Last update:
   02-Mar-2020
 

Arch Hellen Med, 37(2), March-April 2020, 267-272

SPECIAL ARTICLE

Sex education at the secondary education level in Greece

G. Kadigiannopoulos,1 M. Karavida,2 E. Galanopoulou,3 A. Galanopoulos4
1Department of Primary Education, University of Patra, Patra,
2Department of Primary Education, University of Ioannina, Ioannina,
3Hellenic American Union, Athens,
4Department of Hematology, "G. Gennimatas" General Hospital, Athens, Greece

OBJECTIVE Investigation of the degree to which sex education programs are being conducted as part of the approved school curriculum of health education at the level of secondary education.

METHOD Classification of the approved school programs of health education was performed, using content analysis, with the title of the study program as criterion. In addition, the level, qualifications and certification of the teachers engaged to conduct these programs was investigated. The study was undertaken for the school years 2012–2019 in the secondary education schools of the First region of Athens and in the regions of Iraklion in Crete, Kozani and Evros. These areas were selected because they are the largest in their educational regions. Together they cover 27.9% of the total student population and a 38.33%, of the total teacher population in secondary education. As a result, the survey was based on a sufficiently representative sample of data. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 24.0.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The survey showed that in Greek secondary education, the health education programs that have as their main objective to include sexual education in secondary education level are limited in number. The programs are being delivered mostly by teachers who are not certified for sex education and lack the requisite qualifications.

Key words: Greece, Secondary education, Sex education.

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