Assessment of educational centers and satisfaction evaluation of instructors offering pre-marriage education program in Iran

The pre-marriage education program started in Iran in 1993. The present study had several main goals, and this article deals with the results of two objectives, including the assessment of pre-marriage education centers and assessment of the instructors' satisfaction with the program.

The study was cross-sectional. Ninety-six centers were selected by simple random sampling, and instructors of selected centers included in the study by census method. Data were analyzed using SPSS-18 software.

The mean of overall satisfaction score of instructors with the "pre-marriage education program" was 20.56 (SD=3.753). The instructors were satisfied or very satisfied, including 88.4% with the content of textbooks, 70.1% with the regular holding of retraining courses, 96.2% with the cooperation with the center, 98.2% with the behavior of colleagues, and 98% with the center authorities management for holding classes. The instructors were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, including 60.6% with the paid amount for instruction and 51% with the timely payment. There was no significant relationship between the overall satisfaction with age, gender, marital status, education, and duration of the instruction experience. A significant relationship was between overall satisfaction with the level of education (p=0.012), employment relationship with the center (p=0.014), and the type of class (p<0.001). Thus, instructors with master education were the most, and instructors with bachelor education were the least satisfied with the program. Official instructors had the least, and contract instructors had the most satisfaction. The instructors of the "reproductive and sexual health course" were the least, and the instructors of the "ethics and laws course" were the most satisfied with the program. The results of the evaluation of centers showed that more than 80% of the centers were in good condition in terms of lighting, heating system, and the appropriate seat numbers for participants in each class. About 70-80% of centers were in favorable condition in terms of the appropriate number of classes, adequate ventilation, the fitness of educational facilities with needs, and adequate physical space for classes. Only 50-70% of the centers were in good condition in terms of cooling system, and access to the necessary infrastructure for online classes.

The promotion of the pre-marriage education program requires the development of the necessary infrastructure and the improvement of the welfare conditions of the instructors. We hope that the results of the present study can help the policy-makers of the health system to improve the monitoring of program.