• Education:
• What We Do:
• Mitigating the Impact of HIV/AIDS

Mitigating the Impact of HIV/AIDS

Education is one of the sectors worst affected by HIV/AIDS

On the one hand, HIV/AIDS have affected educator supply because of the relatively high sero-prevalence found among teachers. It has also made millions of children orphans, thereby increasing the responsibility of schools and teachers.

The role of education is paramount in protecting the uninfected children who present the future families, communities and nations. Education remains one of the most effective approaches to prevent HIV transmission and to mitigate the impact of the epidemic.

Education about HIV/AIDS should start at the early childhood stage and should involve parents. Young people need to be involved in developing reproductive health programmes.

The threat of the pandemic in the Commonwealth is acute, with an estimated 60 per cent of the World's sufferers residing in Commonwealth countries.

The spread of the disease has multi sectoral impacts on the delivery of quality education. Its impact on the future numbers of orphans and students in the education system, and on the supply and demand of teachers is a major concern.

The disease undoubtedly poses the biggest challenge for the Commonwealth at the present time. Presenting approximately 30 per cent of the global population, commonwealth countries carry a disproportionate 60 per cent of the world’s HIV/AIDS positive persons. An estimated about 40 million people were infected with HIV/AIDS globally at the end of 2006.

In many African countries, large numbers of teachers, administrators and other educational employees are becoming infected, leading to the expectation of substantial impacts on the supply and quality of education.

Learning achievements will also be adversely affected as a rapidly growing proportion of children suffer the impacts of bereavement, stress, poverty, poorer nutrition and the need to work to support family members.

Education is critical to prevention of HIV/AIDS. Statistics show that children out of school have higher infection rates, so prevention programmes also have to be tailored to reach all Commonwealth children who are not in primary and secondary school and even large numbers of illiterate adults.

Commonwealth Secretariat’s support

The Secretariat has assisted Education Ministers in member countries to explore the role educational policies and strategies can play in tackling the HIV epidemic.

There are many hopeful signs of progress in the fight against the epidemic. In collaboration with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), the secretariat’s education section organises workshops on good practices to facilitate sharing of experiences and identifying challenges.

The secretariat works closely with other organisations such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNESCO in developing suitable workplace policies and the design of other interventions to support teachers.

In order to strengthen education in life skills, the secretariat is also supporting the development of a Social Learning Package for lower secondary grades in India.