City Research Online

Abstract

The sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of young people is an increasingly urgent public health concern in The Gambia. As a response to SRH-related challenges, there have been growing calls for the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) to equip young people with the knowledge and skills needed for informed decision-making. While CSE has been widely studied as an intervention for SRH, a gap remains in understanding the broader social, cultural, and historical factors that shape the development and implementation of CSE curricula in specific contexts. Exploring the complexities of curriculum policy development alongside the socio-cultural norms in which these policies are embedded is crucial, particularly in a post-colonial nation like The Gambia, where colonial influences continue to impact education, health policy, and social structures.

This thesis critically examines the creation, design, and underlying drivers of The Gambia's new CSE curriculum, locally referred to as the Comprehensive Health Education (CHE) curriculum. Adopting a qualitative critical realist approach, I conducted 36 key informant interviews with stakeholders, including government officials, representatives from NGOs and civil society organizations, educators, and religious leaders. Additionally, I carried out a discourse analysis of relevant policy documents. This study is grounded in Black feminist and post-colonial feminist theoretical frameworks, which provide lenses for analysing how intersecting factors such as gender, colonial history, and socio-cultural dynamics influence the framing and reception of SRH education.

The findings of this study indicate that while there is a recognized need for a robust SRH curriculum in The Gambia, multiple intersecting factors—colonial legacies, cultural beliefs, religious values, and patriarchy—significantly shape the curriculum's development, resourcing, and implementation. These factors underscore the complexity of policy enactment and reveal how local cultural and belief systems can impact the success of educational interventions as much as the policy content itself. This thesis argues for the importance of contextually informed approaches to policy development and implementation, especially regarding sensitive areas like CSE. The study calls for a shift away from decontextualized, one-size-fits-all models of policy application and highlights the importance of designing CSE curricula that genuinely reflect and respect the social and cultural realities of the communities they serve.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology L Education > LB Theory and practice of education R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences > Department of Nursing & Midwifery School of Health & Medical Sciences > School of Health & Medical Sciences Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

Export

Downloads