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’More HIV/Aids seminars needed for teachers, pupils’
2006-02-22 07:53:55
By Lucy Lyatuu
The government has been urged to organise more seminars on HIV/Aids for primary school teachers and pupils with a view to curbing the spread of the scourge.
David Maleko, the head teacher of Dar es Salaam’s Kumbukumbu Primary School, gave the suggestion during a course on life skills for teachers and pupils at the school.
He said more seminars and courses on life skills in schools would go a long way in slowing down the rate of HIV infections among youths, adding that this would, in turn, reduce the country’s HIV/Aids prevalence.
Maleko said HIV/Aids should be included in the primary school curriculum because young people easily comprehended and remembered what they were taught.
This would made it easy for messages aimed at combating the spread of HIV/Aids to be disseminated, he added.
Maleko said the school had formed a group comprising teachers and pupils who spent their spare time educating other pupils on various health issues.
’The idea has come at an opportune time because we know that many pupils are sexually active. This is not to mention the fact that many pupils are also being sexually abused.’
Course co-ordinator Adelgunda Macha said the first phase of the course involved 40 teachers and 25 pupils aged between nine and 13.
She said parents must also be involved in providing such education as a way of slowing down the rate of HIV infection.
The course was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the NGO Family Health International (FHI).
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