Project Database
EFAIDS Programme
| Country: | Antigua and Barbuda |
| Start Date: | 2007-01-01 |
| Deadline: | 2010-12-31 |
| Host organisations: |
Antigua & Barbuda Union of Teachers
(A&BUT)
|
| Co-operating organisations: |
Education International (EI)
World Health Organisation (WHO) Education Development Center (EDC) |
| Related Links: |
Webpage of Antigua & Barbuda Union of Teachers Magazine of A&BUT: Onward March- January 09 Magazine of A&BUT: Onward March- September 08 |
| Grouping: | EI Education For All-HIV/AIDS Prevention (EFAIDS) Programme |
Project Summary:
New HIV infections increased in Antigua and Barbuda by 25 percent in 2008. Whilst the education sector is nominally included in the country’s HIV and AIDS action framework, and should therefore receive budgetary allocations to carry out HIV awareness and capacity building activities, teachers have not benefited from governmental actions and no formal systematic training has been provided to education sector workers, despite the fact that HIV is part of the curriculum both in primary and secondary education.
Against this backdrop, the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers (A&BUT) has mobilised the teaching community, both at primary and secondary level. A&BUT has provided its members with training on the EI/EDC/WHO Teachers’ Exercise Book for Prevention, raising awareness of HIV and AIDS among teachers and providing them with the skills to address the issue with more confidence in the classroom. Increasing awareness among students and providing them with accurate knowledge of HIV and AIDS is a priority for A&BUT, given that only 15 percent of schools provided life skills-based HIV education in the last academic year. There is a clear need to reinforce HIV education initiatives, as only 43 percent of young Antiguans aged 15-24 have accurate knowledge about HIV prevention and according to recent data available, an increasing number of young girls are contracting the virus. In view of this, A&BUT has encouraged teachers to use the book to assist their students and their colleagues in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
The union built the capacity of its members to cope with HIV and AIDS in the workplace, training members on GIPA and GSS toolkits at the union and at the school level.
The National AIDS Secretariat is preparing more aggressive awareness campaigns in 2009, targeting students with posters and installing information booths outside schools. As much as this initiative is welcome, knowledge about HIV needs to be developed within the classroom setting such as expanding the coverage of life skills education.
Similar projects elsewhere in the region:
Belize - EFAIDS Programme Dominica - EFAIDS Programme Grenada - EFAIDS Programme Guyana - EFAIDS Programme Haiti - EFAIDS Programme Jamaica - EFAIDS Programme Saint Kitts and Nevis - EFAIDS Programme Saint Lucia - EFAIDS Programme Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - EFAIDS Programme Suriname - EFAIDS Programme Trinidad and Tobago - EFAIDS Programme
