Improving Knowledge of Elementary School Students as Peer Educators of Reproductive Health

Background: Awareness and knowledge about reproductive health among children in the elementary school in Indonesia was really low. Education about reproductive health is needed to increase the knowledge of reproductive health among elementary school students. This research is conducted to analyze the impact of Training-of Trainer model in elevating the knowledge of elementary school students as peer educators for reproductive health.

Method: This research used quasi-experimental method, with pretest and posttest one group only design. The samples of this research are 30 peer educators, which were selected purposively from 3 state elementary schools in the District of Brebes, Central Java, Indonesia. The intervention that had been given was a training about reproductive health for a whole day by a Facilitator Teacher and a Peer Educator from State Junior High School 2 Brebes. The assessments had been conducted before intervention and a month after intervention.

Result: According to the difference test using Wilcoxon Match paired Test, significant differences were found in the knowledge of the participants before and after Training-of Trainer model intervention (p=0.002) and there was an of 1.26 points in the knowledge.

Conclusion: Education about reproductive health by using training-of-trainers for a whole day could significantly elevate the knowledge of peer educators related to reproductive health within a month after the training had been conducted. The roles of peer educators are crucial because as peer facilitators, they are more trusted and it makes children more comfortable in performing discussion. Trained peer educators are expected to be reliable agents in changing reproductive health behavior of elementary school students.