“If You Don't Abstain, You Will Die of AIDS”: AIDS Education in Kenyan Public Schools

Abstract

We explored constraints of implementing AIDS education in public schools in Kenya. Sixty interviews with teachers and 60 focus group discussions with students were conducted in 21 primary and nine secondary schools. System/school-level constraints included lack of time in the curriculum, limited reach of secondary-school students (because AIDS education is embedded in biology, which is not compulsory), and disapproval of openness about sex and condoms by the Ministry of Education and parents. Alternative strategies to teach about AIDS had their own constraints. Teachers lacked training and support and felt uncomfortable with the topic. They were not used to interactive teaching methods and sometimes breached confidentiality. Teachers' negative attitudes constrained students from seeking information. Training interventions should be provided to teachers to increase their self-confidence, foster more positive attitudes, and stimulate interactive teaching methods. The Ministry of Education needs to have a clear policy toward the promotion of condoms.

“It is all about the fear of being discriminated [against]…the person suffering from HIV will not be accepted”: a qualitative study exploring the reasons for loss to follow-up among HIV-positive youth in Kisumu, Kenya

“…Furthermore this study suggests that the school influenced how all students were socialized into maintaining stigmatizing beliefs about HIV due to a clear lack of scientific information in the school curriculum demythologizing HIV. This study confirms published findings that educators lack proper training regarding HIV and at times breached students’ confidentiality regarding their HIV status [ 18 , 20 , 35 , 36 ]. However, this study takes this concept a step further by suggesting that the school environment itself in Kisumu influenced LTFU among YLWH.…”

“…However, this study takes this concept a step further by suggesting that the school environment itself in Kisumu influenced LTFU among YLWH. Despite the fact that the majority of participants in this study believed support was impossible without disclosure, support can be provided to YLWH by creating a welcoming environment free of stigma [ 35 , 36 ]. If the environment is not supportive, youth and families cannot be expected to be forthcoming in their disclosures.…”

Lessons learned from a decade implementing Comprehensive Sexuality Education in resource poor settings:The World Starts With Me

“…In some other contexts, programme implementation of a computer-led programme has been strongly hampered by non-availability and lack of access to electricity and to the Internet. These findings are in line with many other studies conducted on sexuality education in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ahmed et al 2009;kinsman, Harrison, and kengeya-kayondo 1999;Njue et al 2009), which identified a lack of relevant resources as major barriers of implementation. A lack of motivation among teachers who provided sexuality education after school hours has also been noted when they do not receive financial compensation for their extra work.…”

An Integrative Review of Comprehensive Sex Education for Adolescent Girls in Kenya

“…It is predominantly an HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum with one dedicated HIV/AIDS lesson each week incorporated into standard teaching. Most of the HIV/AIDS teaching in this program is factual, but according to Njue, Nzioka, Ahlberg, Pertet, and Voeten (2009), the program does not fully address psychosocial issues required by a prevention curriculum and gives conflicting messages on contraceptives and condom use. According to the researchers, when primary school teachers received training on the curriculum, Ministry of Education officials urged them not to discuss contraceptives and condom use with students, although these topics are contained in the curriculum.…”