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HIV and Aids |
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| 1) Background |
| 2) Achievements |
| 3) Component 1. Awareness raising and empowerment [N$13 million] |
| 4) Component 2. Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS [N$12.7 million] |
| 5) Component 3. Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks [N$0.3 million] |
| 6) Component 4. Meeting the needs of OVC [N$2.3 million] |
| 7) Component 5. Managing the HIV and AIDS response [N$17.2 million] |
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| 1) Background |
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| The HIV scourge has long been identified as a major economic as well as a social and personal threat. There is now strong evidence both from within and outside the country that effective education programmes that address both prevention and support issues can mitigate the impact of the virus. The MoE has, with much welcome assistance from DPs and NGOs and in close co-operation with the Ministry of Health, come far in developing an effective programme and is now into the implementation phase. |
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| 2) Achievements |
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HIV and AIDS issues have been a significant element within education programmes since independence. In what might be considered the first phase, these were characterised by numerous pilot initiatives across the sector, often developed on the initiative of small enterprising NGOs, which gave valuable information on the characteristics of effective interventions. One or these, a peer education initiative aimed at mid-teenagers, My Future is my Choice, pioneered with help from UNICEF, has been widely copied elsewhere.
The second identifiable phase of HIV and AIDS education was characterised by the development of structures for coordinating the response, bringing together the experiences of the pilot phase. A sector wide coordinating committee was established, a series of linked national programmes developed and successful funding application for these was made to the Global Fund. An office with a secretariat was established in the ministry of Education, the HIV and AIDS Management Unit (HAMU) and regional units, Regional AIDS Committees for Education (RACE) were established matching a similar structure in the health sector. A successful request was made to the European Union to fund technical assistance for management support.
The third phase, a fully coordinated and managed response to HIV and AIDS followed the publication of the National Policy on HIV and AIDS for the Education Sector. The work plan of HAMU, and those of RACE are based on these binding objectives, which also reflect the objectives of the Third Medium Term plan, MTP III, 2004 -2009, the overarching government plan covering all sectors. These objectives form the basis of this programme. The main components are:
Component 1: Awareness raising and empowerment
Component 2: Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS
Component 3: Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks
Component 4: Meeting the needs OVC
Component 5: Managing the HIV/AIDS response
These components each bring together numerous activities. They range from two large nationwide training programmes, one in prevention and the second in support, to small but no less important, initiatives in the Arts, in advocacy and in developing codes of conduct. They cover the whole sector and all age groups.
A sector-wide HIV and AIDS management unit (HAMU) evolved from a management committee established in 2000. It has this year reached the strength needed at Head Office to manage its work of coordinating the activities of numerous stakeholders both within and outside the service. A full-time external technical advisor has been appointed. An operational plan for HAMU has been drawn up following the formal adoption of the HIV and AIDS and Education policy and its relationship with the overall government structures is clearly defined. This programme operationalises the management plan.
According to MTP3 for HIV and AIDS the education sector has set up a sectoral steering committee on HIV and AIDS. Members of the steering committee are from the Ministry of Education, relevant development partners, NGOs and FBOs. It is chaired by the deputy Permanent secretary. Keeping in mind that the education sector is the largest sector and the biggest employer this steering committee consists of 35 members. These members are focusing in working groups on 4 different key areas according to MTP III, (a) enabling environment, (b) prevention, (c) care and impact mitigation, and (d) management response. The working groups are headed by a group leader, who form, together with the Deputy Permanent Secretary, the Executive Committee. HAMU provides the secretariat for both the Sectoral Steering Committee and the Executive Committee. The working groups meet monthly, the Executive Committee quarterly and the Sectoral Steering Committee twice a year. |
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| 3) Component 1. Awareness raising and empowerment [N$13 million] |
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Challenges: The key issue is to make the communities permanently aware of the importance of prevention and impact mitigation. Further on in awareness raising campaigns new developments have to be communicated like workplace programmes and policies and other regulatory framework documents. In the Namibian context the regulatory framework is already in place – only minor amendments can be expected. However, it will be a main challenge to ensure the implementation of these policies, guidelines and other regulatory framework documents. This can only be achieved by focusing on empowerment of the target groups like OVC, students, teachers, learners, educators and other sector employees.
Objectives: The objectives of this component are to sensitise and empower the employees, learners and students of the education and training sector to make informed decisions by providing information and knowledge on HIV/AIDS and other related/underlying issues.
Component Description: Activities will include national events and campaigns, including the media. Comprehensive IEC materials on HIV and AIDS, sexual violence, abuse and its underlying causes (e.g. gender and alcohol), stigma and discrimination, OVCs and other health issues, and support services available (e.g. PSEMAS,VCT, Counselling) will be developed and distributed. Awareness raising will be done on the Code of Conduct. Information on regulatory frameworks will be communicated to communities and duty bearers. Activities comprise in detail: (a) Conduct awareness raising campaigns and events; (b) Ensure that all directorates of the MoE spread the message on HIV and AIDS; (c) Provide relevant HIV and AIDS information; (d) Capacity development programmes to include HIV and AIDS issues for teachers and educators (e) Capacity enhancement programmes to address identified gaps; (f) Gender equity; (g) Expansion of teacher education regarding knowledge about HIV and AIDS (h) Addressing to the needs of higher learning institutions; and (i) Orientation of education managers on Life Skills and HIV and AIDS programmes.
Implementation: HAMU will coordinate and manage all of these activities. The implementation will partly be done by HAMU. However, the main implementer will be the Regional AIDS Committees on Education, RACE, who oversee the activities in the 13 regions. The implementation will partially be done in close cooperation with other line Ministries, like the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, and Development Partners, in particular UNICEF.
Outputs and Indicators: (a) Different types of relevant and appropriate IEC materials are procured, developed, printed, distributed and broadcast; and (b) National events and media campaigns are held annually. The indicators will be the number of national events conducted annually and the number of educational institutions organising activities during national events. |
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| 4) Component 2. Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS [N$12.7 million] |
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Challenges: Mainstreaming is a key issue in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Preventive measures are necessary to enhance the system’s responsiveness against the pandemic. These have different dimensions: (a) ensure that HIV and AIDS are reflected in the different curricula, (b) making the relevant materials available, and (c) a comprehensive workplace programme on national and regional level to meet the demands and needs of the sector’s employees.
Objectives: The objectives include: (a) ensuring that curricular and co-curricular life-skills, sexual health and HIV and AIDS education prevention programmes are in place in all educational institutes for all learners and students; (b) Making teaching and learning materials on HIV and AIDS available; (c) establishing and implementing the workplace programme; and (d) training teachers and educators on skills-based HIV and AIDS education.
Component Description: Under this component, care will be taken that curricular and co-curricular life-skills are in place at all educational institutions. Skills-based HIV and AIDS will be strengthened through curriculum revision and the teaching of HIV and AIDS components in the curriculum will be strengthened through the training of teachers and educators as well as the development of teaching and learning materials. This will include strengthening skills-based HIV and AIDS education in the curriculum for pre-service teacher education. The implementation of co-curricular activities (e.g. Window of Hope, My Future is My Choice and AIDS Awareness Clubs) will be enhanced by teacher training and improved monitoring and reporting. The HIV and AIDS workplace programme will be established and implemented through the training of sector employees, counselling, in-house referral, etc. Teacher absenteeism and attrition will be managed through the establishment of a relief teacher system, including the definition of minimum training standards, establishing a pool and database of substitute teachers and having in place a monitoring system for tracking absenteeism and attrition. Advocacy will be done for automatic or compulsory membership of employees of the education sector to PSEMAS as well as for the protection of rights of sector employees.
The activities necessary are in particular (a) Define teacher competencies related to HIV and AIDS at all levels of the system, including universal precaution measures regarding HIV and AIDS; (b) Liaise with NIED to strengthen HIV and AIDS response in the curriculum; (c) Provide first aid kits for all institutions;(d) Provide penis and pelvic models to demonstrate condoms and femidoms use; (e) Mainstream HIV and AIDS into the curriculum; (f) Revise curriculum to include issues of HIV prevention; (g) Handing over of established programmes from Development Partners to governmental structures (e.g. Window of Hope and My Future is My Choice); (h) Intensification of teacher training to deliver HIV and AIDS prevention programmes; (i) Developing guidelines on integration of HIV and AIDS and Life Skills into the curriculum; (j) Ensuring curriculum panels integrate HIV and AIDS and life skills at all levels in the curriculum; (k) Development of learner support material including HIV and AIDS; (l) Institutionalising of extracurricular programmes on HIV and AIDS; (m) Identification and training of contact teachers; and (n) Assessment and approval of new programmes.
Implementation: HAMU will coordinate and manage all of these activities. The implementation will partly be done by HAMU. However, the main implementer will be the Regional AIDS Committees on Education, RACE, who oversee the activities in the 13 regions. The curriculum development will be done in close cooperation with NIED, the National Institute for Education Development. The strategy planning and implementation of the workplace programme will be in close cooperation with NABCoHA, the Namibian AIDS Business Coalition against HIV and AIDS.
Management actions on the workplace programme (a) will start with a detailed needs analysis of workplace issues and a costed workplace programme strategy, which will allow some prioritisation and more accurate planning and costing of the interventions. (b) Strategies for increasing membership of Public Sector Employees Medical Aid Scheme (PSEMAS) will be pursued including opening it to all employees and pursuing the issue of compulsory membership with the Office of the Prime Minister. (c) Workplace strategies will be developed in co-operation with private sector initiatives, i.e. Namibia Business Coalition on AIDS (NABCOA). (d) The provision of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy will be expanded to all employees. (e) Activities related to workplace issues will be monitored. (f) The need for a relief teacher system will be assessed and guidelines and regulations introduced as required. (g) Workplace support will include the establishment of workplace support groups, the operationalising of an in-house counselling and referral system, the provision of and training on first aid kits for all educational institutions and the provision of condoms. (h) Advocacy for workplace support will include media coverage, the development and distribution of IEC materials, advocacy for the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) within the education sector, the development of a tertiary education and training policy related to issues on HIV and AIDS, and the familiarisation of education managers with relevant policies, guidelines and legal frameworks.
The implementation of the programme has already started but the role of key partners in the work, such as General Service and Human Development is not yet fully defined and agreed. Desktop studies have been done and relevant private sector partners identified. The needs analysis and a costed work plan will be done soon and will allow the process to be planned and costed in more in depth and detail. Many of the major costs of the programme (such as the costs of condoms and medication) will be met from designated sources and the Global Fund activities under Round 5 that deal with workplace programmes, though targeting mainly the private sector.
Output and Indicators: Learners and students have received skills-based HIV and AIDS education. Education sector employees benefit from the workplace program. Indicators will include (a) the number of sector employees who benefit from the workplace programme; (b) the number of teachers trained to implement curricular and extra-curricular skills-based HIV and AIDS education; (c) the increase in the percentage of education sector employees who are members of PSEMAS; and (d) the number of institutions implementing workplace programmes. |
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| 5) Component 3. Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks [N$0.3 million] |
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Challenges: School, hostels and workplaces are the very often the place of sexual harassment, a crucial factor for the spread of HIV and AIDS. The fight against it has to be supported by strong policies and other regulatory frameworks. Further on the policies have to guide the support of OVC, which includes the definition of OVC, and protecting them against stigmatisation.
Regulatory frameworks will secure (a) safe institutions for learners, students and education sector employees and age, gender, culture, language, special needs and context appropriate education and training and information on HIV and AIDS available to all within the education sector in order to prevent new infections and (b) that OVC will be retained in the educational system.
Objectives: Safe school, hostel and other educational environments for learners/students, educators, and other sector employees.
Component Description: This component will review and implement regulatory frameworks for adequate protection of employees, learners, and students, e.g. code of conduct and hostel guidelines. A national code of conduct for learners and students will be developed and implemented. The component will also include the review and implementation of sector-specific HIV and AIDS related policies, including the HIV and AIDS policy, OVC sector policy and revised guidelines for the School Feeding Programme. Furthermore, a monitoring framework for policy implementation will be developed. Lastly, education sector employees, learners and students will be trained on relevant regulations.
The activities include in particular (a) Review code of conduct for teachers and educators regarding sexual relationships between teachers and learners; (b) Revise guidelines for hostels; (c) Review public service staff rules; and (d) Develop national guidelines for learner/student code of conduct.
Implementation: HAMU will coordinate and manage all of these activities. The implementation will partly be done by HAMU. However, the main implementer will be the Regional AIDS Committees on Education, RACE, who oversee the activities in the 13 regions. The implementation will partially be done in close cooperation with other line Ministries, like the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, and Development Partners, in particular UNICEF.
Output and Indicators: Relevant policies are reviewed, revised and implemented and a monitoring framework is developed. Indicators will be the number of policies and guidelines reviewed and the number of people trained on relevant policies and guidelines. |
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| 6) Component 4. Meeting the needs of OVC [N$2.3 million] |
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Challenges: The number of OVC has increased tremendously during the last years and it will increase even more within the next years to come. OVC are often excluded from the education system because of lack of money. A high number of OVC are the main bread winners of the family, because their parents are suffering from AIDS or have already died. Stigma and lack of education marginalises them from society. The challenge is to retain them in the education system to break the vicious cycle that social produces outsiders. The needs of OVC are mainly food shortage, lack of psychosocial support and stigma. These issues have to be addressed.
The MoE is one of many organisations working under the overall purview of the Ministry of Health to mitigate the social and economic impact of HIV and AIDS. It has a defined duty to ensure that all children receive the necessary support so that they can benefit from education and training. This support must address all issues that conspire to keep children infected or/and affected by HIV and AIDS out of the classroom. This component of the programme addresses these issues, which range from advocacy, through feeding and related support programmes to counselling services.
Objectives: The two main objectives of the component are to: (a) ensure that all OVCs of school-going age attend school and are not deterred from participation in formal education through school development fund or other material contributions requested by schools; and (b) providing a feeding programme for OVCs identified through the school counselling programme around school clusters.
Component Description: This component will concentrate on meeting the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children. The first step will be to develop mechanisms for identification of OVC through EMIS. The Education Development Fund will be activated and used as stipulated in the Education Act. The revised guidelines for the school feeding programme will be implemented. Lastly, the provision of counselling at schools and other education institutions will be strengthened and circles of support will be established in all regions.
Implementation: HAMU will coordinate and manage all of these activities. The implementation will include in particular the Directorate of Education, Planning and Implementation, EPI, in particular the divisions dealing with psychosocial support (DATS) and school feeding, and the Directorate for Planning and Development, PAD, in particular the divisions dealing with EMIS. The Regional School Counsellors implement the training for teachers on counselling. They report to the Regional AIDS Committees on Education, RACE, who oversee the activities in the 13 regions. The implementation is supported by Global Fund that operates within the framework of HAMU.
Outputs and Indicators: Outputs will include: (a) EMIS includes information on OVCs; (b) schools access the EDF for reimbursement for OVC; the revised guidelines for the school feeding programme are implemented; (c) counselling support groups at schools are functional; and (d) the circles of support model is implemented. Indicators for these activities will be (a) the availability of information on OVCs in formal education captured through EMIS; (b) the number of learners exempted and the number of schools reimbursed; (c) the number of learners benefiting from the school feeding programme; and (d) the number of functional counselling support groups and circles of support. |
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| 7) Component 5. Managing the HIV and AIDS response [N$17.2 million] |
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Challenges: To manage the response on HIV and AIDS effectively structures have to be in place. This includes structures at national and regional levels with officials having clear roles and responsibilities. Additionally the financial system has to be in place and activities have to be monitored regularly in order to optimise the use of funds available.
Objectives: This component aims to ensure that management structures, a monitoring system and financial system are in place for HAMU and RACE
Component Description: The main activities in this component will focus on the definition of the coordinating role of HAMU and the establishment of management structures at regional and local levels – RACE and advisory committees at each education institution. This will involve reviewing national and regional organigrammes and recruiting staff. A comprehensive data base and monitoring system will be developed along with a comprehensive financial system and fund raising strategy. HAMU and RACE staff will be trained on monitoring and managing the HIV and AIDS response.
Skilled staff will be recruited as necessary by HAMU to facilitate effective fund raising and to manage funds, such as the Global Fund tranches, effectively. Electronic communication networks linking all centres working on the HIV programme will be established under the direction of HAMU.
Implementation: The development of improved management and communications structures will be the responsibility of HAMU centrally and RACE regionally. HAMU will develop appropriate monitoring structures in co-operation with all directorates across the sector and will manage the required capacity development. The Sectoral Steering Committee with its working groups as “think tanks” and the Executive Committee will support and oversee the coordination of the sector and will ensure that duplication is avoided and the cooperation of all stakeholders is improved.
Outputs and Indicators: HAMU and RACE structures are adequately staffed as per organigramme. Relevant data is available and funds are properly managed. Indicators of successful implementation of the component are: (a) the number of positions filled per organigramme; the number of quarterly reports submitted; and (c) the number of HAMU and Regional Office staff trained on financial management. |
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