Education System in Africa Needs More Resources for Children to Protect Themselves

(HN, September 22, 2010) - The lack of resources for education in Africa could be one of the reasons for a shockingly low level of HIV prevention knowledge among young people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ann Cotton, the Executive Director of Camfed International, which has several projects in Africa, said the lack of teacher training impacts upon the quality of education.

“You see classes where the teachers are young, very inexperienced and with up to 90 children,” said Cotton.

On Monday, HUMNEWS reported on a new study that cast doubt on the effectiveness of millions of dollars of donor money pumped into HIV AIDS prevention education in Africa. The study of 60,000 Grade Six pupils and their teachers in over 2500 schools in 15 countries, found students within most of the countries have “a generally low level of knowledge about HIV AIDS.” Only 20-40 percent of pupils reached the minimal knowledge level and less than 10 percent reached the desirable level.

Cotton, who appeared at the Clinton Global Initiative on Wednesday in New York, said that given the sensitivity of the HIV and AIDS issue in many countries, effective instruction on the topic can be difficult. The training of so-called teacher mentors has proven to be an effective tool: teachers see them as a first port of call for issues causing concern.

Cotton said that traditional leaders, because of their influence in some countries, need to be brought on board to help spread prevention education and messages. "Given the context of fear surrounding HIV, it can have a paralyzing fear on communities," she said.