HIV/AIDS: Filling The Gap With Curriculum Implementation















	Action Health Inc. 17 Lawal Street Jibowu, Lagos Tel. 01 774 3745 Fax. 01 342 5496

HIV/AIDS: Filling The Gap With Curriculum Implementation

Juliana Taiwo
February 1, 2006
Culled from "HIV/AIDS: Filling The Gap wth Curriculum Implementation" © This Day Newspapers

The three-day training workshop last week for Directors supervising the implementation of the Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) Curriculum, Training and Inspectorate from all the states in the country including the Federal Capital Territory was necessitated following the result of the in-depth case studies on the level of implementation of FLHE curriculum, conducted in Bauchi, Enugu, Plateau, Rivers, and Lagos state representing the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, which revealed a number of gaps and issues militating against the effective implementation of the curriculum.

It was to address the gaps and issues identified that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Action Health Incorporated (AHI) put the training in place. The three-day training tagged “Strengthening the Implementation of Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) curriculum in schools in Nigeria” focused on effective FLHE curriculum implementation, monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance in the implementation of the FLHE curriculum. It was to also ensure that the directors invited are trained and equipped to supervise the process of implementing the FLHE curriculum.

Of all the states, only Lagos State has been able to research the lessons learnt during the implementation of the FLHE, it has also accessed the impact of the programme, carried out the baseline survey as well as evaluation of the programme. Their success was what dominated the three-day training held at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Abuja.

Action Health Incorporated (AHI) is a pioneering non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving the health of Nigerian Adolescents. They are concerned about the prevailing appalling status of adolescent reproductive and sexual health, and have taken on the mandate to serve as a catalyst for change. Over the past 16 years, it has implemented activities that have affected several thousand adolescents across the country and continue to strive to create awareness on the status of the adolescent health in Nigeria and the need to take immediate positive action among parents, policy makers and the community at large.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alhaji Nu’Uman Barau Danbatta said the training was in line with the ministry’s belief that preventive education, using the FLHE curriculum was critical to behaviour change initiative. “The objectives of this training go beyond exchanging anecdotes about teaching but it includes the strategies to facilitate modern teaching methods, and the quality control mechanisms for strengthening the implementation of the curriculum in schools across the country.

“This training is significant in two respects. First, it signals the determination of Nigerians, especially we in the education sector, to tackle head on, a single problem that is today threatening our survival as a nation.
Secondly, it gives us the opportunity to harmonise the process, ensure quality control in the implementation of the curriculum, as well as develop monitoring and evaluation mechanism that is specific to the curriculum. HIV/AIDS, if allowed to go unchecked, may jeopardise our capability to control our destiny, and may hinder the next generation from maturing into leaders of tomorrow”, he said.

The permanent secretary stressed the fact that HIV/AIDS was no respecter of persons, socio-economic class, status, sex, religion, tribe or race. He insisted that it has devastated and continues to devastate many sectors of national life and endeavours, including the education sector. He added that the FLHE curriculum was a veritable tool for mobilising and empowering teachers, students, youths and adolescents, individuals, families and larger societies to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS.

“The significance of the educational sector to help combat the disease becomes very obvious if we remind ourselves that as of today, HIV/AIDS has no cure or vaccine. Indeed preventive education remains the strongest weapon against the epidemic worldwide, more so, as the most vulnerable segment of our population, the youths are in our educational institutions. We therefore, need to develop strategies, strengthen our capacity and the system, design, responsive programmes as well as develop effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms”, he said.

Minister of Education, Mrs. Chinwe Nora Obaji represented by the Minister of State, Hajia Halima Tayo-Alao said it was in order to compliment the multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach of the Federal Government that the ministry in 2002 set up the HIV/AIDS unit and adopted curricular and co-curricular strategies to prevent the spread and mitigate the effect of HIV/AIDS in the sector.

The critical curricular strategy of the sector is the development of FLHE. FLHE is the planned process of education that fosters the acquisition of factual information, the formation of positive attitudes, beliefs and values in addition to the development of coping skills with the biological, psychological, socio-cultural and spiritual aspects of human living.

“The main goal of the curriculum is the promotion of awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS with objectives to assist individuals in having a clear and factual view of humanity; to provide individuals with information and skills necessary for rational decision-making about their sexual health; to change and affect behaviour of humanity and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS”, Obaji stressed.

Six months ago at the high-level forum in which information on the results of mapping exercise on the spread of the implementation of FLHE in all the states of the federation, it revealed that the curriculum had 97per cent acceptance, the gaps in implementation especially in human capacity, the misunderstanding of the sensitisation workshop as training of trainers, lack of uniform standard of pre and in- service training of teachers; lack of teachers and students texts including instructional materials; lack of learning opportunities on the implementation of FLHE curriculum and absence of effective monitoring and evaluation process.

The minister emphasized that FLHE empowers its recipients with skills, information and knowledge, to make informed choices. It also encourages behaviour and attitudinal change that will promote abstinence and postpone sexual activities until they get married. She said the curriculum is a critical response of the sector to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and it also represents the starting point for developing a comprehensive approach to “humanity” and education. Mrs. Obaji said it is a guide for the National School Curriculum integrated efforts at the primary, junior and senior secondary as well as the tertiary levels of education and recommended inclusive, interactive and participatory approach in its implementation.

She challenged the participants to strengthen, awaken and drive all the policy makers, programme managers and implementers towards the need to help young people develop positively by creating opportunities for them to consider all aspects of humanity, and to understand, that there are adults who support them as they learn about themselves.

Obaji emphasized that the major commitment now is to fast track the process and extent of qualitative implementation through strengthening of all the mechanisms that will assist the delivery process. She promised that the ministry will henceforth encourage systematic monitoring of the impact of HIV/AIDS in the sector and encourage proactive teaching and learning as well as robust implementation of FLHE. The worst affected states with the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, she stated should be challenged by the pace of deterioration in education particularly, in teachers demand, supply, quality and in the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children in our communities.

“We must realise at this stage the need to harmonise action from across all levels for qualitative implementation of the FLHE curriculum. The tremendous potential knowledge and skills available in the sector must be utilized to release the crippling impact of the epidemic on the sector. The tools developed by the ministry through case studies of the implementation process and extent in selected states representing the six-geopolitical zones of the country, will ensure that this is achieved,” the minister added.

She reiterated that notable progress and success that had been achieved by Uganda, which has drastically reduced its prevalent rate from 15 per cent in the 90s to five percent in 2001. The success has been attributed to the implementation of innovative schemes that targeted different population groups, including in and out of school youths and for improving quality.

“In the absence of a vaccine, a social solution is the strategic strengthening process that is rooted in education. It must however, be set within the National Policy and multi-sectoral context where quality control is adhered to and guaranteed. Previous responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the sector have been weak, uncoordinated and without uniformity of purpose.

“Strong political commitment to the three ONES and the utilization of human resources with the commitment to fast-track FLHE implementation process is the key to address such shortcomings. We need to be totally committed to the overall education goals where FLHE curriculum is the only curricular-based approach.

“It is worth noting that a policy reform aimed at improving the quality of education will increase access and retention in our schools which is what this present administration is striving to achieve. Let us work together to develop a sustainable action plan towards strengthening the implementation of FLHE in schools across the country”, she said.