| SAPLER Population Trust | |
| Splendidly Alive People Within Limited Environmental Resources | |
Pioneers
Young people, recruited from the community and given basic training, are effective as full time sex-educators in schools because they can really engage pupils with the reality of their lives and the importance of their informed choice.
The guidance counsellor, by contrast, is a conventional teacher who has exam subjects to teach and the dignity of teachers to uphold. They often don't live in the area, are remote from pupils lives, don't enjoy teaching sexuality education and don't actually teach it. However, they are usually good managers of community sex educators.
North West Province Department of Education is working on engaging communities, using early learning centres. Following an independent evaluation by UNISA and a draft proposal, the Department is currently considering widespread use of Pioneers.