Innovations in Education: the role of Education Sector in Combating HIVAIDS

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Innovations in Education the role of Education
Sector in Combating HIV/AIDS
Presented By Kendra Blackett-Dibinga Authors
Kendra Blackett-Dibinga, Dr. Kechi Anah and Nelia
Matinhure
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Introduction Contextual Framework

• Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than 25
  million people with HIV/AIDS, roughly 63 of the
  global total
• Close to 60 of all adults with AIDS are women,
  and 75 of all young people aged 15 to 24 with
  HIV/AIDS are female.
• The continent is home to 90 percent of the
  children living with HIV/AIDS and 80 percent of
  the children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
• As caregivers die, the burden of care falls to
  extended families, communities and faith based
  organizations
• Resources to meet the needs of orphans are in
  short supply

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HIV/AIDS Impact on Education

• HIV/AIDS is decreasing the demand for education
• Drop out rates for orphaned children are
  increasing due to death of their caregiver
• Research has shown that schools, and particularly
  teachers, should be targeted for HIV/AIDS
  education

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Role of Schools in Addressing HIV/AIDS

• Schools, if facilitated, can be an important
  player in the fight against HIV/AIDS
• Increased access to education for girls is
  important in reducing their own risks to HIV/AIDS
• Schools play a significant role in early
  childhood development
• Children who go to school are provided with
  opportunities for social interaction, character
  building and enhanced learning
• OVC are provided an opportunity to address grief
  and trauma through social interaction

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Innovations in Education

• Key Question How can schools be facilitated to
  provide essential services inclusive of
  psychosocial care and support, HIV/AIDS education
  and life skills education and by so doing serve
  as change agents in their communities?

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Conditional Cash Transfers

• In recent years, governments have explored the
  use of conditional cash transfers provided to
  households to encourage practice of desired
  behaviors (sending a child to school, accessing
  health services)
• Conditions are placed on households which, if not
  followed, means they would no longer receive the
  cash
• What happens when we place similar
  conditionalities on social institutions (i.e.
  schools) which are in many communities central
  providers of care and support services to their
  members, not only students?
• Even more, what happens when we use these
  conditionalities to enroll increased numbers of
  orphans and vulnerable children who would
  otherwise not be able to access school?

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Africares Block Grant Program

• The Community-Based Orphan Care, Protection and
  Empowerment (COPE) project launched in Zimbabwe
  in 2002 used Direct Cash Transfers to schools
  in exchange for OVC enrolment
• The goal of the program was to encourage shared
  responsibility of orphans and vulnerable children
  and their caregivers by increasing community
  capacity to respond to their needs
• Between 2002-2004, COPE facilitated the
  enrollment of 3,025 children by providing direct
  cash transfers to schools ranging from 1500-3000
  USD
• In exchange, schools were trained to provide life
  skills and HIV/AIDS education as part of the
  school curriculum through school-based COPE Clubs
• Grants were used for infrastructural
  improvements, desks and other furniture, school
  supplies, sporting equipment, and stationary

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Results

• Over 20,000 people benefited from this resource
  exchange not including the 3,025 direct
  beneficiaries
• Cost per child 3
• Project achieved over 90 retention rates for the
  OVC enrolled under the resource exchange
• Noticeable reduction in stigma and
  discrimination, as reported by teachers and OVC
  beneficiaries

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Results-2

• Teachers received life skills and psychosocial
  training enabling them to better serve their
  students
• Enhanced school performance by OVC as a result of
  bereavement counseling and emotional stability
• Grants facilitated increased access to vocational
  education for older OVC not able to attend formal
  school

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Moving Forward

• With funding from PEPFAR, the project is now
  being scaled up to 4 additional countries
  (Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique)
• Use of in-kind goods as opposed to cash to guard
  against exchange rate fluctuations
• The goal is to provide schools with the resources
  needed to sustain increased educational enrolment
  of OVC and sustain this increase while ensuring
  quality of education and building the capacity of
  teachers through training in life skills and
  HIV/AIDS education

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Lessons Learned

• Cash transfers and similar resource exchange
  programs are cost-effective
• Rather than paying individual school fees the
  program can enroll more children for less cost by
  addressing a key need of the school.

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Lessons Learned-2

• Conditional transfers to schools can be a tool to
  decrease stigma and discrimination by reducing
  opportunities to single out children supported by
  the program

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Lessons Learned-3

• Conditional cash transfers can be a tool to
  increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS and life skills
  for all children, including OVC who are most at
  risk of infection
• All schools supported agreed to provide life
  skills and HIV/AIDS education as part of the
  school curriculum

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Lessons Learned-4

• Block grants are an effective capacity building
  tool for teachers, who are at the same time
  parents and caregivers and members of a larger
  community
• Training provided to teachers can therefore have
  a cascading effect in the communities
• Schools with active/trained PTAs are able to
  ensure the proper use of block grants and monitor
  OVC enrollment
• The link between the schools and PTAs is
  important to ensure that children who are most in
  need are provided support

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Challenges

• Grants need to be sufficiently flexible
• Ability to hire additional staff or construct new
  classrooms to ensure quality
• Communities need to be properly sensitized
• Schools need to be assisted in determining and
  budgeting for their needs (short and long-term)

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Conclusion

• Schools and governments welcome the block grant
  initiative because
• Cost effective serve more children at lower cost
• Sustainable by building the capacity of the
  community to Seek resources to assist OVC
• Has potential to decrease stigma and
  discrimination towards OVC by providing benefit
  to the entire community
• Provides children with necessary information to
  protect themselves from HIV/AIDS
• Increases motivation and involvement of parents,
  caregivers and the community

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Thank You!

• Governments of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda,
  Mozambique and Rwanda
• The children and their caregivers
• The participating schools and teachers
• The program staff
• Africares Office of Health and HIV/AIDS
• USAID/PEPFAR and other donors (Irish AID, WFP)