Teacher unions working on the EI EFAIDS Programme shared their experiences with participants of the IIEP and UNAIDS-IATT Web Forum Report: ‘Teachers and HIV & AIDS: Reviewing achievements, identifying challenges’. Below are summaries of some of their contributions to the E-Forum.
Uganda civil society activist, Agnes Kabanda Kyambadde who partners with UNATU and who participated in the inaugural EFAIDS training session in 2006 highlighted the work carried out by the union. She explained “The Ministry of Education in Uganda has developed an education work place policy on HIV/AIDS. Challenges were experienced at the dissemination level” and commended UNATU’s initiative to produce a version of the policy designed to be displayed on notice boards. In this way the policy is more likely to be used in practical situations. She added “I believe all teachers in the developing world need a version of this policy”.
Julius Kisakye representing the Teacher Anti-AIDS Action Group commented on underlying factors hindering the policy from achieving maximum impact, “the problem however is that HIV and AIDS has never been fully accepted as a normal disease by some members in our society, so stigma and discrimination has continued to exist in some sections of society”.
Namibian union, NANTU also recognises the importance of combating stigma and discrimination in the context of its broader work on HIV and AIDS. Michael Nasheya, EFAIDS Coordinator in NANTU expressed the union’s commitment to “creating a supportive and enabling environment for teachers affected by HIV and AIDS”. To this end NANTU has partnered with the Ministry of Education and UNESCO to create a network of teachers living with HIV and AIDS which already has some sixty members. NANTU worked together with the Ministry of Education to develop a Workplace Policy for the education sector, with two national EFAIDS trainers bringing their experience to the editorial board. NANTU is now taking steps to raise awareness “rights and responsibilities” of teachers under the Workplace Wellness Policy on HIV and AIDS through workshops and publications.
The Lesotho Association of Teachers proposed that in Lesotho HIV and AIDS should be “a stand-alone subject in school so that it can receive the appropriate allocation of time, resources and personnel”. Speaking on behalf of the union, EFAIDS Coordinator Africa Makakane explained the practical difficulties of spreading HIV and AIDS education across the curriculum in Lesotho schools He stated “it is taught as a component of various subjects such as Life Skills. Some people are less interested in issues related to HIV and AIDS hence do not treat it as a burning issue.” He continued there was a need for HIV and AIDS education to be “handled by teachers who trained to handle” it and should be accorded enough time, as well as the “special resources required for teaching it”.
To read about the E-Forum in further detail, please consult the Forum report or link to E Forum site.