HIV/AIDS education to become part of school syllabus

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

I Wayan Harikhesa, a second-grader at a high school in Denpasar, thought initially that HIV, which can lead to AIDS, was a deadly disease that claimed the lives of many famous people, especially in the West.

He learned that from the Internet some years ago while still at elementary school.

" I often asked my parents about the subject and they provided me with a lot of information from magazines, newspapers and the Internet, and asked me to find out more from a variety of sources including medical journals," said the knowledgeable teenager who is now a member of his school's Siswa Peduli AIDS (Students Concerned About AIDS) extracurricular program.

In the program, Harikhesa shares information with his peer group on everything about HIV/AIDS such as its causes and how it is transmitted. Often, they share information with experts and with people who are HIV-positive.

"Now, I understand that HIV can affect people of all ages, including new-born babies, drug users and people who need blood transfusions. Previously, we thought that the virus was only transmitted as a result of sexual activities," said another member, Mira Winarni.

It was heartening to see that dozens of junior and high school students were now active in the program, but they were still rather rare, explained Giri Arnawa, project officer of Bali's AIDS Prevention Commission.

"There are thousands of junior and high school students on the island, most of whom do not have adequate knowledge and access to information about HIV/AIDS," Arnawa added.

Many young people cannot talk about HIV/AIDS either at home or in the community, nor can they talk about risky behavior that can lead to HIV infection, because they do not understand.

Experts agree that prevention through education is the best way to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, and that education must begin before young people engage in sexual and other activities like experimenting with drugs.

Dr.Tuti Parwaty Merati, who discovered the first AIDS case on the island in l987, was very concerned. "The incidence of HIV/AIDS on the island has been increasing sharply, now estimated at 3,000 cases, and the majority of these involve people under 25," she added.

More than 50 percent were injecting drug users who acquired the virus through shared used of needles.

The worldwide spread of HIV/AIDS is a challenge, especially as it strikes so many young people.

"Globalization has enabled people to move easily from one place to another. The explosion of information has created huge opportunities for the young to obtain access to anything they wish to know, much of it from unreliable sources," the doctor said.

Given that so many youngsters are still at school, the idea to include HIV/AIDS in the formal school curriculum appears to be an effective way to prevent its spread.

Schools are places where the issue can be addressed appropriately. They can provide students not only with information, but also skills; they can also help to shape attitudes.

Thanks to chairman of the commission and Bali deputy governor Alit Kelakan, the provincial government could achieve a significant breakthrough by enabling students to acquire accurate information on the HIV/AIDS issue.

Bali would be the first province in Indonesia to do so. With funding from AusAid via the Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a number of prevention initiatives have been implemented on the island.

Head of the province's education and culture agency I Gusti Lanang Jelantik said that teachers would be the first target. "We will have special training for teachers from early August. Teachers are expected to be knowledgeable to be able to answer students' questions on HIV/AIDS," Lanang said.

Despite the desirability of HIV/AIDS education in schools, a number of obstacles may exist.

At schools, the HIV/AIDs issue may be considered by adults, teachers and parents to be too sensitive for young students, or too controversial. Another obstacle, which is often encountered, is that the curriculum is already full and it is therefore impossible to make available a slot for AIDS education.

Tuti said the HIV/AIDS syllabus would not be presented as a discrete item, to avoid being labeled sex education or anything similar, as that was previously a taboo in Indonesian classrooms.

It would be integrated into several subjects, including science/biology and chemistry for junior high schools, and biology and sociology for high school students.

"HIV can be discussed when students learn about viruses, blood cells and reproductive organs, and connect it with real life. One of the challenges is how the teacher presents it to students," said Tuty, an avid HIV/AIDS campaigner.

Teaching methods should be informative, empathetic and interesting in order to ensure young people are more receptive to open, nonjudgmental discussion of the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and drug prevention, the doctor added.

"Initially, it will be tried out in several junior and senior high schools in Denpasar. Other towns will follow soon," explained Lanang.