Student teachers need more HIV training, says a new study

A new study, done in Uganda teacher training colleges shows that much as student teachers from primary teachers' colleges are highly aware of the HIV prevention measures, they are not well educated on transmission, signs, treatment, and its effects at the different levels of HIV/AIDS.

The findings in a new 2019 study, Sexual Health Communication Strategies and HIV/AIDS Awareness among Students in Teachers' Colleges in Central Uganda, shows that tutors and student teachers trainees need more training in how to conduct school-based talk shows on stigma and discrimination of children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

More so, the study recommends that the tutors and student-teacher trainees also need more training in how to integrate HIV/AIDS in their teaching. 

"This can be done through refresher courses and practise how to integrate HIV/AIDS into lesson plans," advises the report.

Why care?  

The researchers in this study note that this training of student teachers is massively important because "Creating awareness among the youth on HIV/AIDS is key to reducing its spread. Central to awareness creation is ensuring that knowledge of HIV/AIDS is passed through appropriate sexual health communication strategies."

In their study, they argue that at the lower level of education, primary teachers are critical messengers of HIV/AIDS messages to learners. 

They note that the teachers in primary schools have the potential to reach larger numbers of learners due to the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, hence a greater multiplier effect.

Efforts to involve already practising primary teachers in the HIV/AIDS fight have been through in-service training mainly in the form of seminars and workshops. They, however, say the approach may not adequately equip teachers with sufficient information and capacity to create awareness about HIV/AIDS for their learners. For effective HIV/AIDS education at primary school level, teachers need to be adequately informed and trained.

This is the reason why the researchers believe that primary teachers' colleges (PTCs), as training institutions, "have a significant role to play in raising awareness on HIV/AIDS among student-teacher trainees and ultimately build their capacity to disseminate HIV/AIDS among their learners upon completion of the training." 

"The student-teacher trainees need to be equipped with correct information on HIV/AIDS which eventually builds their confidence to talk about HIV/AIDS to learners. For the training colleges to deliver on this, sexual health communication strategies used at the college level are central." 

They argue that there is limited information on sexual health communication strategies on HIV/AIDS used in PTCs and awareness among the student-teacher trainees and that this needs to change. Uganda is not alone; the researchers say that neighbouring countries like Kenya are also grappling with the same problem.

Creating awareness among the youth on HIV/AIDS is the key to reducing its spread. Health experts say, one of the greatest troubles of HIV in schools has been stigma; which teachers can easily tame when well-educated on how to handle it. 

Deeper problem 

These school children may not know the deeper implication of stigmatising an HIV-positive colleague, but a 2019 study says that stigma is still the leading cause of stress for HIV-positive children in schools; at a time when thousands of teachers and students are still HIV positive.
 
A 2019 research by Ugandan and foreign researchers in Western Uganda's secondary schools, on students living with HIV/AIDS shows, "Stigma is still a key stressor affecting psychological wellbeing of students in schools."

The research says that the fear of death and uncertainty of the future compounded by financial and academic challenges are doing a heavy toll on HIV-positive and stigmatised students. 

The deeper part of the stigmatized students is that several students are living with HIV in schools. The 2018 official reports from the education ministry, show that in primary schools, a total of 38,789 (18,848 male and 19,941 female) learners, and 2,000 teachers have HIV/AIDS. More so, an estimated 10,210 students and 1,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in the secondary sub-sector, live with HIV.
 
This means that about 60,000 teachers and learners are living with HIV in primary and secondary schools in the country. 

UNAIDS reports that the prevalence rate (the percentage of the population that is HIV-positive) is 7.2%. The HIV/AIDs scourge has partly affected the country's progress in the promotion of education. These effects result in an increased drop in access to education, performance, transition rates, and education demand in general.

The 2019 report notes that there is, "Fear of being known as living with HIV and of other peoples' reactions following disclosure was told to lead to perceived stigma". 

It adds: "Stigma was mainly noted in discrimination and unfair treatment from others at school following disclosure and in loss of friendships."

Children living with HIV/AIDS who attend school also experience stigma and discrimination from teachers and fellow children in several ways. There are cases when teachers refer to children with HIV/AIDS as ‘patients', regardless of whether they have an illness.

Some teachers also use stigmatising phrases such as, ‘living dead', when referring to children who have HIV. At another level, there is preferential treatment, where the children are not given heavy physical punishment because they are considered frail.
 
Such responses by teachers to children living with HIV/AIDS may, however, be detrimental, leading to high levels of stigma.
 
"Children with HIV are even called patients or the ‘sick'. Other teachers will often tell you that do not mistreat that child as he is sick even when he has no signs and symptoms." 

HIV+ children are given names by other children, which are considered stigmatising.
 
Way out

The 2019 report on HIV in schools says learning institutions should provide a supportive environment. The report notes that the school environment brings more stressors than support for youth living with HIV. "The daily stressors related to HIV stigma, uncertainty, disclosure, privacy, and confidentiality render schooling a hassle for youth living with HIV." 

"Interventions that promote resilient school communities are necessary to foster disclosure in a non-discriminatory and stigma-free environment. This calls for concerted efforts from all school stakeholders," the study recommends.

The director of basic and secondary education, Hajj Ismael Mulindwa, says there has been an effort in the past by the Government to ensure that teachers are trained in workshops on how to handle HIV/AIDS-related issues.
 
"We will see how we can put more effort into their awareness and skills of handling the sensitization on HIV, at the training level." 

The state minister for higher education, Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo says, "There is a need for the immediate interventions, to help the increasing number of learners living with HIV/AIDS in the education sector; that is faced with, psychosocial social problems, poor feeding, stigma, and discrimination."
 
"We plan to step up more funds in the fight against HIV through awareness in Primary Teachers Colleges. This research is a big eye-opener for us to be able to see the looming danger. This is a matter we shall discuss extensively to see how PTCs can be helped." 

More so, the state minister for primary education, Rosemary Sseninde, says the fight against HIV/AIDS is a joint effort by teachers and schools. 

"They all have to work as a team, with the assistance of the Government. We can all work together to end this scourge in our schools. We will focus on PTCs too if that helps as this study shows," she says.