Pandor: Education Sector Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey 2004 Symposium (19/07/2006)

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Published: 19 Jul 2006

Pandor: Education Sector Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey 2004 Symposium (19/07/2006)

Date: 19/07/2006
Source: Department of Education
Title: Pandor: Education Sector Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey 2004 Symposium

Address by the Minister of Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, MP, at the Education Sector Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey 2004 launch, Johannesburg

Mrs Machel,
Distinguished participants:

It is a pleasure to open the “Symposium on the Education Sector Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey 2004.”

I trust that the findings of the first international survey of education sector readiness in the world’s most vulnerable countries will provide us with a better understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS and a clear guide to future policy development.

I think that it is very appropriate that we are meeting so soon after the United Nation General Assembly Special Session, a high level meeting which reviewed global progress in response to HIV/AIDS.

The symposium also comes immediately after a “special meeting of the council for human and social development on education and HIV/AIDS which was held in Trinidad and Tobago and which was attended by the Deputy Minister Enver Surty.

Both are timely reminders of the challenges our respective countries face in addressing this deadly pandemic.

The sharing of information at such forums as this symposium is critical in strengthening national, regional and global cooperation. For at the centre of our response must be the enhanced coordination of all our national, regional and international efforts.

We welcome the support that Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) International Agency Task Team (IATT) has rendered in South Africa, especially in our most vulnerable provinces.

The UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on education which was created in 2002 is convened by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) with the aim of accelerating and improving education sector response to HIV/AIDS by promoting and supporting good practices.

An African team based at a South African tertiary institution conducted this international baseline survey and therefore and its recommendations are sensitive to African cultures and contexts.

We need to understand the implications of HIV/AIDS impact on the demand, supply and outcomes of education. We also have to plan and manage it as a long term systemic problem. Long term planning on this scale presents a new set of challenges for education systems so that we can co-ordinate an education sector response that is systemic, sustainable and comprehensive. This means that the four key themes prevention, treatment, care and support, workplace issues and management of the response are addressed simultaneously.

Many countries on our continent have taken significant steps in their education systems, in the area of prevention; some have begun the development of effective treatment, care and support programs but few have addressed workplace issues or management of the response adequately.

This fragmented approach leaves education systems vulnerable, even in low prevalence environments.

However, no matter how far we have come and no matter what we have achieved so far it is not enough.

We acknowledge that education in itself is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal to combat HIV/AIDS. There is now overwhelming evidence that access to education is the key to understanding and interpreting increasingly effective HIV/AIDS messages and materials.

We have made progress in a number of departmental initiatives in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in and on our education system:

An HIV/AIDS policy for educators and learners in all public institutions was developed in 1999 to deal with discrimination, care and support and confidentiality issues.

The schools life skills programme was introduced as a compulsory component of the school curriculum as early as 1996.

The Department of Education (DoE) introduced the Girls Education Movement (GEM) throughout the country to reduce the vulnerability of and to strengthen the resilience of the girl child in our schools.

The Department has also set up school based counselling and support services for learners that are affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. The services ensure that:

* Orphans and vulnerable children are identified and supported to stay in school.
* Children in schools targeted by the school nutrition programme benefit.

Parental support was identified as crucial to the success of the programme and hence the Department developed advocacy materials for parents and training manuals on the management of HIV/AIDS for school governing bodies and management teams.

The South African Vice Chancellor’s Association and Technikons Principals Association, now merged into one body called Higher Education South Africa (HESA), in collaboration with the DoE, developed and is implementing the Higher Education AIDS Programme (HEAIDS).

Whatever we do, we must also measure where we are now and monitor our progress. We also have a responsibility to evaluate what we do and how we do it and report this to the many stakeholders and partners we have in the education sector.

The findings of the study conducted by the Education Labour Relations Council on the supply and demand of educators which was released in 2005 provide us with important information on the challenges and a better understanding on how to plan for the human resource requirements in the education sector.

Various studies have been conducted to assess whether our school interventions reach their intended audiences. For example, the 2002 Nelson Mandela /Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) survey found that 84 percent of children below 25 learnt about HIV/AIDS at school. In addition the study on HIV and sexual behaviour among youth conducted by Love Life in 2003 found that 77 percent of the youth reported that condom use prevents HIV/AIDS. The first South African National Youth Risk Behaviour Survey of 2002 found that 72 percent of learners were taught about HIV/AIDS in schools.

This indicates and strengthens the Department’s resolve in dealing with HIV/AIDS in a more holistic sense through health in education.

In closing, I welcome this report and especially the policy guidelines that give us focused direction.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Education
19 July 2006