Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) has a long and deep tradition in the Caribbean. HFLE builds on the culture of the Region and the efforts of teacher and teacher educators to include life skills and health teaching in the curriculum. HFLE is a life skills programme for youth, which focuses on knowledge and skill development for the whole person.
With the support of CARICOM and UNICEF, there now exists a framework to guide the teaching of HFLE for students ages 9-14. The first Caribbean Health and Family Life Education Regional Curriculum Framework provides goals, objectives, standards, outcomes and sample lessons in four thematic areas: Sexuality and Sexual Health (which encompasses HIV/AIDS prevention), and Self and Interpersonal Relationships (which incorporates violence prevention); Appropriate Eating and Fitness; and Managing the Environment.
Based on the Framework, CARICOM and UNICEF supported the development of a core curriculum for two of the themes: Sexuality and Sexual Health and Self and Interpersonal Relationships. A four-country study evaluated the implementation and student outcomes of the core curriculum compared to traditional HFLE teaching. EDC/HHD conducted the study in: St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, and Grenada.