The impact of HIV/AIDS on children and young people: reviewing research conducted and distilling implications for the education sector in Asia
Summary: This paper examines the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic on children (0-18 years old) in Asia, and also looks at the implications of HIV and AIDS for the education sector.The main impact of HIV and AIDS on children are summarised into three main areas:
- loss of social and/or family support: children will also lose their economic, social and emotional safety net. Growing up, children may have to live in a foster family or in either state or religious institutions. This may lead them to be less well-supervised than would be the case in a nuclear family situation
- stigma and discrimination: addressing these misconceptions is needed to tackle one of the heaviest burdens on the well-being of persons with AIDS, but also as a prevention strategy
- decreased access to education, health care and social services: as a consequence of losing the family unit, as well as of stigma and discrimination, children and young people end up having less access to education, health care and social services. In many instances, they are shunned by community members and are actively discriminated against.
Key implications for the education sector include:
- similar to the situation in Africa, demand for education will decrease due to a reduction of the number of children of school age caused by AIDS illnesses and deaths due to felt stigma, due to fewer children being able to afford education and due to demands on children as caregivers in the household
- it is unlikely that AIDS will cause a similar demographic disaster as that found in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the supply of education in Asia in the coming years. Teacher mortality and absence due to AIDS-related illness will occur, but not to the extent that replacements can not be found or that schools will have to be closed
- increasing demands on teachers, and a perceived inability to deal with these demands, may decrease teacher motivation and productivity, leading to a decline in the quality of education
- integrating HIV preventive education into core subjects of the curriculum is essential
- the role of education - especially of the school at the community level - is also likely to change dramatically as a consequence of the AIDS epidemic. New demands will be put on schools: they will be more involved as counselors and advisors to members of the community; they could be strong advocates and agents for change in attitudes towards people living with AIDS, and they could reinforce the need for openness and discussion in relation to sexuality-related issues in order to achieve safer sexual behaviours in the community.
Owner: Wijngaarden, J.; Shaeffer, S.pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Impact_of_HIV.pdf
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