Parents, Teachers Blamed for HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination in Schools

According to the World Health Organisation, stigma results from ignorance about HIV/Aids. Image by Aniz Inc

Feelings of shame, fear of disclosure, isolation, and despair are keeping adolescents from getting tested and treated for HIV. While teachers are blamed for the ongoing HIV related stigma in schools, parents are also said to be playing a huge role at homes.

BY MELODY MPANDE | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | FEB 13, 2023

ESIGODINI (The Citizen Bulletin) — Nelly Dube (17) from Kosigola village in Esigodini, Matabeleland South, says stigma associated with taking her antiretroviral (ARV) medication has made her to default on her medication.

“So I eventually defaulted on my medication, something which I regret,” Dube reveals.

According to the UNESCO 2022 report, school is not a safe place for learners like Dube who are living with HIV.

They experience bullying, undue punishments and even violence.

According to UNESCO, stigma prevents adolescents from accessing HIV/sexual reproductive health services, resulting in defaulting on medication.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), says stigma results from ignorance about HIV/Aids.

As part of efforts to increase awareness, lessons in Zimbabwe were introduced into the school’s curriculum in 2020 in a bid to achieve the 2025 goal of eradicating HIV and AIDS as the country seeks to attain the UNAIDS 95, 95 and 95 target.

The UNAIDS target says 95 percent of all people living with HIV to know their status, 95 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection to receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 95 percent on ART to have viral suppression by 2025.

Children now begin learning about HIV/AIDS as early as Grade 5.

The objective of this education program is to increase awareness of the disease and to educate the children continually throughout their education to instill the knowledge to make decisions regarding their livelihood later in life.

The curriculum includes age-appropriate information at each grade, given the sensitivity of the information.

A cascading system was used in which master trainers were trained first to impart training to the core trainers who, in turn, trained subject teachers in schools.

All training focused on factual information about HIV and facilitative skills to teach the curriculum, including methods on how to organize group discussions, puzzle games, role-plays, and how to encourage active participation of students.

Training manuals, teachers’ guides, and supplementary materials were developed to meet the needs of teachers at different experience levels and to facilitate training.

Zimbabwe introduced HIV/AIDS lessons into the schools' curriculum in a bid to increase awareness of the disease at an early stage. Image by Unsplash.

Sane Dlomo (18), a high school student in Gwanda, believes that teachers and parents have the power to reduce HIV related stigma and discrimination.

“We are let down by teachers shunning HIV/AIDS lessons which worsens HIV/AIDS myths,” Dlomo says, as he claims that they are not having enough lessons on the chronic disease.

“In as much as we can blame teachers, parents have a similar role to play in the prevention of HIV related stigma.”

Amon Mpofu, the Monitoring and Evaluation Director at National Aids Council (NAC), says school-based HIV/AIDS education is a common and well-proven intervention strategy for providing information on HIV/AIDS to young people.

He however, says a survey they did revealed that some teachers are not taking these lessons seriously.

“We are in the right direction towards meeting the 2025 target of attaining the three 95s but we have challenges in schools where some teachers deem HIV/Aids lessons as useless and convert them to free periods,” Mpofu claims.

Mpofu says parents also need to teach and openly talk to their children about HIV/AIDS to help curb prejudice towards HIV positive pupils.

ALSO READ: Matjinge Clinic Opens Doors to Better Care for Women

Gwanda District Schools Inspector, Sydney Sibanda says HIV/AIDS lessons are there though falling under various subjects.

“As for teachers avoiding teaching the subject of HIV/AIDS, I am not aware of such,” he says.

Zimbabwe is one of the countries hardest hit by HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

Do you have a hyperlocal story to share?

WhatsApp us on: +263 71 863 6459.  Email us on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Since You’re Here, We’ve a Small Request…

Our hard-hitting hyperlocal reporting and analysis reaches one in every three people across the greater region of Matabeleland, southwestern Zimbabwe. That means our content reaches approximately 60,000 readers each week. However, in order for our well-rounded journalism to reach more people who need it to make informed decisions about their lives and their communities, we need to build a strong audience of followers that would receive our rigorous reporting in just one place. Because of exorbitant internet data costs, we know most of our readers use messaging apps such as WhatsApp to get all our content in one place. But the platform, predominantly used by our readers, is not primarily designed for content distribution and reader engagement. That is why we’re building a WhatsApp Bot to navigate this challenge. But in order for this strategy to work effectively to serve our needs, we want all our casual readers like you to be part of our growing WhatsApp Community. To be part of this community of registered users, WhatsApp the word "JOIN" to +263 71 863 6459. We look forward to engaging and building a lasting relationship with you. Thank you.