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Teopista Birungi Mayanja, Secretary General of the Uganda National Teachers Union speaks about progress on achieving quality education and responding to HIV and AIDS under the EFAIDS Programme.

How is UNATU contributing to overcome the major challenges for education in Uganda?

The Ugandan press like to talk destructively about education, but we would like to collectively foster a more constructive discussion. To explore how do we mobilise every stakeholder so that they play their part. The best way to advance is to look at the barriers to education in and out of the classroom and work out who is in a position to change things. By organising around the issues, UNATU have resisted attempts to make education just about results and examinations. We successfully lobbied the government to revise their strategy on Customised Performance Targets, as what started out as a performance tool was actually turning into a way of making principals solely responsible for a whole range of factors that impact on education. Over half of Ugandan children eat only one meal a day, so a teacher can be present and teaching well but because of other factors the child may not be learning well. We cannot be held accountable for things beyond our control, but we do have to play our part. The children’s learning conditions are the teacher’s working conditions so quality education is a priority for all. The value for money is not there, but we do not wish to waste time trading accusations. We want to explore how we can all, unions, teachers, parents and the Ministry, improve the efficiency of the education system.

Last year UNATU supported and distributed the Ministry of Education’s Workplace Policy on HIV and AIDS. Has this had an impact on the education sector response to HIV and AIDS?

Our motivation for distributing the Policy came about when we investigated and found that only 18% of teachers polled knew about the government’s Workplace Policy on HIV and AIDS. So UNATU printed and distributed the policy to three quarters of schools across Uganda. But in many cases the policy ends up on the principal’s shelf. So even if teachers are aware that it exists, they remain no wiser to the content. So in 2009, UNATU is making a popular version, an overview that can appear on a notice board so that every classroom, every principal’s office, every union office can display it. While we continue to support the Ministry of Education’s Workplace Policy, it is a strong starting base, we have decided that we in UNATU need to go further. We must have a deeper position as a union, and this year we are preparing and distributing a document that goes beyond the government Workplace Policy. It will work side by side with the government policy and it will include advice on practical ways to make policy have an impact and make sure that it is not relegated to the shelf.

What more is UNATU doing to support teachers in Uganda to be leaders in the HIV response in their schools and communities?

Stigma amongst our members comes down to denial. Teachers are no more immune to discrimination than other members of the community, and many are wary of the consequences of being seen to visit a health centre. So we are trying to bring services closer, to make voluntary counselling and testing accessible to them. Often when there is a workshop we partner up with the Uganda AIDS Commission so that we can provide on-site testing and counselling for those who wish to use it. Our coordination with the Teacher Anti-AIDS Action Group means that teachers can get more special support if they wish. When it comes to protecting our members, we can’t hesitate to talk about condoms. There is a lot of religion in Uganda, and while we believe in the churches, we know that scientifically we have no choice but to promote condoms. The entire education sector believes in ABC . In Uganda we have started to say that we either do ABC or we arrive at D. D is death. We can’t afford to hide our head in the sand like ostriches.