Life Awareness Skills
We emphasis at HIV/AIDS education for orphans and other vulnerable children. This includes raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and practical training in life skills. Other sections focus in general on educationand school age children. Other sections cover issues regarding access to education and the role of schools.
Key points about HIV/AIDS awareness and life skills for orphans and other vulnerable children are:
- Education about HIV/AIDS may take place in schools in several ways. It may be included in the curriculum or in extra-curricular activities, such as AIDS prevention clubs.
- Information about HIV/AIDS is useful to children and young people. However, information alone is not enough to overcome the risk of HIV infection. Children and young people need to gain certain skills as well. These are called life skills.
- Life skills training in schools can be seen as part of a range of activities which promote the health of children and young people.
- A wide range of other activities may be used in schools to reduce vulnerability to HIV infection. Some of these reduce vulnerability indirectly.
HIV/AIDS Education in Schools
Education about HIV/AIDS may take place in schools in several ways. It may be included in the curriculum or in extra-curricular activities, such as AIDS prevention clubs. This education needs to start before children become sexually active. This means that it needs to start in primary school. Such education needs to be appropriate for the age of the child. It should also be sensitive to social and religious norms. This may mean that the approach used may need to be adapted to different types of schools . Teachers require training in order to provide this education. This training needs to include use of participatory methods. Children and young people also learn a great deal from each other. Approaches which use 'peer education' methods are based on this fact.
Life Skills
Information about HIV/AIDS is useful to children and young people. However, information alone is not enough to overcome the risk of HIV infection. Children and young people need to gain certain skills as well. These are called life skills. Training in life skills usually involves participatory ways of learning, such as using games. The aim of such training is to modify behaviour, not just to give knowledge. Areas covered in life skills training include negotiation skills, assertiveness, coping with peer pressure, compassion, self-esteem, tolerance and social norms. Practical skills may also be included, such as sewing clothes, thatching huts, personal hygiene and household agriculture.
Health Promotion
Life skills training in schools can be seen as part of a range of activities which promote the health of children and young people. These include provision of health services, policy on health, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, teaching and learning and a focus on using the school to promote health within the wider community.
School health promotion is defined as all means a school uses to become healthier and to spread health to those who attend and work in it and to their families and communities. It includes health education but is more than just this. It also includes:
- A safe and healthy environment
- Good nutrition practices
- Good school health services
- Joint health action between the school and the community
Other Measures
A wide range of other activities may be used in schools to reduce vulnerability to HIV infection. Some of these reduce vulnerability indirectly. These activities include:
- Education itself. Children and young people who receive at least nine years of education are less vulnerable to sexual exploitation and HIV infection.
- Ensuring the quality of education and that it is relevant to local needs.
- Ensuring that girls have the same educational opportunities as boys.
- Making counselling available to children and young people. Such counselling should be broader than HIV/AIDS and sexual health. It should include issues relating to problems in families and finding employment.
- Providing recreational and social services.
- Establishing monitoring systems to detect problems within schools. These problems include sexual abuse and the coercion of children and young people into exploitative sexual activities.
- Developing supportive policies, such as those which promote children's rights .
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