RECENTLY THE Gleaner's Editors' Forum hosted guests discussing the matter of HIV/AIDS in schools. Here are excerpts from the sitting.
DR. DELORIS BRISSETT
Head of the Guidance and Counselling Unit at the Ministry of Education
FIRST OF all I would like to establish that the context of the HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme in the Ministry of Education is set within the Health and Family Life Education programme (HFLE).
There is a definite relationship and the Ministry has gone this route because there seems to be viability, there is good reason for it, therefore, I will be speaking a little bit about the Health and Family Life Education programme even before I speak to the HIV/-AIDS programme.
DRIVING FACTORS
The factors driving the HFLE programme include what most of us already know, the decline in age of first sexual activity, increase in what's becoming known as transactional sex, increase in reported incident of sexual abuses, increase in reported incidents of homosexuality, evolution of new family structures and rules and also what we recognise as dysfunctionality of the family.
The HFLE curriculum was developed for and in schools since 1983. The scope of it is grades one to 11. It is supported by a national policy which was developed as far back as 1993, I believe, and it provides the context within which to teach positive lifestyles and responsible sexual behaviours, therefore anchoring the HIV/AIDS education programme. The Min-istry's foray into HIV/AIDS Prevention Education started back in 1990 and examination will show three distinct phases, project phases and a number of partners.
In 1990 to 1993 we worked with UNESCO on the first HIV/AIDS education programme in the Caribbean; in 1995 we worked with UNDP and in this current phase beginning in 2002, we are working with the Ministry of Health, World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO and JICA, the Japanese International Corporation Agency. The work that has been done has included the development of a model for the introduction of the curriculum for HIV/AIDS education for grades six to nine and developing a model for its infusion into the curriculum.
We have developed curriculum support material for students and for teachers and guidance counsellors. The policy guidelines are still in the developmental stages, we have done training of teachers and guidance counsellors for the delivery of the HIV/AIDS curriculum which was developed with the assistance of the UNDP back in 1996/97.
TRAINED PEER EDUCATORS
We have trained peer educators and we have sought to empower teachers, guidance counsellors and students to deliver and to receive the curriculum. In this present phase, which we are particularly interested in, our partners include UNICEF and we are working with UNICEF for the production and dissemination of a HIV/AIDS policy system-wide.
With the World Bank/Ministry of Health, we are looking at the revision of the HFLE policy, we are also getting support for the Ministry of Education's Workplace Policy Development. With UNESCO we are seeking to activate a system-wide risk policy team, making us more effective and far reaching in scope of the kind of work that we will be able to do. Under that same arrangement we will be training school's personnel, to include school boards, principals, teachers, guidance counsellors.
We will also be sensitising parents and students. With the Japanese International Corpor-ation Agency, we expect to receive volunteers, technical assistants who will be placed in the six regions of the Ministry of Education and we hope that the Japanese volunteers will assist the regions to make the counsellors more technically competent, so that they can access and deliver using some of the technologies.
MS MAVIS FULLER
Focal Point for HIV/AIDS Min. of Education
I WILL address the issue of HIV/AIDS policy. This policy began its development in 2001 and there are a number of collaborative individuals on this policy. We have Ministry of Health, we have the Attorney General, we have parents, we have guidance counsellors, we have principals. We have as our guiding principle, that there being no cure for AIDS, the focus must be on prevention via information, education and efforts to behavioural change.
We are also looking at the fact that children infected with HIV/AIDS may lead long, healthy lives and like all children, therefore, they should have a right to education. We are also looking at the fact that the children living with HIV do not necessarily pose a health risk to others.
HIV is transmitted sexually and this is how most persons living with HIV in Jamaica become infected and children become infected through vertical transmission.
Our goal for the policy is to promote effective prevention and care within the context of the education system. We have as our objectives to highlight the existence of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica and in particular in the education system; to provide guidelines for institutions on the treatment of students and school personnel infected with HIV/AIDS; to promote the use of universal precaution in all potentially infectious situation; to ensure the provision of systematic and consistent information and education material on HIV/AIDS, students, schools, personnel throughout the system and hopefully to instil non-discriminatory attitude towards persons with HIV/AIDS.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
We have a legal framework guiding the policy and it indicates that care must be taken to balance the rights of the individuals within the society as well as the rights of the infected with those of the uninfected. Maximum confidentiality protection of information related to HIV/AIDS status of an individual is an essential public health measure. The issue of clear and specific guidelines with respect to confidentiality, justification, discrimination and laboratory testing is necessary and is the responsibility of the relevant agency or institution.
Students infected with HIV/AIDS should not be excluded from institutions of learning on the basis of their HIV status nor should persons be suspended, expelled or dismissed on account of their HIV status or that of a relative.
We have a broad section called statement of intent and that section covers a number of issues and I will just highlight the headings in the interest of time. We have a section which looks at non-discrimination and equality and we are saying that no staff with HIV/AIDS should be discriminated against directly or indirectly. Speculation or gossip concerning any person suspected of having AIDS should be discouraged and students and school personnels with HIV/AIDS should be treated just, fair and humane just like any other.
ADMISSION AND APPOINTMENT
The second section speaks to testing, admission and appointment and we have had much discussion on this. No student should be denied admission to or continue attendance at an institution on account of his or her HIV status. No staff member should be denied the right to appointment in a post or promotion on account of his or her HIV status or perceived status nor should HIV exist as their reason for dismissal or refusal to renew any staff member's employment contract. Regarding attendance, students with HIV have the right just like any other to attend institutions,and they are expected to attend classes in accordance with statutory requirements for as long as they are able to do so.
Our next section speaks to disclosure and confidentiality, which is a very touchy area. No student or parent on behalf of a student or educator is compelled to disclose his or her HIV status to the institution or employer; voluntary disclosure of a student or educator with HIV/AIDS to the appropriate institution should be welcomed and an even environment should be cultivated in order to facilitate this disclosure. It may be in the best interest of a student with HIV/AIDS, however, if a member of the staff of the institution directly involved with the care of the student be informed of this status.
DR. PETER FIGUEROA
Chief Epidemiology and AIDS
- Health Ministry
WE ARE very pleased with the policy that the Ministry of Edu-cation has developed, as well as with the steps that are being taken to increase the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic throughout the education sector. Although much remains to be done, the policy is really a very important step forward. It is very clear and explicit on a number of very important issues and I will just choose one which Mavis referred to, namely, the non-discrimination of persons with HIV whether a school child, a teacher or any member of the education community, it is very very important because we have had unfortunate instances where there have been questions about this in specific schools.
The role of the education sector is very very special. It has a special role and responsibility because as Pat said in her opening remarks, it's the education sector which is really responsible not only for the education of our children but also in a sense for the formation and development of our human resources and intelligencia within the society.
Looking first at the education of our children, the Health and Family Life Education Programme is there and it has been there for sometime, we do need to look at whether it is actually being taught in all the schools, because I get the impression that because it's not a requirement some schools for different reasons do not have a full programme and I don't think it's examinable and therefore it may get less attention that it needs everywhere.
The other thing is that while we have to put sex education and HIV/AIDS education squarely in the context of Health and Family Life Education, we need to ensure that as much as possible we empower our children with an understanding of sexual skills and their ability to relate in a positive manner to one another and that they are properly prepared as they move into their adolescent years and adulthood. We have to be sure that the content fully addresses this and that the approaches are varied.
The other thing which we are realising in health is that we have to take a holistic approach to the development of our children and address the question of emotional intelligence.
ANGER OR VIOLENCE
In other words, how they manage their emotions so that they don't just spill over into anger or violence; how they manage their inter-personal relations; how they resolve conflicts; their resiliency to the kind of challenges that they face and all of this within the context of practising a healthy lifestyle, so it is not a straightforward issue. It is quite a complex issue, how to help empower and develop our children and we know that parents and families really have the first responsibility but we also know that a lot of shortcomings and issues need to be addressed.
So when it comes down to the specific issue of school children who are sexually active, I think we need to come to grips, not only in the education sector but in the society as to how we deal with these children because right now, the family, the Health and Family Life Education Programme correctly puts the emphasis on abstinence.
It encourages young people not to be sexually active, however, we do know that there are children in our school system who are sexually active, so how do we then deal with these children.
One of the recent positive developments has been recently that Cabinet has now passed a policy concerning the access of minors, that is, children under 16 years of age to family planning, in other words, if a child is sexually active and they approach a health worker and the health worker is unable to convince the child to stop being sexually active, then the health worker is free to advise and place the young person on some form of contraceptive method.
Now, the problem is, that access to condoms or other family planning methods is not an easy matter for a young person. If they go to buy it in a pharmacy or shop, very often the older person who is behind the counter either is reluctant to sell it or refuses to sell it and maybe gives them a lecture or may make remarks that are very embarrassing for the young person but this is something also that the education system has to grapple with when they have sexually active children.
The other challenge that the education sector faces is how to have a truly sector-wide approach to the epidemic, in other words, the preparation of teachers in teacher's colleges, all the tertiary institutions as we prepare different courses and students in the different areas we have to be able to integrate HIV/AIDS into the different courses. I know that at the University of the West Indies, they are beginning to do this, the University of Technology recently had an important AIDS awareness day. These initiatives are very very important but we do need to get a sector-wide approach in relation to education so that when we prepare persons with special skills, let's take Human Resource Managers, Personnel Officers, that they come out of the institution with the skills and the knowledge to deal with HIV/AIDS.
PENNY CAMPBELL,
UNESCO
AS DR. Figueroa highlighted, we are not too sure how the teaching of HFLE is being influenced in the schools in terms of whether it is being implemented in all schools or not, and how effectively it is being implemented in all schools or not.
The question that comes into my mind is; are our teachers the best, most ideal persons to deliver sex and sex-related information and most importantly life skills on HIV/AIDS?
Already a lot of NGOs, agencies and sectors are partnering very closely with schools and communities to deliver this kind of education and maybe that's something that we may also need to think about in terms of scaling up and that could perhaps address Dr. Figueroa's comment about especially reaching those young people who are sexually active. Perhaps we can think about building those kinds of partnerships with schools and communities, particularly building up the responsible NGO community in playing a more active, co-ordinated role dealing with the very sensitive issue in the schools that is affecting our young people.
