HIV/AIDS education to become part of school syllabus

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.