N Pandor: Education Sector Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey 2004
symposium

19 July 2006

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