Straight Talk Campaign in Uganda: Evaluation of the School Environment Program

Produced by the United-States-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Horizons and the Uganda-based Straight Talk Foundation (STF) research teams (with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department for International Development (DFID), this 55-page report documents the impact of STF's School Environment Program (SEP). [Editor's note: This is one of four background documents to the final report, "The Straight Talk Campaign in Uganda: Impact of Mass Media Initiatives".]

As detailed here, STF launched SEP in 1999, largely in the form of school visits that were designed to sensitise teachers and learners about adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) - in part through the distribution of STF newspapers. These newspapers have included the following:

• a paper designed to communicate to teenagers and parents simultaneously (to the end of helping young people delay sex (or practising safer sex, if sexually active) and facilitating communication between parents and adolescents;
• a newspaper for younger adolescents called Young Talk; and
• materials designed for multiple audiences such as Parent Talk, Straight Talk Sudan, and Scouts Voice.

In the early 2000s, STF expanded the SEP programme to encapsulate a full-fledged training effort aimed at helping teachers appreciate the problems adolescents experience, and create an empathetic school setting ("environment"). During 2-day training sessions, teachers are exposed to information about ASRH and child-friendliness (e.g., comfort discussing puberty, sexual harassment, etc.), and learn how to respond to adolescents. After the training, teachers return to their schools to implement activities such as starting Straight Talk (ST) or Young Talk (YT) clubs, supporting guidance and counseling activities, and fostering an adolescent-friendly environment. In 2002 STF developed the teacher-centred newspaper Teacher Talk, which is written for educators in primary schools. As of this writing, the SEP is being implemented in 10 districts in Uganda; 3 teachers per school (the head teacher, one male senior teacher, and one female senior teacher) participate in the training.

The evaluation of the SEP programme was conducted in June 2006 in 59 schools in Uganda using 3 strategies: face-to-face questionnaire interviews with teachers (n = 560), interviews with students (n = 921), and a situation analysis and observation of the school environment. The schools were located in 4 districts - Arua, Soroti, Kamuli, and Kisoro; 71% were primary schools, and 81% were government schools. The results were a "mixed bag", according to lead researcher Dr. Karusa Kirugu. For example, teachers sensitised under SEP were more likely to report feeling confident about talking to adolescents about sex and growing up, but not more likely to actually do so, when compared to those not sensitised by SEP. However, schools where SEP was implemented were more likely to have an adolescent-friendly environment compared to non-SEP schools. When interviewed, students in SEP schools did not notice significant changes as a result of their teachers being trained, aside from the formation of ST and YT clubs. Among the researchers' conclusions: SEP training may not have been intensive enough to be felt by the students. The researchers also recognised that STF was implementing this work among a "glut" of other HIV efforts in schools, so its impact was difficult to discern.

Here is an excerpt from the Executive Summary of the document, which highlights the central findings:

Impact of SEP on Teachers
"...Bivariate analysis reveals that for the most part, teachers who have undergone this training were more likely to have read the STF newspapers, and were also more likely to use them. The level of ASRH knowledge among teachers in the study was generally high, regardless of whether or not they had attended STF training....Logistic regression analysis reveals that teachers who had received STF SEP training were more comfortable discussing ASRH, and were 2.4 times more likely to report feeling 'very comfortable' compared to those who hade not. Thus the SEP program is having the desired impact among teachers, instilling self-assuredness in their ability to do their job...

Impact of SEP on Students
...Around 40 percent of learners reported having a ST or YT club in their school, and those with an STF SEP-trained teacher in their school were twice as likely to report an ST or YT club than those without. However, the other results were not as encouraging. For example, it was anticipated that learners in schools where a teacher had gone through the STF SEP training would report receiving other related activities, such as having special guests to talk to them about health matters....Multivariate analysis showed that schools with STF SEP-trained teachers were only 63 percent as likely to invite guests. This could be a positive finding and it may be that once trained, the teachers felt capable and that they did not need additional help. Thus this is an area that may benefit from further investigation. It was also anticipated that learners in schools where a teacher had gone through the STF SEP training would report the presence of a teacher that learners could freely 'talk to in private when you have problems relating to sexuality, growing up, relationships, body changes, etc.'....Multivariate analysis showed that learners with an STF SEP-trained teacher were only 64 percent as likely as their counterparts to report a teacher they could confide in. Another puzzling result was that learners with an STF SEP-trained teacher were only 31 percent as likely to report that their school offered counseling as those where a teacher had not be so trained. Thus there is need for the SEP program to strengthen this aspect of its program as well, and place as much emphasis on it as it places on the establishment of ST and YT clubs.

Situation Analysis of Schools
...While over 90 percent of all schools reported that they receive STF print materials, intervention schools were more likely to have taken an action as a result. Intervention schools were also more likely to report having ST or YT clubs....In half the schools the researchers observed a learning environment that he/she considered to be active, bright, and engaging, including 62 percent of intervention schools compared to 43 percent of comparison schools. Researchers were able to observe private counseling rooms in 31 percent of all schools, and this was significantly more likely in the intervention schools than the comparison schools (48 percent vs. 13 percent; p < .05). Researchers were also able to observe private areas for sick children/sick bays in 19 percent of all schools, and intervention sites were also more likely to have such rooms (32 percent vs. 7 percent, p = 0.000). In 39 percent of all schools, researchers were able to observe that the school had sanitary pads or materials with which to make sanitary pads available for girl learners, again with intervention schools significantly more likely to have these than comparison schools (66 percent vs. 13 percent; p < .05). However, these positive findings were not always the case....This may imply the intervention and comparison areas are somewhat at par....However, it is clear that schools with STF-trained staff are making an effort to implement learner-friendly activities."