Cape Town — Western Cape teacher unions have no plans to hand out condoms to pupils. Instead, they say, they are encouraging teachers to advocate abstinence.

Their comments come just days after a KwaZulu-Natal union unveiled plans to distribute condoms to schools to curb the HIV and Aids pandemic and teenage pregnancies.

With the department of education not distributing condoms to schools, the National Teachers' Union plans to distribute condoms at 10 schools in KwaZulu-Natal.

The union said that while it was good to advocate abstinence, the reality was that many pupils were sexually active.

But the provincial spokesperson for the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa, Mogamad Gasant, said his union would not consider such a move.

"We will not hand out condoms to learners. We do not support such a move in the Western Cape or in any of the other provinces."

Gasant said distributing condoms to pupils was the work of social services and other organisations dealing with such issues.

He said teachers' responsibility was to educate pupils about these issues.

"The educational side of HIV and sexual responsibility is covered in the life orientation curriculum.

"Going beyond that and handing out condoms, the union will not support."

Cape Teachers' Professional Association spokes-man Faez Tassiem said: "We will not endorse something like that.

"We are rather encouraging our members to teach abstinence as the first line of defence."

Nonhle Mkhulifi of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union Gender Unit said they were currently distributing only condoms to their members and would not extend the programme to include pupils.

"We don't even use schools as a distribution site for condoms. Members have to go to the union offices to get a condom," she said.

But the Treatment Action Campaign's Nosisa Mhlathi said they supported the KZN union's plan and that the distribution of condoms to pupils was a step in the right direction.