Education can prevent HIV infection, but the virus can damage and even destroy education systems. How should the education sector respond to the evolving nature of the epidemic? A paper from the Partnership for Child Development, in the UK, makes recommendations for education policymakers in relation to recent trends and research results.

The education sector is crucial to any national response to HIV. School-age children, between 5 to 15 years old, form the population segment with the lowest rate of HIV infection. But the number of children living with HIV increased from 2.1 to 2.3 million between 2003 and 2005. What does this mean for education systems?

The authors discuss ideas arising from knowledge of the current state of the epidemic and rapidly increasing access to effective anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for children and young people. They predict a rise, followed by a fall, in school-age numbers of HIV-positive children:

• ART will prolong survival, increasing the number of infected children of school age.
• However, as health services succeed in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the numbers of infected children will fall.
• Five to seven years later, the number of children entering school will also drop.

The paper looks at the impact of HIV on two groups of children: those carrying the virus and HIV-negative children from families affected by HIV. Infected children have specific health problems, but having HIV-positive parents will affect the wellbeing of both groups through:

• sickness and possible death of the parent
• household poverty
• greater workload in the home for the child
• stigma and bullying by peers
• emotional reactions, including withdrawal, shame and poor concentration.

Schools must adapt to having many such children in class. They can also help these young people prepare for living with HIV as adults. All school and educational responses must consider the developmental stages of children and their emotional needs and:

• work to reduce stigma
• support treatment in the school setting, especially for adolescents
• enhance teachers’ sensitivity through in-service training and workshops designed to promote awareness
• teach nutrition, hygiene, desirable social behaviour and ART as ways to build a child’s defences
• address not only safe sex within family life education, but also consent, choice and self control
• build partnerships between teachers and students, rather than relationships based on authority and instruction
• improve HIV-related aspects of the curriculum through in-service training and free discussion among teachers
• provide support to teachers, many of them affected by HIV infection themselves or their friends or relatives – who may find some of their students’ problems hard to face themselves.

Source(s):
‘HIV as Part of the Life of Children and Youth, as Life Expectance Increases: Implications for Education’, Journal of International Cooperation in Education 10, pp 101-113 by Edward S Cooper, Claire L Risley, Lesley J Drake and Donald A P Bundy, 2007 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: The Partnership for Child Development receives funding from the World Bank’s Development Grant Facility and the UK Government’s Department for International Development.

id21 Research Highlight: 27 April 2008

Further Information:
Edward Cooper
Partnership for Child Development
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Imperial College Faculty of Medicine
St. Mary’s Campus – Medical School Building
Norfolk Place
London W2 1PG
UK

Tel: +44 20 75943292
Fax: +44 20 72627912
Contact the contributor: edcooper@doctors.org.uk

Partnership for Child Development, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK

Other related links:
'HIV/AIDS and the demand for primary school places'

'How do children affected by HIV and AIDS in Zambia cope with school?'

'Catastrophe or controllable crisis? The impact of the AIDS epidemic on schooling in Africa'