Students eager, parents divided on AIDS program
Students eager, parents divided on AIDS program
JAKARTA (JP): Students are enthusiastic and school principals
are supportive, but many parents and teachers are divided about
the recent introduction of an HIV and AIDS education program at
10 senior high schools in Jakarta.
A staff member of the Pelita Ilmu Foundation, Usep Solehudin,
reported on Saturday that its program was initiated between Dec.
23 and Jan. 7 at five state and private schools in Tebet and
Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta, Cipinang Besar Selatan in East
Jakarta and Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta.
The foundation is a support group for people with HIV/AIDS.
More than 300 students, mostly freshmen, from 10 senior high
schools, five state-owned and five private, were involved in the
trial run of the course.
Many teachers were reluctant to participate due to the still
taboo nature of sexual issues here, but they were briefed by the
foundation and the Ministry of Health about the importance of the
program and how to best handle the subject, Usep said.
Usep, who is in charge of the trial program, told around 70
teachers and headmasters at a presentation on Saturday that
although the sessions after school are tiring and that many
participating were shy, many students spoke freely about sex.
One of the 24 teachers involved in the program, Mochammad
Yassin from a school in Tebet, said some parents were not
interested in their kids participating in a program on AIDS,
which they called "just another sexually-transmitted disease".
"Other diseases like syphilis have been around for ages. All
you need to do is take care of yourself," Yassin said quoting a
parent.
Another teacher, Suwartiningsih from an Islamic high school in
Rawasari, said she had to overcome her embarrassment in replying
to student questions.
Homosexuals
"I had to explain how homosexuals can contract the virus," she
said.
Yassin, who teaches biology, said both boys and girls have to
be wary of adults who take them shopping and then ask for sexual
favors.
Pelita Ilmu's chairwoman, Soemartini, said the foundation
hopes to expand its program to younger students given that,
according to a foundation pamphlet, 50 percent of Indonesians who
have tested HIV-positive are under 25 and 20 percent of those
with AIDS are under 20.
She added that if the trial program is successful the
foundation will ask the Ministry of Education and Culture to
include the program in the national curricula.
Last month the ministry stated that the national curricula
would eventually include some form of instruction on HIV/AIDS in
elementary schools and junior high schools.
The foundation's six-month trial project has received the
support of the Jakarta Health Agency as well as the sponsorship
of the British Council and the United States Agency for
International Development's program called Enabling Private
Organizations to Combat HIV/AIDS (EPOCH).
As of last month, the official number of HIV-positive and AIDS
cases here is 364, with 125 cases recorded in Jakarta.
From the national figures of 277 HIV-positive cases, 16 are in
the 15-19 age group, and 164 are in the 20-29 group. Of the 87
persons with AIDS, two are between 15 and 19, and 14 are aged 20
to 29.(anr)