Uchechukwu Nnaike
14 October 2008
Lagos — Teachers are a critical factor in the fight against HIV/AIDs. They have therefore been advised to provide students with accurate information on issues of sexuality education and HIV/AIDS to stem the increasing rate of its prevalence among youths.
Tutor General and Permanent Secretary of Education District I in Lagos State, Mrs. Bimpe Giwa made the call at a roundtable discussion on 'Literacy is for the Living', organised by the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) of the United States Embassy to commemorate the World Teachers' Day in Lagos. Giwa, who represented the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Sosan said teachers should make schools more child- friendly and encourage students to know the fact and make their own decisions.
She called on teachers to engage students and ensure that they use their timeconstructively, arguing that their failure to use their time constructively is the reason many of them indulge in risky sexual behaviours "Children experiment a lot, especially when they attain puberty, as a result of their inexperience, they fall into wrong hands. These children are in your care, encourage them to move nearer to you so that they can confide and seek advise from you", she said.
Consultant to PEPFAR in Nigeria, Mrs. Chinwe Agbakoba said the event was to extol teachers and make them know that they are important and in an advantageous position to mitigate and prevent HIV/AIDS because they deal with children between the ages of 15 and 25, who are mostly at risk.
She said HIV/AIDS was not just a health issue, but also a development issue and since education was critical in HIV/AIDS mitigation, it became imperative to commemorate the day with educators, who are the conveyors of knowledge. "It is only if we catch them young, as the saying goes, that we can hope for an HIV/AIDS free society."
She said PEPFAR was an initiative of the United States President, George Bush, established in 2003, through the consent of the US Congress. It gave millions of dollars to countries that were most at risk, like Nigeria, to mitigate, to create awareness and to prevent the spread of HIV.
"So this programme has come in, has brought free antiretroviral drugs, it is addressing the issue of mother to child transmission, as well as that of people living with HIV. It is giving them hope by bringing these drugs to live positively."
Participants at the roundtable, she said, were drawn from the different education districts and some private schools in Lagos State.
In a lecture entitled 'Teachers Matter', which is the theme of this year's celebration of the World Teachers' Day, Dr. Adenrele Haastrup, a scholar at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), identified cultural norms and taboos as reasons most parents do not discuss sexuality issues with their children and that
these children end up learning from their peers and eventually make mistakes.
He appealed to teachers to educate these children since most parents do not do so. "Teachers must upgrade their knowledge on HIV/AIDS and overcome their shyness. They should be specific in describing the human anatomy to enable them educate these children. Teachers are seen as role models and should try and remain so. They should infuse sexuality education in their subjects regardless of the specific time allocated to it."
He advised teachers to key into the minds of the students and make them resourceful, no matter the situation.
Another lecturer, Dr. Oladipupo Olufemi Ficher, discussed 'Literacy is only for the Living: The fundamental Role of Teachers in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Mitigation in Schools'. He said research had shown that more than 60 percent of people living with HIV are in Sub-Saharan Africa, most of whom he said are women and children who are the most vulnerable. He therefore called for a sustained HIV/AIDS mitigation and control in the sub-region, which he said should begin in schools.
To ensure a successful prevention of HIV/AIDS in schools, he called on Ministries of Health and Education to collaborate and provide teachers with HIV/AIDS education, so that they would in turn, educate the students, adding that the role of teachers, as educators in HIV/AIDS mitigation cannot be overemphasised.
On their part he urged teachers to improve their knowledge of HIV/AIDS so that the information they would pass across to their students would be accurate and valuable. A participant, Mr. Bayo Oladipo who lectures at the University of Lagos said it was important to show love to people living with HIV/AIDS.
The event also provided an avenue for participants to update their knowledge on HIV/AIDS and to offer suggestions on best approaches of imparting knowledge on HIV/AIDS and other related issues on students.
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