Teachers told to step in to help prevent HIV/AIDS

Schools should help prevent HIV/AIDS by teaching a mixed health and anti-drugs program, the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO has told teachers.

But schools should also be given leeway in choosing the most effective methods for reaching their students, experts and activists concluded at a workshop organized by the commission last week. 

""Act globally, think locally. Let's not forget our roots,"" the commission's executive chairman, Arief Rachman, said at the closing ceremony of the two day workshop for secondary school teachers on HIV/AIDS prevention. 

He reminded teachers to think about ways of teaching students that were appropriate to individual schools, and not to get distracted by the fact that the workshop was organized on a national level. 

Thirty-two schools, including religious institutions, from Jakarta and several other cities participated in the workshop, which included discussions and presentations on three distinct methods of thwarting the spread of HIV. 

One of the methods introduced was a guidance and counseling approach, advocated by, among others, South Jakarta's Lab School Foundation. 

Another was based on an Islamic perspective, while the last method was a collaborative teaching approach using online learning through the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) and engaging the expertise of HIV/AIDS non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 

""Teachers are the spearheads of the prevention process. They are the ones facing the students on a day-to-day basis, so they know what exactly awaits them in the field,"" the national program officer for HIV/AIDS and school health at UNESCO Jakarta, Mira Fajar Aviatri, said. 

""This workshop is a good start to display the alternative methods available for implementing HIV prevention education which can be accommodated with school's curricula."" 

Mira acknowledged that some faith-based schools would have trouble abandoning rigid approaches to religious teachings and discussing the disease in more depth. 

But Mira applauded the open-mindedness and eagerness of most participants to exchange information and their experiences of teaching about HIV/AIDS. 

""There was a teacher from a faith-based school who was quite rigid in his outlook at first, but by the end he was able to appreciate and take into account other methods of teaching introduced by other participants,"" Mira said. 

Another teacher, Triveri, said the workshop had been of benefit to her. 

""At first I was not that interested in the program,"" the teacher at state high school SMA 99 said. ""But after listening and participating over the past two days, the workshop was actually interesting and most importantly, enriching."" 

Triveri, however, said she hoped the information on HIV/AIDS prevention she received during the workshop could be made available to more schools, especially those with difficult students. 

According to Mira, one of the challenges in implementing effective HIV/AIDS prevention lessons was the fact that the present curriculum only emphasized cognitive learning. 

""Time is really a constraint for our teachers, particularly since schools are mainly focused on the output -- on how many students graduate from schools. So you could imagine how heavy the teachers' burdens are in creatively delivering HIV/AIDS education alongside other pressing expectations,"" she said. 

Also at the workshop, a representative from UNESCO Bangkok, Simon Baker, announced the organization would hold a national competition for teachers to come up with the most innovative method to teach HIV/AIDS prevention. 

""The competition is for school teachers to create the best lesson plans for HIV/AIDS,"" Baker said, adding that ""in addition to a financial reward, the best action plan will hopefully be posted on the Internet for others to learn.""

Source: The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 06/28/2007 10:19 AM | Jakarta