. Guyana needs to protect every citizen, not lose anymore.”
