E D U C AT I O N F O R H I V / A I D S P R E V E N T I O N

SOUTH AFRICA: THE COMPLEX

ROLE OF TEACHING ABOUT
HIV/AIDS IN SCHOOLS
Sh e r m a i n M a n n a h

This article is certainly not a comprehensive discussion of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

What it attempts to bring to the debate that is new is the voices of teachers and the
realities that they face in the classroom. It is these realities on the ground that produce
a complex environment in which HIV/AIDS education will either succeed or fail to
achieve its intended impact.

The South African context

A new and deadly enemy now stalks Africa – the spread of HIV/AIDS. None of
Africa’s earlier challenges have been as daunting as the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This
disease is known to spread within a context of poverty, ignorance and subordination
of women and children.
According to UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic (2000):
• 40 million individuals are infected with HIV to date. Every day some 8,000
new infections occur among young people and children;
• of that total, 28.1 million are located in Sub-Saharan Africa alone;

Original language: English

Shermain Mannah (South Africa)

After studies in South African universities, she obtained a masters in education from Arizona
State University. Primary and secondary school-teacher and guidance counsellor for thirteen
years. Member of the SADTU Joint HIV/AIDS Task Team as an educational specialist focusing
on curriculum development. Developed and wrote SADTU’s proposal in response to the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. Worked with Education International, World Health Organization and
SADC teachers’ unions. Member of the core team on the EI/WHO Collaborative Project with
Department of Health and Education. Represented EI at ECOWAS, 2001.

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• In fifteen countries of the African sub-region (eastern and southern), the average
prevalence rate for those aged 15–49 is estimated to be 13.95%; in Sub-Saharan
Africa as a whole it is 8.57%; for the world it is 1.07%.
South Africa has the fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world, with more
people infected than in any other country (UNAIDS, 2000). Over 4 million people
are HIV positive. It has been predicted that by 2005 6 million South Africans will
be HIV positive and 2.5 million will have died of AIDS or related illness. Mortality
rates will double by 2010, and life expectancy will drop from 68 to 40 years (Coombe,
2000a).
The reality that South Africa is now the world’s epicentre for the rapid increase of
HIV and AIDS (Sachs, 2000) cannot be viewed without understanding the impact
of apartheid on all walks of life in this country. Apartheid created a country entrenched
with inequalities based on racial hierarchies. Although newly liberated from apartheid,
the country has been unable to address these inequalities that continue to plague
every sector of society. Indeed, after seven years of democracy, South Africa remains
– after Brazil – the most unequal society in the world. Some of the inequalities of
the apartheid years are particularly relevant to facilitating the spread of HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS and education

HIV/AIDS has radically transformed our world. In Africa HIV/AIDS touches all our
lives and requires us to shift our boundaries and to transform our world drastically
in order to meet this challenge. It certainly cannot be business as usual!
Coombe (2000a) indicates the following conclusions and areas of impact of
HIV/AIDS and the education system:
• Fewer children will enrol in school because: HIV+ mothers die young, with fewer
progeny; the children themselves are dying of AIDS complications; and children
who are ill, impoverished, orphaned, caring for younger children, or earning
and producing stay out of school.
• Qualified teachers, teacher educators, and officials will be lost to education through
death, illness or departure for other jobs. The capacity of teacher education
programmes to keep up with attrition will be undermined by their own staff losses.
Rates of enrolment in post-secondary institutions will decline as secondary school
output and quality goes down, and as higher education institutions lose academic
staff.
• Management, administration and financial control over the education system are
already fragile, and AIDS may make it even more difficult to sustain the struc-
tures necessary to provide formal education of the scope and quality envisioned
by the democratic government’s policies
• The costs of illness, burials, and death benefits are rising, along with additional
costs for teacher training. However, financial contributions from parents and
communities will decline as poverty deepens and many households will no longer
be able to keep children in school. Demand on the State to increase education
budgets will intensify.

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• Incalculable psycho-social trauma will overwhelm teachers, children and their families.
• At the very least, school effectiveness will decline where a significant proportion
of teachers, officials and children are ill, lacking morale and unable to concen-
trate.
• Ultimately, there will be a real reversal of development gains, further development
will be more difficult, and current education development goals will be unattain-
able within the foreseeable future.
Education is one of our most powerful weapons against HIV/AIDS, it is also a sector
that is human resource intensive and therefore most vulnerable to the disease. As the
AIDS pandemic ravages, it becomes imperative for countries to rethink education
and education systems in order to curb the onslaught of the disease. Kelly (2000a)
argues: ‘Education in a world with AIDS must be different from education in an AIDS-
free world. The content, process, methodology, role and organization of school education
in a world with HIV/AIDS must be radically altered. The entire educational edifice
must be dismantled.’
The school therefore becomes a crucial site for the battle against HIV/AIDS. The
school is most appropriate due to the following:
• Daily contact with learners;
• Staffed by skilled personnel;
• It is the area with the fastest growing infection rate and houses the most
vulnerable in society;
• Schools have the opportunity to reach young children during the ‘window of
hope’;
• It is best located to establish correct practice;
• The position of the teacher in the community, especially in rural areas, is influ-
ential.
Teachers are currently one of the largest occupational groups in the country. They
are educated, mobile and relatively affluent, and thus fall into a population category
shown to be especially at risk of HIV/AIDS. The incidence of HIV infection among
educators is likely to be above that for the population as a whole. Furthermore, recent
research has reported that government employees in South Africa (a significant number
of whom are teachers) follow closely behind mining employees, who have registered
the highest infection rates. It is estimated that 26% of employees in the government
sector will be infected by 2010 and that 17% are already infected (Vally, 2000). This
has grave implications for the teaching sector.

Tr a d e u n i o n re s p o n s e t o H I V / A I D S i n e d u c a t i o n

The implication of the changing social profile of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is impor-
tant. HIV/AIDS currently impacts most negatively on the poor and the working class.
These groups are especially vulnerable to the disease due to the socio-economic dynamics
that influence their lives. According to Vandermoortele and Delamonica (2000), a
disease that tends to affect poor people is unlikely to generate the same level of polit-
ical commitment and public resources as a disease that does not discriminate against

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158 Shermain Mannah

the poor. This, they state, is valid both at international and national levels. It there-
fore becomes imperative for civil society, including trade unions, to take up the fight
against the disease and ensure that governments show the political commitment nec-
essary to confront the pandemic.
HIV/AIDS is fast becoming a part of negotiations for trade unions and has become
a key policy platform for the labour movement. The largest union federation, the
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), views the fight against HIV/AIDS
as a working-class issue. HIV/AIDS affects the poor who are denied access to basic
amenities like running water, sanitation, etc. Furthermore, poor people are also denied
access to affordable health care. COSATU has therefore become one of the major players
in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The last COSATU National Congress (2000) witnessed
the first major difference of opinion between the federation and the country’s presi-
dent, when the federation challenged the president’s questioning of the link between
HIV and AIDS. The federation believes that this has undermined education and pre-
vention programmes on HIV/AIDS.
In 2001, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) built a powerful coalition with
COSATU, and international organizations – Medicines sans Frontières and Oxfam –
to challenge multinational pharmaceutical giants over patent rights. This led the
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association to drop its lawsuit against the South African
Government’s Medicines and Substance Control Act of 1997. TAC’s activist base and
COSATU’s mass worker membership formed a powerful combination to make grass-
roots participants aware and educate them about HIV/AIDS. Currently TAC and
COSATU, together with other organizations, are campaigning for anti-retroviral drugs
to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
The impact of HIV/AIDS on teachers is of special concern to organized labour.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), which is the third largest
member of COSATU, represents two-thirds of the teaching population in South Africa.
As such, the union has tremendous influence amongst learners, parents and the edu-
cational authorities – and the government of course! The union is strategically located
and well organized to influence policy and implement effective strategies in com-
bating the virus, as well as supporting learners and educators living with AIDS.
Research carried out by SADTU on membership deaths (Educator’s voice, vol. 4,
no. 5; vol. 5, no. 8) indicates that:
• As many as two teachers are dying every day;
• A significant number of these deaths are considered to be AIDS related;
• Our teachers are dying young with the average age at 38.95;
• More female teachers are dying as compared to male teachers in the same age
range.
These conclusions were supported by the thirteenth International Conference on
AIDS in Durban (July 2000), which reported that there is a high prevalence of
HIV/AIDS among school administrators and teachers in South Africa
SADTU has also played a crucial role with governmental and other key stake-
holders in developing and implementing an anti-discriminatory HIV/AIDS policy
for learners and educators. SADTU actively supported the Minister of Education’s

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Call to Action: Tirisano (South Africa. Department of Education, 1999), in which

HIV/AIDS is given first priority. Currently SADTU national negotiators are developing
strategies around the following issues: sick leave and absenteeism; anti-discrimina-
tion; the right to privacy; access to medical aid; security; and provident fund and
death benefits.
On an international level, SADTU, together with Education International (EI),
the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international partners, have galva-
nized teacher unions, the ministry of health and education to develop a collaborative
HIV/AIDS project. Such projects are essential to ensure a multi-strategy and multi-
sector approach to fight the disease. However, the success of the collaborative project
is still to be measured as stakeholders grapple with political and bureaucratic
obstacles that have impeded implementation on the ground.
Currently many schools in South Africa are implementing WHO’s Health Promoting
Schools initiative, which sees the school as a vehicle to improve the health of the
students, school personnel, families and members of the community within a broad
Human Rights Framework. It is a means to support the basic human rights of both
education and health, and its holistic approach is ideal in the face of HIV/AIDS.
SADTU has given this initiative its total support.

Te a c h e r s’ v o i c e s

There is considerable literature in South Africa on HIV/AIDS and education (see

Abt Associates, Coombe, Kelly, etc). The following pages will focus on the experi-
ence of a unique group of teachers who have attempted to provide a window into
their experiences in the classroom and school community. These teachers are unique
because they are teachers on the ground, based in black schools in rural and urban areas.
They are all masters-degree students at the University of Pretoria and have been
dealing directly with the disease, both in the classroom and through research work
on HIV/AIDS and sexuality education. Their responses therefore include the experi-
ences of other teachers that they have been engaged with in the course of their research.
It is hoped that the collective voices of teachers, who are the real foot soldiers in this
war against HIV/AIDS, will provide the arsenal necessary to counter the attack against
HIV/AIDS.2

HIV/AIDS, GENDER AND SOCIALIZATION

The low status of women in Africa fuels the spread of the disease amongst women.
In Sub-Saharan Africa alone 55% of the HIV-positive adults are women (Kelly, 2000a).
In South Africa, 56% of those currently HIV positive are women. Furthermore, of
the 36% of young people (aged between 15 and 24) in South Africa who are HIV
positive, over two-thirds are female (UNICEF, 2000). It is therefore important to under-
stand some of the socio-cultural factors contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS and
the manner in which teachers are grappling with the issue on a personal and profes-
sional level.

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Busisiwe Kwinda is a teacher at Kgomotso Comprehensive High School in

Soshanguve in the province of Gauteng. She states: ‘In my school children learn about
gender roles from their families and communities.’ She goes on to say: ‘Many young
male learners in my school view females as objects to satisfy themselves. Some consider
their sexual relationships with young girl as a mere release of sexual energy that is accom-
panied by a sense of achievement of having used the girl!’ In many instances, she
states that the girls are forced to have sex and usually without a condom. ‘Sometimes,
in some communities,’ she states, ‘the boys hunt in packs and gang rape is seen as a
team sport.’ ‘The girls have no say in the matter,’ says Kwinda, ‘and many of them
have come to accept this kind of behaviour as normal.’ These views are supported by
many studies that have shown that for a vast majority of women in South Africa their
first sexual experience has been one of coerced sex (Coombe, 2001a; Human Rights
Watch, 2001, etc.).
In discussing protected sex with learners in her class: ‘Many male learners believed
that it was really the girls responsibility to carry the condom. Anyway they usually
refused to put it on citing the following reason – do you think you would enjoy
eating a sweet with the wrapper on!’, or ‘If I agree to put on the condom then I am
being controlled by the girl and this is not right.’ Furthermore, male learners feel
that they really cannot control sexual urges and view themselves as helpless little pris-
oners of raging testosterone! Early sexual experience (as early as 12 years old) is an
esteemed feature of male maturation: sex is considered the most fun you can have
(Smart, cited by Coombe, 2001a). Many teachers also believe that the pressures those
young adolescent boys may experience after their initiation rites further exacerbate
this. Kwinda states: ‘The boys face a lot of peer pressure. Usually the young initiate
is expected to have sex as a mark of becoming a man.’
Kwinda believes: ‘Most learners develop their beliefs and attitudes from their homes
where they witness the practice of males in their families and communities.’ Current
academic research supports her belief. According to Kelly (2000a), in most societies
in Eastern and Southern Africa women lack control over their lives and are socialized
from an early age to be subordinate and submissive to men. The girl child is social-
ized to look after others, especially through the care of children and attention to
adults; the boy child is socialized to look after himself, largely in the company of his
age-mates. This leads to a quiet, caring, somewhat submissive disposition in girls,
and to an adventurous, aggressive, attention-seeking disposition in boys. Both sets of
attitudes surface in the classroom, where the teaching is structured to respond positively
to those who are more aggressive and attention-seeking, that is, to boys (Kelly, Msango
& Subulwa, 2000). In the process, girls suffer and their subordination is further
entrenched in the classroom and school community. These deep-rooted gender atti-
tudes and the practices to which they give rise fuel the transmission of HIV.
According to Kwinda this is further inculcated by their interaction with some male
teachers at schools who ‘prey on the female learners’. She says: ‘Young girls are afraid
to say “no” to a teacher who wants to have sex with them because the teacher threatens
to fail them.’ ‘Some girls also entice the teacher because they think he will buy her
buckets of fast food, which she could share with her friends.’ Kwinda goes on to say:

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‘Some of our children come from very poor homes, such that their parents encourage
them to have a relationship with the teacher so that they will have food to eat.’ This
exchange nature of sexual activity puts girls at increased risk of HIV/AIDS and plays
a major role in sustaining the AIDS epidemic.
Women teachers, who make up two-thirds of South African teaching body, also
fall victim to this socialization. Kwinda’s observations and experience highlight the chal-
lenge facing female teachers in schools in tackling gender-related issues linked to
HIV/AIDS. According to Kwinda, in the school staff-room women fail to be assertive
and are expected to be silent in the face of evidence of sexual misconduct on the part
of their male colleagues. She pointed out that when female teachers reported male
teachers indiscretions with the learners to the principal, many female teachers are vic-
timized and some may even be labeled as being ‘jealous’ of the lack of attention from
the male teachers. Sometimes this is further exacerbated when the principal is a male
and views these teachers as part of his group of male buddies. In some instances, the
whistle-blower’s solidarity with their male colleagues and commitment to the profes-
sion is questioned – ‘you should not put down a colleague and bring disrepute to the
profession’.
The official position of organized teachers is certainly very different. For example,
in 2000 SADTU welcomed and supported the sentencing of a 43-year-old teacher in
Brakpan for the rape of a 14-year-old learner. ‘The rape of a learner by a teacher
must be severely punished so that it serves as a deterrent for other teachers, contem-
plating such deeds [. . .]. The only suitable sentence is jail!’, stated the magistrate
presiding over the case. This court decision made front-page news in SADTU’s monthly
publication. The headlines sent a strong message to teachers: ‘Zero tolerance! Teachers
who rape learners must be severely punished’ (SADTU, 2000, vol. 4, no. 9).
The union has a strict code of conduct governing rape, sexual harassment and
abuse. SADTU, together with the South African Council for Educators and the Ministry
of Education, are calling for all rapists to be outlawed from the profession. By speaking
out, unions are breaking the perceived ‘culture of tolerance’ of rape that is widespread
in many school communities. However, Kwinda says: ‘Many teachers feel it is okay
to have a “love relationship” with a learner. They know nothing about the Codes of
Conduct and only a few teachers are brought to book. Many male teachers continue
to “damage” young girls year after year. There is still a lot of work to be done by the
authorities and the teacher unions.’ In order to rise to Kwinda’s challenge, teacher unions
and the Department of Education will have to ensure that teachers are aware of the
Codes of Conduct, review the legal processes to ensure swift justice for perpetrators and
provide counselling and support for victims.

H I V / A I D S , p o v e r t y a n d c h i l d re n

The first South African supplementary report on the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child in May 1999 described South Africa as a ‘racially divided,
traumatized, dehumanized and child welfare negligent society’ (cited by Coombe,
2000b). South Africa is home to 18 million children, just under half the population

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162 Shermain Mannah

of 40.6 million (South Africa National Council for Child and Family Welfare, 1997).
It is projected that by 2010 HIV/AIDs will account for a 100% increase in child
mortality (United Nations Development Programme, 1998) and that by 2015 orphans
will constitute between 9 and 12% of the total population of South Africa (UNICEF,
1999). Despite being better resourced than most of its neighbours, about 60% of South
African children continue to live in poverty. We are well aware that poverty facili-
tates the spread of HIV/AIDS and worsens its impact. At the same time, HIV/AIDS
aggravates poverty by depleting hard-earned resources as it ravages families and com-
munities. And children – especially the girl child – are usually the first casualties in
this war.
David Mbetse is the principal of Mdluli High School in rural Bushbuckridge in
the Northern Province. He states: ‘I have observed a steady increase of AIDS orphans
in his school and the neighbouring schools. The behaviour of some learners suggest
that that the disease is eroding away the stability and security in their daily lives.’
Members of his teaching staff have complained of learners being absent for long periods
of time, withdrawn, listless and inattentive in class. He states: ‘Many children come
hungry to school and experience difficulty concentrating in the classroom. Others
stay away because there is no money to buy soap to wash themselves or their school
clothes. Some stay away because they can no longer pay their school fees.’ When
approached by a teacher to identify their problem, many learners are reluctant and
sometimes terrified to admit that a parent or family member is dying or has died of
AIDS. ‘They are obviously afraid of the stigma of the disease and therefore keep
silent,’ says Mbetse. Furthermore, young girls are most affected in a family ravaged
by HIV/AIDS because they are expected to take care of the sick. According to Mbetse,
the same is true for the teaching profession when females teachers are absent for long
periods of time because they are expected to be care-givers in a home ravaged by
AIDS.
Mbetse states that most of his teachers have insufficient knowledge of the disease,
lack-counselling skills, teach forty to fifty learners per class, are pressurized by time con-
straints and examination demands, and therefore experience difficulty in handling
the issue effectively. Many of them are also coping with similar tragedies on a personal
level and lack the emotional resources to deal with the issue in the classroom.
‘Teachers are human beings too,’ stresses Mbetse. ‘It is nearly impossible to give
any individual attention in such large classes and unfortunately many traumatized
children slip through the cracks and eventually drop out of school.’ But Mbetse is
not easily defeated. Together with his school community, he has attempted to meet
these challenges by providing food parcels for learners, referring aids orphans to the
Ministry for Social Development and Welfare and making home visits to assist learners,
while some teachers volunteer to participate in home-based care programmes.
One of Mbetse’s concerns is that many AIDS orphans are left unsupervised and
this is fertile ground for these children to resort to crime in order to meet their basic
needs. He stated: ‘There has been an increase in petty crime in the area. This might
be due to the increase in AIDS orphans.’ The South African Institute for Security Studies
supports this view. They anticipate that: ‘age and AIDS will be significant contribu-

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 A South African experience 163

tors to an increase in the rate of crime over the next ten to twenty years. Orphans, unsu-
pervised by relatives and welfare organizations, are more likely to engage in criminal
activities’ (Schonteich, 1999, cited by Coombe, 2000b). ‘We have to create some
kind of safety net for these children,’ says Mbetse. ‘Many have been forced to become
breadwinners and we need to assist them to sustain themselves and their families.’
Furthermore, AIDS orphans, especially the girls, become extremely vulnerable to sexual
abuse from adults in the community, thus fuelling the AIDS epidemic.
In responding to the crisis, Mbetse has formed a consortium with health profes-
sionals (nurses and doctors from the local hospital), parents, community leaders and
learners who receive training and on-going information on the disease. The members
of the consortium then cascade it to others in the school community. David Mbetse
has taken his experience to the Ministry of Education in the Northern Province, and
the Bushbuckridge Consortium now trains other school communities in the surrounding
areas. ‘It takes a very special person to fight this disease,’ says David. ‘My teachers
do not use school time to do this extra work, instead they sacrifice their personal
time after school. They need to be applauded for their efforts.’ However, he warns
that, with little or no support, these teachers cannot sustain their efforts for a long
period of time.

HIV/AIDS EDUCATION PROGRAMMES, RELEVANCE AND CONTEXT

Despite the plethora of information available on HIV/AIDS, infection rates continue

to soar in South Africa and there appears to be little change in behaviour. Kelly (2000b)
links the problem to the way in which different individuals interpret and relate HIV-
education programmes to their everyday reality. He states that a major problem with
these programmes is that their listeners are hearing messages at different levels. Most
education programmes carry a scientific message about the physiological causes of
the disease and how it is transmitted. This may be a superficial way of dealing with
the disease. In order to make the most impact and encourage behavioural changes, these
education programmes must address the personal and cultural issues that motivate indi-
vidual behaviour.
Elsie Kgomo teaches Life Orientation in a Catholic Primary School in Doorenspruit
in the Northern Province. She states that her learners are eager and anxious to talk about
sexuality. She attributes this to the lack of information available and the reluctance
of parents to talk to their children about sex. Sex is a taboo topic in most homes and
they believe that ‘children don’t need to know about adult stuff ’. Elsie reports that,
in some instances, the parents resist HIV/AIDS education programmes because they
believe that the teachers are corrupting their children and encouraging promiscuity
amongst the learners.
In addition, Kwinda stated that in some cultures it is the responsibility of the
elders to teach learners about sexuality. This unfortunately only occurs in late adoles-
cence when youngsters are already sexually active and these sessions do not include
HIV/AIDS issues. She believes that, in the absence of information, most learners turn
to their peers for information, which is usually incorrect or distorted. ‘This can be

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very dangerous,’ says Kgomo, ‘since it perpetuates myths and stereotypes of sexuality
and HIV/AIDS.’ Kwinda’s experience with her secondary school learners discussing
HIV/AIDS transmission for the first time supports her view. ‘Many learners believed,’
stated Busisiwe, ‘that they can only get HIV if they had sex with a girl who was men-
struating. Since there was blood present, the risk was high!’
Furthermore the lack of correct information about sexuality and HIV/AIDS is of
particular concern when one considers the escalation of sexual abuse among children.
In the process of abuse, many children become infected with HIV and become poten-
tial transmitters of infection to their classmates or teachers (Kelly, 2000a). It therefore
becomes vital for the school to provide appropriate information because it is not readily
available elsewhere. It is equally important that this be done with a clear under-
standing of the cultural context from which learners come.
Kwinda states: ‘In many instances, the HIV Education Programme is biomedical and
academic in form. It does not “speak” to the culture of the school community.’ She
adds: ‘Many people, even if they are educated – including teachers – still hold tradi-
tional views of the disease. They get traditional when they don’t have answers and
modern when it suits them.’ This view is supported by Kelly (2000a) who states that
traditional views are much more influential in the way the disease is interpreted. He
points out that in some communities the cause of the disease is understood in terms
of the cultural world of taboos, obligations and sorcery. Kwinda supports this view when
she states: ‘Many people see HIV/AIDS as something coming from the outside. It is
seen as some kind of “spell” that has been put upon them by an enemy with the help
of a witch doctor. While others believe that the ancestral spirits are angry with them
and are punishing them.’
Most teachers agree that HIV/AIDS and sexuality education should be an integral
part of the school curriculum. However, Kwinda points out that many teachers have
‘no confidence’ and are reluctant to teach for some of the following reasons:
• Lack of knowledge and resources.
• A culture of silence that shrouds the disease: ‘Many teachers are afraid of their
own status,’ states Elsie – she pointed out that many teachers are afraid to go
for Life Skills training because it will confirm their own fears of being HIV
positive. She says: ‘They begin to diagnose themselves.’ Many teachers would
rather not know their status.
• A culture of fear: Once teachers become knowledgeable of the disease and begin
to discuss it openly in their schools, they are then suspected of being HIV positive
– ‘How come she knows so much about the disease; she must be HIV positive.’
• Language of training: Training is usually conducted in English and teachers cannot
translate it into other African languages. Kwinda pointed out that some African
languages are not adaptable to English terminologies. ‘Sometimes when expressing
it in our language it sounds too vulgar, so we don’t talk about it.’ ‘Some of us
convey the message in English, but our learners don’t understand what we are
talking about.’
• Gender: ‘It appears that most Life Skills teachers are female. And many of our
learners are males. We feel embarrassed to talk about such issues with grown-

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up boys in the classroom,’ reported one female teacher. ‘Some of the male learners
in the high school think we are sexually interested in them and that’s why we
are being so open about sex and HIV. Some of the older boys start getting
“forward” with us after the lessons Others just don’t take us seriously,’ said another
female teacher.
• Teachers as role models: According to Kwinda: ‘Many communities are against
teachers because they see teachers getting drunk and having relationships with
school girls.’ This impacts on the effectiveness of teachers being implementers
of HIV/AIDS programmes and their credibility as role models for learners and
members of the community. Furthermore, Kwinda states that in some instances
learners are aware of the HIV status of the teacher and openly question the appro-
priateness of teachers as role models. ‘It becomes a laughing matter amongst
the learners in the school.’
• Values and skills: Kwinda states that in many instances training workshops are
mere ‘talk-shops’ with the trainer attempting to squeeze everything into two
days. Teachers are often overwhelmed by the content. In addition, the values
and skills necessary for implementation are barely touched on or completely absent
in the training. Training does not allow sufficient time for teachers to orientate
themselves, deal with their fears and confront their prejudices and stereotypes.
Kwinda states: ‘Under apartheid, we lived in a country devoid of moral values.
Today, even in our new democracy we are still experiencing the impact of the
dehumanization of our people. Change in attitudes and behaviour cannot happen
in a vacuum. We need to develop values and attitudes that would bind us together
as a nation in the fight against this monster disease. We cannot afford to neglect
this crucial area when educating ourselves and our children about HIV/AIDS.’

E d u c a t i o n a l re s p o n s e

Arising out of the issues raised by the informants, it would seem appropriate to focus
our efforts on the following areas: curriculum, teacher training, gender hierarchies
and power relations. The following paragraphs attempt to provide some responses to
these challenges.
According to Kelly (2000b), a crucial role for an education system that seeks to form
attitudes and practices that will minimize HIV transmission is to work strenuously
and systematically for greater gender equality, the championing of women’s rights,
and the empowerment of women. Many countries have attempted to deal with gender
issue from the perspective of Life Skills. However, there is still a need for education
systems to address the gender issue more fundamentally. This would ensure that, over
time, new cultural understandings and practices may emerge that will show more respect
for the rights of women and girls, and more ready to accept that they should be in
control of their own lives.
The Life Skills and HIV/AIDS Education Programme initiative of the Department
of Health and Education was implemented in 1995 targeting secondary schools in
certain grades. However, implementation on a large scale in all grades is proving to

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166 Shermain Mannah

be difficult. The programme has experienced limited success in some schools, with
the better-resourced schools experiencing the most benefits. Currently in the school
curriculum, issues relating to sexuality and HIV/AIDS infection are offered within
the Life Orientation learning area. This is a non-examinable learning area and is expected
to cover a wide range of issues, from Environmental Education, Sexuality Education,
HIV/AIDS, Career and The World of Work, etc. Furthermore, this learning area has
been allocated the least amount of time in the school timetable and is usually not taught
at all. Kwinda pointed out that in most schools teachers use the Life Skills period to
teach examination subjects.
Research on the inclusion and quality of HIV/AIDS education courses for student-
teachers was conducted in departments of education at universities, and in colleges
of education in South Africa. Findings indicate that the development of appropriate
courses is still inadequate in the face of the growing epidemic (Beyond awareness
campaign, as cited by Coombe, 2000a). Life Skills remains a neglected area in the
training of new teachers entering the profession. Life Skills courses are on offer but
HIV/AIDS components are not adequately addressed and the courses are seldom
compulsory for all teachers in training. One of the aims of the EI/WHO collabora-
tive project is to address this issue and make recommendations to the Council for Higher
Education and Training to ensure that HIV/AIDS becomes a compulsory part of the
core curriculum for pre-service training for new teachers.
HIV/AIDS must be given priority in the nation’s school curriculum including the
curriculum for teacher training (both in-service and pre-service). This would be trans-
lated into more time allocated to teach Life Skills, more teachers trained in the area
and all principals, school-management teams, school governing bodies being work-
shopped and trained to provide the support required to implement the Life Skills
curriculum effectively. Furthermore, the Life Skills programme should cut across all
levels of education, from pre-school to secondary school levels.
International research and the South African experience have shown that com-
plicity between teacher and learner facilitates the success of education programmes in
schools. Encouraging learners and teachers to assume ownership of the learning in
the school is crucial. Including teachers and learners in the conceptualization, design
and implementation of the Life Skills and HIV/AIDS education programmes and the
development of learning support material can foster this.
Learners themselves are one of the most underutilized resources in our schools.
Research has overwhelmingly indicated that learners learn best from their peers, espe-
cially on issues of sexuality and health. Teachers should be encouraged and empowered
to adopt peer education techniques when implementing the Life Skills programmes.
This approach recognizes the powerful socializing influence that young people have over
each other and seeks to win the potency of peer pressure over to its side.
Current research indicates that very few programmes on HIV/AIDS education seek
to contextualize messages about HIV/AIDS within the cultural discourse of
traditional ideas. Hence, they do not acknowledge and build on the understanding
and beliefs of those they seek to influence (Kippax, Smith & Aggleton, 2000). It
would therefore be appropriate for Life Skill programmes to be developed within the

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 A South African experience 167

contextual boundaries of the school community. The health-promoting schools

concept attempts to bridge this gap between the community and the schools within
a rights-based framework. This concept includes parents, community leaders, health
workers and traditional healers who will work alongside the school, share their expe-
rience and expertise with the school, and shape the school curriculum to meet the
needs of the community. These programmes must include counselling for those
who are infected and affected, as well as community outreach programmes for AIDS
orphans.
The huge challenge of HIV/AIDS demands that, where possible, all teachers should
be equipped to fight the disease on a personal and professional level. According to
Kwinda, ‘Life Skills as a subject in schools suffers a “Cinderella” status and therefore
usually falls to a female teacher.’ The subject suffers a lack of credibility because it is
viewed as a ‘woman’s issue’ by some male learners and male teachers in the schools.
‘Male teachers in most secondary schools teach high-status subjects like Maths and
Science, while Life Skills, which is viewed as a low-status subject, is given to the
female teachers.’ It therefore becomes essential to shift this perception by ensuring
that there is a gender balance in the spread of teachers teaching Life Skills and imple-
menting HIV/AIDS education programmes.
Women continue to be under-represented in leadership and high-profile positions
in the education system and in the teachers’ unions. This practice needs to be urgently
addressed in order to challenge the low status of women and break down the male
‘buddy’ system which fuels the epidemic. Trade unions in South Africa are now
employing a quota system that promotes gender equality. Quotas are established to
ensure that women are present in all activities of the union, including representation
on its constitutional structure. The education system, on the other hand, is governed
by the Employment Equity Act, which requires the employment hierarchy to reflect the
demographics of the country. Although these are progressive actions that could empower
women, they are far from actually being implemented. There needs to be greater
commitment from all sectors to ensure that these obligations are met.
The training programmes for Life Skills and other HIV/AIDS education programmes
must be holistic and comprehensive – they should include the following issues:
• The role of teachers in implementing Life Skills or HIV/AIDS education pro-
grammes;
• The role of teachers in fuelling the pandemic;
• Work-related issues with regard to HIV/AIDS, e.g. absenteeism, confidentiality,
etc.;
• Policies, legislation and codes of conduct;
• Building partnerships in the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially establishing com-
munity schools for AIDS orphans;
According to Kelly (2000a), many teachers resist teaching about HIV/AIDS because
they doubt whether issues of sexuality or appropriate sexual attitudes form part of
their work as teachers, since their entire teacher training and orientation were directed
towards academic areas. It is therefore important for training programmes to
challenge these perceptions by impressing upon teachers their crucial role in fighting

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168 Shermain Mannah

the pandemic. The training programme must balance knowledge, skills, values and
attitudes i.e. content on HIV/AIDS (e.g. transmission, prevention, etc.), teaching
methodologies (e.g. use of participatory techniques, drama, theatre, small-group dis-
cussions, etc.), and values and attitudes (abstinence, respecting the rights of others, etc.).
HIV/AIDS training programmes must include basic lay counselling as an integral
part of training. This will assist teachers to deal with the trauma that learners face,
including issues of grief and bereavement. AIDS orphans are most in need of this
kind of counselling.
Training in this area must address underlying issues, like value systems and power
relations. Value clarification is also a necessary component of any HIV/AIDS training
programme. This gives teachers a safe space to confront their prejudices and stereo-
types, and examine their values and the effects these have on their teaching and
relationships with their learners. In addition, it assists in developing values and atti-
tudes that respect the rights of all individuals. Furthermore, the issue of gender should
not be confined to teaching girl’s communication skills and how to be assertive –
there is also a need for boys to make paradigm shifts too. This cannot be done in
the classroom alone, but needs to involve parents and the community. Training should
develop in teachers the skills to negotiate these challenging issues with a sense of con-
fidence.
The trainers and the models for training must ensure that the programme achieves
maximum impact. Teachers prefer to be trained by peer teachers, rather than people
who have had no experience in the classroom – they have rapport and relate to each
other, making it easier to deal with controversial issues. The cascade model has proved
to be ineffective in equipping teachers to deal with HIV/AIDS.
The training model should reduce the number of training tiers and include a
special cadre of trainers that move from one cluster of schools to another. This cadre
of trainers must include school-based educators. The training programme should be
on-going, and include support, monitoring and evaluation components. Furthermore,
all trainers should be accredited (where possible); training programmes should be quality
assured and reflect the contextual challenges facing educators and department offi-
cials in their fight against HIV/AIDS. Wherever possible, the language of training
and teacher-support material should accommodate the teacher’s first language, as well
as the language of teaching and learning in the school.
The training programme and support material should not be limited to scientific
and medical components of the disease, but should include the broader social, economic
and cultural components. In this way, responses can resonate with people’s real expe-
riences. Such programmes become relevant and therefore more effective in changing
behaviour and attitudes. To state an example: EI, WHO, SADC Teacher Unions and
other partners have developed a Training and Resource Manual on School Health
and HIV/AIDS Prevention. This manual is unique in the sense that the activities
and learning experiences were organically developed by teachers and union members
who gave the manual its authenticity by capturing their true-life experiences in their
schools and communities. As David Mbetse so succinctly puts it: ‘It is crucial for support
materials and training programmes to resonate with the socio-cultural and socio-

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 A South African experience 169

economic context of the learners. Nobody is going to listen to anything that makes
no sense in their lives.’

Conclusion

HIV/AIDS in South Africa is real – it touches all our lives. However, the silence and
denial that shrouds the disease has accelerated its onslaught. We all bear responsi-
bility – from the president of the country to the teachers in the classroom. We cannot
afford to be silent anymore.
Education and our schools stand at the front-line in this battle against HIV/AIDS.
Much has already been done in the education sector. Here are a few examples:
• Teacher unions have helped by publicly breaking the silence: ‘AIDS kills teachers
too’;
• The Department of Education has placed priority on HIV/AIDS;
• International agencies support HIV/AIDS education, e.g. EI and WHO among
several others.
However, our informants on the ground argue that the official initiatives taken, however
well meaning, are being undermined by the cultural, socio-economic and gender
realities in the classroom and in communities. It follows therefore that any compre-
hensive strategy to combat the pandemic must start from an understanding of where
stakeholders are now, especially teachers and learners. The priorities therefore are:
• To enhance the position of women teachers within the education system and
the trade union;
• To make male teachers and male learners aware about their role in the spread
of the pandemic;
• To develop new teaching strategies which address actual beliefs, values and behav-
iour.
As educators at this crucial time in our history we have a responsibility to inform
and change behaviour. HIV AIDS is a threat to us all. In Africa we have defeated
our colonial masters, in South Africa we have defeated apartheid – schools were the bat-
tlegrounds against our oppressors. A new war of liberation has now been called for,
but the enemy is far more sinister and lives within us – it stalks our playgrounds,
our classrooms and our communities. We have to be ready for it. There is no time
to waste. For every minute wasted one of us dies.

No t e s

1. I wish to acknowledge my special thanks to the following people for their assistance
and contributions: Jon Lewis, Nirvana Mughanlal, Linda van Rooiyen, Carol Coombe,
Michael Kelly, Elsie Kgomo, Busisiwe Kwinda and David Mbetse.
2. The following accounts do not form part of any systematic survey and do not reflect
current research. They are the personal experiences of teachers selected by me and included
in this article to provide a unique insight into classroom dynamics.

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170 Shermain Mannah

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