Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Mary Joy Pigozzi, Director Division for the Promotion of Quality Education, UNESCO Bangkok 13 July 2004

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Learning at 2 Levels Level of the learner: 1.Seeks out learners 2.Acknowledges what the learner brings 3.Considers the content of formal/non-formal learning 4.Enhances learning processes 5.Provides a conducive learning environment Level of the system: 1.Structures management and admin to support learning 2.Implements relevant and appropriate policies 3.Enacts legislation supportive to learning 4.Restructures resources for learning 5.Measures learning outcomes

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Learning Seeks out learners Considers the content of formal and non-formal learning Provides a conductive learning environment Acknowledges what the learner brings Enhances learning processes Structures management and administration to support learning Implements relevant and appropriate policies Restructures resources for learning Measures learning outcomes Enacts legislation supportive to learning

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Level of the Learner

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Seeks out Learners Children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS among most disadvantaged Enrolments decrease and dropouts increase Schools must play role in creating supportive environment so children remain in school, learn and fulfill their right to education More than ever education needs to be attractive and relevant to draw and retain learners

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Acknowledges What the Learner Brings Learners may bring high levels of competence gained from supporting families and providing care These learners may also experience higher levels of: –trauma from witnessing illness –reduced parental care and malnourishment –stigma, discrimination and exploitation –hopelessness and fatalism Schools and learning places need to appreciate these factors and address the particular vulnerabilities of learners

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Considers the Content HIV/AIDS requires new thinking about educational content and teacher training Learners must be equipped with facts and skills for life that are age and gender specific Young people should be reached before they become sexually active Curricula can include treatment education, care and support as part of a comprehensive response HIV/AIDS can help promote health education and healthy schools and learning places

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Enhances Learning Processes All learners should be treated equally, particularly those from AIDS-affected households Stress that people affected by HIV have the same rights as others Life skills approaches require educational processes consistent with what is being taught Children and adults must be equipped with knowledge, values, capacities and behaviors to take informed decisions

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Provides a Conducive Learning Environment HIV/AIDS has drawn attention to violence in education, particularly gender-based violence Violence in learning places may increase the vulnerability of its recipients to HIV Violence can take the form of bullying, verbal abuse, sexual coercion and abuse including rape, and physical harm UNESCO takes a rights-based and multi-faceted approach with the goal of safe, secure and supportive learning environments

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS System Level

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Structures Management to Support Learning Well run schools and learning places include space for bringing out difficult issues so these can be addressed UNESCO Brazil’s ‘Making Room’ program fosters social inclusion by bringing together parents, students, teachers and administrators School timetables can be altered to accommodate work schedules of child-headed households Daycare may be provided so older siblings can participate in education

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Implements Relevant and Appropriate Policies Good policies are an essential foundation for safe and secure learning places and will help address HIV/AIDS Rights-based polices will consider inclusion, discrimination, and violence in all its forms Polices will cover students, teachers and non- teaching staff Policies must be widely understood, regularly reviewed and updated, and have mechanisms to ensure enforcement

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Enacts Legislation Supportive to Learning Legal frameworks should broadly define right to education covering all aspects of relationship between HIV/AIDS and the educational system Must provide for all to fulfill their right to education Compensatory action to ensure equality of opportunity for those affected and infected by HIV may be called for in some contexts

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Restructures Resources for Learning HIV/AIDS placing increasing demands on limited resources to ensure education for all Personnel, time, and financial resources implicated Schools and learning places require resources to review, update and monitor policy effectiveness - essential feedback loop – to decide about resource allocation Research is helping to improve evidence-based decision making in this difficult area

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Measures Learning Outcomes Types of outcomes include knowledge, values, skills/competencies and behaviors Ability to measure these varies but efforts to improve are underway Key challenge is to disaggregate data in meaningful ways to work towards fair system without labeling or inadvertently discriminating against people affected or infected by HIV/AIDS

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Practical Implications UNESCO has developed a matrix using the quality education framework reflecting how HIV/AIDS manifests itself in education systems Includes examples of program responses The challenge remains to put the vision of quality education into practice

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Implications Overcome the denial that HIV/AIDS is a priority for education Focus on inclusion in education Recognize that gender issues are key to the problem Emphasize people, especially teachers and educators, their practices and preparation

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Implications Acknowledge that the curriculum is far more than what is taught Introduce treatment as well as prevention education immediately Identify and reinforce elements of education plans that take account of HIV/AIDS

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Taking the Commitment Forward Analyze strengths, weaknesses and barriers to effective implementation of different approaches Evaluate conditions where educational responses to HIV/AIDS are more effective Improve documentation and research in relation to the 10 dimensions of quality education Develop better understanding of treatment education and other gaps identified Identify ‘what works’ for sharing good practice

Quality Education and HIV/AIDS Taking the Commitment Forward Advocate for particular principles to guide improvement on full range of interrelationships between quality of education and HIV/AIDS Provide data, rationale, and examples to assist others in their advocacy work Promote and guide new work in relation to treatment education Develop policy and other tools to facilitate progress in schools and other learning places