Education, Schools & HIV/AIDS
UK Working Group on Education & HIV/AIDS

'Education for all (EFA) will not be achieved unless we, the international education community, recognise the HIV/AIDS epidemic to be a global emergency and react accordingly.'
UK Working Group on Education & HIV/AIDS


Steering Group
Prof. Peter Aggleton (Institute of Education)
Halima Begum (DFID)
Dr. Paul Bennell
Tania Boler (ActionAid)
David Clarke
Christina D'Allesandro (Save the Children)
Roger Ingham (University of Southampton)
Sally Joss (UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development)
Lorna Robertson (VSO)
Nicola Swainson


Previous Meetings:

Maximising the education sector response to HIV and AIDS
Wednesday 17th May 2006, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
British Medical Association House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP

Bringing together international researchers, NGOs, UN and bilateral representatives, the symposium investigated evidence gaps, emerging issues, partnerships and successes in HIV, AIDS and Education.

Morning: The education sector response to HIV & AIDS – reviewing the evidence.
Lunchtime: Posters exhibition & lunch.
Afternoon: Strengthening partnerships – from policy to practice.

Keynote speaker: Professor Michael Kelly
Speakers also include: Peter Aggleton, Don Bundy, Victorine Djitrinou, Uwem Esiet, Amaya Gillespie, Doug Kirby, Mahesh Mahalingam, Eccua Oyinloye, Mary Joy Pigozzi, Alice Welbourne and Alan Whiteside.

Along with representatives from the following: UN agencies, bilateral agencies and members of Civil Society including; UNESCO, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development, The Global Campaign for Education, Christian Aid, the UNAIDS Reference Epidemiology Group, Imperial College, Institute of Education, University of London and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Co-sponsors: The UNAIDS Inter Agency Task Team on Education, ActionAid International and The Partnership for Child Development, UK Working Group on Education & HIV/AIDS, and the UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development.


To access the presentations from these seminars click here

Seminar 5: The impact of abstinence only policies on HIV Education
Held 15 September 2005, London School Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London
Short presentations given by Roger Ingham (University of Southamptom), Trevor Stammers (Christian Medical Fellowship) and Susannah Mayhew (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). Following feedback from previous seminars, this new series consisted of two sessions: the first session aims to identify critical issues and challenges through short presentations and plenary discussion with key experts in the field. This plenary session was followed by an informal lunch and a second session, consisting of group discussions of a more solution-focussed orientation. The half day meeting will end with drawing together joint conclusions and recommendations.

Seminar 4: Examining the role of peer education in HIV/AIDS education
Held 24th January, 2005, Institute of Education, London
This fourth seminar brought together Catherine Campbell (London School of Economics), Ian Warwick (Institute of Education), and Ciceley Marston (Imperial College) to debate the role of peer education in HIV/AIDS education, chaired by Peter Aggleton. Particular focus will be on the gender dimensions, social contexts, and what we actually mean by participation.

Seminar 3: Lifeskills Education and HIV/AIDS: Some Strengths and Limitations
Held on Monday 17th May, 9:30am to 1pm, in London.
This third seminar brought together Peter Aggleton (Institute of Education, University of London), David Clarke (DFID), and Janet Bujra (University of Bradford) to discuss the strengths, weaknesses and gender dimensions of lifeskills education for HIV/AIDS prevention.

Seminar 2: Addressing the educational needs of orphans and vulnerable children
10 December, 2003 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London.
This second seminar will bring together Pat Pridmore, Simon Gregson, Chris Yates and Katie Webley to debate the educational needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Seminar 1: The impacts that HIV/AIDS is having on teachers and teaching
17 July 2003, Institute of Education, London. The seminar brought together Roy Carr-Hill, Paul Bennell, Eric Allemano, and Alan Whiteside to debate the impacts that HIV/AIDS is having, and is likely to have on, teachers and teaching in developing countries.

( To access the presentations from these seminars click here)


New Members/Participants
The Working Group on HIV/AIDS & Education is being hosted/facilitated by the UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development. Please E-mail the Consortium Secretariat if you are interested in attending a future meeting or in just being kept informed of developments.


Terms of Reference

Background
Educators have been slow to pick up the challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is only since 1999 that educators have realised the potentially devastating effects that the epidemic could have on both the formal and informal educational structures in Sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. Impact assessment and mitigation should be an integral part of educational planning and yet, planners are still reluctant to factor in the effects of the epidemic and attempt to “carry on as usual”. At the same time, education is seen as one of the most important weapons in the fight to abate the epidemic.

There is a growing need to share technical expertise between the fields of health and education (and broader afield) - areas of work usually treated as distinct spheres of responsibility. Moreover, to date, there have been few fora for sharing and building upon the research which has been undertaken on education and HIV/AIDS.

Rationale for a UK-based working group on education and HIV/AIDS
Over the last two years, researchers in the UK have worked in partnership with others and contributed to an emerging body of understanding. Without an organised forum for sharing this work, this research runs the risk of being either isolated from current knowledge, or duplicated. For example, since 2001, three groups of UK researchers have produced work on the impact of HIV/AIDS on education and yet, they have not to date, met to discuss this work.

Likewise, although the origins for much participatory education around HIV/AIDS lie within UK and European pedagogic approaches, this is rarely recognised. The origins of life skills education in the mental health and human resource development fields is often forgotten, as are the limitations of such an approach in dealing with the political, economic and environmental variables that predispose to risk and vulnerability.

Neither must this UK-based group be isolated from international efforts working on education and HIV/AIDS. The UK working group could have a special niche in consolidating UK expertise which could then feed directly into international processes such as the Inter-Agency Task Team on HIV/AIDS and education (IATT).

The working group could also act as a reference point for NGO networks in order to strengthen evidence-based advocacy and policy analysis. The two key NGO networks involved would be the UK Consortium on AIDS and international development and the NGO education forum.

Objectives
Objectives for the group may be categorised into three strands:

Membership
The working group will consist primarily of UK-based researchers, practitioners and policy-makers working in the fields of education and reproductive health.

A steering committee will also be set up which comprises of key representatives from research institutions, DFID and NGOs. The functions of this smaller group will be to:
1) Coordinate working group activities
2) Develop a coherent set of activities
3) Fund raise to support the activities of the group as a whole
4) Support the development of publications to be issued by the working group
5) Ensure, so far as is possible, that outputs of the working group complement and are linked into international processes such as the IATT

Constituencies and Scope
It is proposed that although the bulk of the research has focussed on Africa that the working group also includes issues relevant and specific to Asia and Latin America. Despite huge regional differences in both education systems and sexual behaviours, it is envisaged that there will also be space for a wide variety of south-south learning.

The working group will complement and feed into pre-existing international structures such as the EFA monitoring group and IATT. Member organisations will also be viewed as key stakeholder to ensure that outputs from the group are fed into national and local processes.

Method
Activities of the group will be time-limited and it is proposed that four separate meetings occur within the space of 12-18 months. After this point, there will need to be an evaluation of activities and reassessment as to whether or not the group should continue.

It is proposed that four thematic events are organised during the time period which allow for in-depth consideration of specific issues. A preliminary meeting of the steering group proposed the first event to take place in June 2003, and to focus on research into the impact of HIV/AIDS on teacher mortality.

Other possible focuses for these events include: life skill education; evaluating the impact of preventive education; exploring the role of religious teaching in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and impact alleviation; examining the potential of didactic and formal systems of education to contribute to positive outcomes; and examining the impact of messages on abstinence on young people’s sexual behaviours..

Outputs
The outputs for this group will include:
Four short papers produced by the working group around each thematic issue which identify:
1) Converging and diverging evidence
2) A research agenda and research gaps
3) Priorities for donors, governments and NGOs.

(Download Working Group Terms of Reference, as a Word file)