Chairperson, Mr J Godden
Distinguished panellists
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director, Mr Jeff Borns
Teacher unions, educators, learners and parents
Development partners
Civil society partners
Representatives of research and academic institutions
Representatives of government departments
HoDs and officials of the department of basic education
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a singular honour and privilege to address this Seminar today, particularly when such a moment has brought together a wide spectrum of people sharing a common interest and vision in improving the education system of our country.
I am most humbled by the opportunity extended to me to announce to you the new Department of Basic Education Draft Integrated Strategy on HIV and AIDS for the period 2012 to 2016, and to formally open the consultation process on this Draft Integrated Strategy. We plan to consult broadly, at both national and provincial levels.
The development of this strategy by the department is very timely and pivotal coming at a time when South Africa has embarked on an accelerated programme of action effectively to address the formidable challenge that HIV and AIDS poses to the country’s overall development. President Jacob Zuma announced this new path on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2009.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have been living with the HIV and AIDS epidemic for over 25 years now. We have seen its ravages and have learnt many lessons along the way. It would be foolhardy not to let these inform our future action.
One of the most fundamental of these lessons is that HIV and AIDS is no longer a challenge for the health system alone. It is a developmental challenge affecting every sector of society. Research and practice has taught us that we need a combination of bio-medical, behavioural and structural interventions, together with strong community involvement and political leadership.
The education system is a critical lever for development and must play an active role in helping to reduce new infections and in responding to the needs of those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Our Department’s first intervention on HIV and AIDS came in 1998 through the development of the National Policy on HIV and AIDS for Learners and Educators in Public Schools and Students and Educators in Further Education and Training Institutions and its subsequent gazetting in 1999. This was only four years after our transition to democracy and, at the time, this development was ground-breaking with South Africa being one of the first countries to adopt a formal policy on HIV and AIDS in the education sector.
The policy was considered to be forward-looking for its time because of its strong human rights ethos and principle of non-discrimination adopted for both educators and learners infected by HIV.
The department is proud to continue this legacy by presenting this forward-looking strategy that presents a comprehensive and integrated approach to HIV and AIDS in the schooling system.
Distinguished guests, the primary response that the department has instituted over the past decade is the HIV and AIDS Life Skills Education Programme, that largely focuses on preventing HIV and AIDS among learners. This, as you may well know, is offered as part of the curriculum across all grades through the Life Orientation subject, in order to improve knowledge about the transmission of HIV and to build skills among learners to help them make informed decisions.
The impact of the HIV and AIDS Life Skills Education Programme was noted by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in the findings of a Youth Risk Behaviour Survey conducted in 2010.
The MRC survey found that a considerable percentage of children had received HIV and AIDS education at school and that the percentage of learners that had been taught about HIV and AIDS in school was 65.4 (MRC 2010).
We have noted that twelve years since the introduction of the policy, the international and national environment with respect to HIV and AIDS has changed dramatically.
A wealth of knowledge has accumulated on what works and what does not work and, in particular, on what role the education system can play in preventing and mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS.
Our own departmental programmes also had to shift and expand beyond the original mandate, in response to the pressing challenges faced at school level.
South Africa’s response to the epidemic is guided by the HIV and AIDS and STI National Strategic Plan, 2007-2011. A new strategic plan will be crafted during the course of this year, to guide our collective response from next year onwards.
We will utilise the consultation process this year to align the Department of Basic Education (DBE) draft strategy to this new strategic plan. Obviously, without your support and expertise in this area, our plans in this regard will not take off. Thus we had to engage you today in this crucial seminar, inviting you to work with us in producing an effective and realistic strategy that would make a difference in the fight against the debilitating scourge of HIV and AIDS.
Given that 95 percent of school-going children are HIV negative, the Department of Basic Education in partnership with sister government departments, including the Department of Health, and other partners, has a decisive role to play in the promotion of intervention programmes on safer sexual behaviour among teenagers.
Despite the fact that HIV prevalence among children aged 18 and younger was almost 3%, as reported by the HSRC in 2008, we cannot be complacent. We have to worry also about the health of teachers. As we said in our Education For All Country Report for 2010 (p. 51): “There is little doubt that HIV and AIDS has a debilitating effect on learning and teaching. The report of the International Institute for Education Planning on the impact of HIV and AIDS on education (2002) draws attention to effects such as increased absenteeism among teachers and learners, increasing shortage of teachers as a result of mortality and greater numbers of orphans in the schooling system.”
The new draft strategy sets out the basis for a comprehensive and integrated response within the education system for learners, educators, school support staff and officials, as well as parents and care-givers infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. It recognises the centrality of teacher development both to equip educators with knowledge and skills to deliver the life skills curriculum, but also to address their own needs with respect to HIV and AIDS.
Given the scale of the epidemic in South Africa, the life skills education programme and other co-curricular interventions, have increasingly taken on an ever-expanding care and support roles for learners and educators. In this regard, employee health and wellness programmes as well as initiatives of teacher unions have played a pivotal role.
The new DBE Draft Integrated Strategy is informed by the national imperative of implementing a comprehensive HIV and AIDS programme.
Accordingly, the education system will work in close partnership with the Departments of Health, Social Development, Public Service and Administration and the South African National AIDS Council, teacher organisations and unions, learner organisations, School Governing Body bodies, academic and research organisations, civil society, development partners and other stakeholders.
The finalisation and implementation of the DBE Integrated Strategy on HIV and AIDS will require close collaboration and strong partnerships with all of you.
We rely heavily on your collective knowledge, experience and support. It is this that will help us in pulling together this new strategy.
Before I close, I would like to urge all of you to actively engage in this process such that we all, as key stakeholders in the education sector, can own the strategy and the subsequent policy that will emerge.
The department would like to extend its sincere gratitude to all partners who have worked tirelessly to provide advice and support in crafting the new Draft Integrated Strategy on HIV and AIDS, 2012-2016.
In particular, I would like to acknowledge the technical support of the Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division, better known as HEARD, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the generous financial support received from the United States Agency for International Development.
Lastly, it is my fervent hope that this new and accelerated approach to HIV and AIDS in education will help build a better education system and a better life for all our people.
Once more, thank you most heartily for making time to join hands with us together to do more to turn the tide against the spread of HIV and AIDS.
I thank you for your attention.
Source: Department of Education
