TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS ON CONDOM AVAILABILITY IN SCHOOLS

The former Minister of Education in South Africa recently (February 2009) stated that education authorities will not be making condoms available to learners at school. In her opinion, " ... holding teachers responsible for distributing condoms would make teaching very, very difficult" (Cape Times, 2009). On the contrary, Han and Bannish (2009), despite acknowledging a dissident view which says that condom availability in schools may encourage sexual activity, argue that one way of increasing condom access for adolescents is to make condoms available in schools. Utilizing a sample of 371 teachers from primary and secondary schools in rural areas of the eastern Free State region, South Africa, the study investigates perceptions of teachers on condom availability in schools through a structured questionnaire.