More than a third of children - some of them as young as 12 - at five schools in one of South Africa's largest cities are sexually active, research has shown.
Some 253 out of 665 pupils told researchers from the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) that they had had sex, with 48 saying they had had two or more partners during the past 12 months. Six of those who admitted to being sexually active were in primary school. A further 66 said they had not used a condom.
Joanne Brink, head of the education unit at the FPD, said the results indicated that sex education programmes had been unsuccessful.
"We were shocked by the high numbers of pupils who were sexually active", she said. "Very few sexually active learners think they are at risk of contracting HIV/Aids."
Joan van Niekerk, manager of advocacy and training at the charity Childline, said the findings were "very concerning".
"It's pretty much in line with another study which found that children started experimenting with sex below the age of 12 and that most were sexually active by 18," she said.
"There is a lot of pressure on girls to become sexually active with their boyfriends. Lots of girls feel they don't have the right to say no and that if they don't agree, the boy will leave them."
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