Education can act as second 'vaccine' against AIDS

Researchers, who recently took part in the third Commonwealth teacher research symposium in Maputo, have highlighted the role that teachers are playing in combating HIV/AIDS.

The symposium was organized by Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with Education International (EI) the umbrella organisation representing the world’s teaching unions. It took place from February 19 – 21, 2008 at the Pestana Rovuma Hotel, in Maputo, Mozambique.

Some twenty researchers examined new research on “Gender, HIV/AIDS and the Status of Teachers” which drew attention to the impact of the AIDS virus on teachers and the quality of the services that they deliver particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dennis Sinyolo, Education Coordinator for EI, and formerly a teacher union leader in Zimbabwe, reported on a survey in six Commonwealth countries – the Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. He found that the average rate of loss was 4% and with acute teacher shortages in most areas, it would be difficult for these countries to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. His research suggested that AIDS-related deaths had led to high attrition rates, especially in Lesotho and Zambia.

Such research has negative implications for the teaching profession, such as the possible need of infected teachers to be stationed fairly close to clinics where they can access the monitoring, treatment and drugs that their condition may require. The situation also has implications for teachers’ ability to be professionally productive.

Professor Michael Kelly of Zambia, who delivered the keynote address, called for a strong rights culture in schools as well as education for girls, which he argued would provide a second vaccine against AIDS. Such a culture, he noted, should not only affirm gender equality in principle, but also in practice.

“It should show zero tolerance for all forms of violence and for every manifestation of stigma or discrimination. It should encourage the development of life-affirming attitudes and values. Most importantly, it should seek to transform understandings of what it is to be a woman and what it is to be a man,” he said.

Commenting on the aim of the symposium, Dr. Roli Degazon-Johnson, Education Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat observed that “there are two firsts in the staging of this year’s symposium: this research symposium is being held for the first time in Mozambique, whereas the two previous ones were held in the United Kingdom. Also, for the first time this symposium is being presented in collaboration with a valued strategic partner, Education International”

Mrs. Maria Albertina da Conceicao Bila, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Mozambique opened the symposium, which was also attended by representatives of the National Organisation of Teachers of Mozambique and other Mozambican experts.

The researchers who attended were drawn from Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Zambia. A report of the conclusions is due to be circulated to all Ministries of Education in the Commonwealth, teacher unions and other interested partners.

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