The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Education System N.M. MUUKA th th 17 – 20 September, 2019 Introduction • HIV/AIDS has been spreading relentlessly and this has affected all aspects of life, education inclusive. • As such, aspects of education such as demand and supply, resource provision, content as well as organisation and management have changed to respond to the disease. • How then has HIV/AIDS impacted the education system? Impact of HIV/AIDS on demand for education • HIV/AIDS has affected the education system by affecting demand • Demand for education will be affected in that the population for school age children as well as numbers of adults of childbearing age will been reduced • School age population is directly influenced by fertility rates. • The impact is greatly felt by countries with high HIV/AIDS infection rates (eg. Zambia – 12.9% of the total population; 11.3% of adult population aged between 15 and 49 years) • The pandemic has greatly impacted the enrolment rates especially among AIDS orphans who cannot afford education. • In some instances, the demand for education is reduced due to many children dying of AIDS because of mother-to-child transmission. • Between 1990 and 2000, Zambia experienced a decline in primary school enrolments; Primary school enrolment rate was at 1.6 million in 2000, this increased to 3.3 million in 2017 (UNICEF, 2018) • This was attributed to the high HIV/AIDS prevalence; about 19%. • Furthermore, the country experienced an increase in the number of dropouts and a decline in school completion rates. • A fall in pupils-through lower enrollments or non continuation- will lead to a decrease in the number of classes and schools. • Additionally, Zambia had a large number of orphans; In 1996 it was reported that there were almost half a million orphans. It was estimated that there could three times this number by the year 2000; 2018 Zambia had about 1.4 million orphans. • This undoubtedly will have an impact on determining educational infrastructure and other human resource requirements and will lead to policy implications such as some schools having t Impact of HIV/AIDS on supply • HIV and AIDS affects the supply of education in a number of ways; • loss of trained teachers through mortality; In 1996, 2.2 percent of the trained teachers died (MoE, 1997) • Ailing teachers are unable to work; the many trained teachers who are still surviving are finding it increasingly difficult to provide uninterrupted teaching services because they are too ill to do so. • Losses through death and sickness has already affected education officers, inspectors, college lecturers, finance officers, planning officials and other management personnel in the education sector • This will mean that the education system will be unable to match supply with demand; high demand but low capacity to supply • In certain cases where there is a lack of teachers and other personnel to run the schools, the government is forced to close classes or schools. • Due to the prolonged illness of teachers, there is loss of teaching time • Zambia’s mortality rates for the cohort 15-49 years was 23 per thousand in 1998 (Kelly, 2000); In 2010 Zambia had 26,000 HIV/AIDS related deaths and 17,000 in 2018. (UNAIDS, 2019) • A reduced supply may also be due to lack of support and or, insufficient funding by the community and government • Since both have competing demands for resources, funds for maintaining facilities and places, let alone building new ones, may be very limited • HIV/AIDS will affect education supply in that there will be a decline in the rate of increase; a) Fewer children will enrol – few families can afford to pay for education due to loss of income because of the expenses that come with HIV/AIDS (cost of care, funerals or loss income by death/illness of bread winner) b) More children leaving school early- due to lack of finances, taking care of the sick parents/guardians, making an income for the family, discrimination and stigmatisation, illness and premature mortality (education will not yield the desired returns) c) Gender gaps- there is increasing educational disparities between girls and boys because girls are removed from school to look after and care for siblings and relatives, to substitute for the productive work of other family members or to save the costs of school fees. Girls may be forced into early marriage, as they are pushed out or try to escape from overcrowded extended families d) Increased danger for girls – Girls are married off to older men, who seek younger girls as they are presumed to be uninfected. Parents believe they are keeping such girls away from HIV/AIDS infection by removing them from the dangerous school environment that promotes sex education and has male teachers and other male staff that can infect their daughters e)Increasingly difficult to teach children -AIDS exacerbates problems of poverty, disinheritance, migration, orphanhood, child abandonment, psychological trauma, isolation, discrimination, physical and sexual abuse - the very conditions which create such children. • Evidence indicates that a major problem with the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the rapidly increasing population of orphans, who have higher mortality rates as they are likely to be less well nourished, may be overworked by their guardians and lack proper supervision, care and school or vocational training. • Such problems may be aggravated if the child is uprooted from family and community, either through outright orphan hood or because of the often enforced migration of widows and their children. • Such circumstances are resulting in increasing numbers of abandoned, exploited and unschooled street children. Impact on Resources for education • AIDS has undeniably impacted on the flow of resources both at private and public level. • New roles have got to be attended to, such as learners need to work in order for them to generate household income in cases where parents are terminally ill. • Less money is available for school fees due to increased number of orphans. • Government over the past ten (10) years have had to capacity build in all its ministries in order to contain the pandemic. • In so doing, it means there has been reduced public funds. • Teachers and other staff in the Ministry of Education who are terminally ill still have to get their salaries. • According to UNESCO (2006), Education systems need to budget for the following: • Change in pension funds; • Increased teacher medical care, • Additional teacher training; • Increased number of relief teacher • Funding to fulfil the new role of the education system (eg tailoring curriculum towards self-reliance and sustainability, taking care of orphans by introducing feeding programs, psychosocial counselling, etc). Impact on Clientele in schools • As observed in subsequent topics, HIV/AIDS has adversely affected the number of pupils in schools; there has been massive growth in the number of orphans which has resulted in the extended family and welfare services being burdened. • Instead of being in school, the potential pupils engage in income generating ventures or prostitution for the girls, or taking care of the sick. • Some still are married off at a young age. Impact on the Process, content and Role of Education • HIV/AIDS has affected the process, content and role of education in a number of ways. • The process has been greatly transformed due to new social interactions arising from the presence of AIDS – affected and infected individuals in schools. • There is rampant abseentism of sick teachers and pupils from households affected by the disease. • These factors contribute to the ineffective process of education delivery. • In order to mitigate the impact, education systems have had to integrate HIV/AIDS, sexuality education and life skills in the curriculum. • With such measures in place, it is hoped that increased knowledge, enhanced attitudes and solidified life skills will promote safer sexual behaviour. • The role of education has been enhanced in that teachers have been given the responsibility of being counsellors. • Schools are now bases of the dissemination of HIV/AIDS messages. • These are directed to pupils, staff and the communities they serve. • Additionally, education is supposed to be lifelong learning and the skills and knowledge obtained must make someone self-reliant and must be sustainable. • This, it is hoped , will be useful when it comes to dealing with challenges that come with the pandemic Organisation, management and • In a bid to mitigate the pandemic, it has called the reorganisation of structures, programmes and management. • Bearing to the fact that most pupils engage in income generating activities, school calendars are adjusted to accommodate them. Schools have been built closer to communities to cater for pupils unable to travel long distances. Over the years there has been the mushrooming of community schools with flexible timetables. • At management levels, there has been alot of capacity-building and human resource planning to cushion the much needed personnel. • This has led to the establishment of intra-sectoral epidemic-related information systems. • The essence is to help those already infected to live positively and contribute productively.
