EVALUATION OF SOUL CITY SCHOOL AND MASS MEDIA LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION AMONG JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The study aimed at evaluating Soul City school and mass media life skills education among junior secondary school learners in South Africa using a postintervention design. The sample consisted of 3150 learners, 44.1% were male and 55.9% female, and their mean age was 15.6 yrs (SD=1.6) ranging from 13 to 24 years. Results indicate that Soul City school life skills exposure was positively associated with puberty/body knowledge, HIV knowledge, HIV risk perception, and condom use at last sex. The Soul City life skills mass-media edutainment had mainly a significant positive impact on condom use knowledge, attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS, self-efficacy, and delaying sex.