EDUCATION PROGRAMME
THEME 1: Appraising the Content of the Life-skills and HIV/AIDS Education Programme Taught in the Classroom
1.4 Institutional Factors Impacting the Implementation of the Life-skills, HIV/AIDS Programme
It was clear from the workshops with the learners from the rural and urban informal schools that there were some institutional problems that impacted the overall implementation of the programme in the classroom. Here learners expressed disappointment about the infra- structural problems that impacted on the quality of the life-skills, HIV/AIDS education programme taught to them in the classroom.
At the rural school learners expressed unhappiness about the poor space in the classroom and inadequate support material such as charts and posters and indicated that this impacted on the quality of teaching and information shared during the sessions.
One learner said that:
With the life skills programme we have a right to get 'full' information about HIVIAIOS
Another learner at the rural school expressed the following:
If you learn about this programme of HIVIAIOS we can't get more information because other learners don't pay attention and are unable to share personal information because of the problem of space. This has an effect on the atmosphere in the classroom and pupils are not able to interact and share information freely.
Similarly, at the urban informal school, one group of learners commented about too many pupils in the class (53). This makes it difficult for them to share and interact during sessions. Clearly the poor resources at both the rural and urban informal schools were not conducive to implementing the life-skills programme effectively and limited the involvement of learners in engaging with the programme optimally. The journalist Mhlambiso (Kwana 17 September 2004) indicated that KwaZulu-Natal schools have been forced to seek funding from private institutions to improve infrastructure because of slow responses from the Province's Department of Education. Furthermore, Mhlambiso (2004) added that about 60% of schools in KwaZulu-Natal have no electricity, 30% have no water, 50% have no phone connections and about 50% are only accessible by footpath because of poor roads. One principal in Phase One of this study shared the sentiments expressed by the learners from both the rural and urban informal schools about the problem of space when he stated that "the lack of space in classrooms impacts the quality of teaching on the life-skills, HIVIAIOS programme and negates the OBE system of learning". Karlsson (2000:12) added that: "the quality of education in most rural schools as a whole compares unfavourably to that of urban formal areas. Often teachers are less-qualified and paid significantly lower salaries. The curriculum offers less variety and special education programmes are only beginning to emerge".
A further challenge related to this institutional problem illustrated by the learners was the duration set for teaching the programme. Table 13 illustrates the findings obtained from Phase One (quantitative audit in 74 schools) of this study, on the duration of the Life-skills, HIV/AIDS education programme taught per week as per location of school.
Table 13 : Duration of the Life-skills, HIV/AIDS Education Programme taught per week as per location of school
Duration
Up to 2 hours 2 to 4 hours Total
Urban formal 19 17 36
School locations Rural 15 14 29
Urban informal 7 2 9
Total 41 33 74
Table 13 reveals that those schools that had integrated the life-skills programme into the school curriculum spent varied number of hours teaching the programme in the classroom. In the urban formal schools a total of 19 schools spent up to 2 hours per week on the programme while 17 schools spent between two to 4 hours per week on implementing the life-skills, HIV/AIDS education programme. Fifteen rural schools spent up to two hours integrating the programme into the curriculum for the week while 14 schools spent between two to 4 hours on the programme per week. In the urban informal communities, a total of seven schools spent up to two hours teaching the programme in the classroom per week while two schools taught the programme for up to four hours per week. Clearly the table reveals that the majority of the schools in the sample (41) spent up to two hours on the programme per week. This was in keeping with the norm set out in the NIP policy document. The Department of Education stipulated that this is usually taught in the life orientation period which formed an integral part of the school curriculum taught in one year.
During the in-depth interviews held with the life orientation educators they expressed the need for one dedicated period set aside only for teaching sexuality and HIV/AIDS education as at present HIV/AIDS forms one area of the larger content within the life-skills programme. Educators added that there is much disparity at schools regarding the time set aside to teach HIV/AIDS to learners. This is mainly left to the discretion of the life orientation educator.
Similar to the sentiments expressed by the educators the learners at both the urban informal school and the urban formal school commented that the duration set to teach the programme was inadequate and that "we need more time to read and write activities in the booklet; the duration set for the programme is too little". Van Dyk (2001, 2005) and Strydom (2003) make the point that HIV/AIDS education should never be presented in a special or isolated period as this may present a negative and irrational fear of the disease and ultimately interfere with a learner's sexual development.
Educators added that the lack of adequate time did not allow for in-depth discussion and experiential methods of teaching. This leads to a discussion of the third institutional challenge impacting the quality of the programme, that of teaching strategies.
At the urban informal and rural schools learners expressed the view that the strategies used to teach the programme were inappropriate. One learner expressed: "we are expected to listen and understand. It is repetitive teaching".
Another group of learners from the urban formal school stated that they needed more practical, experiential exercises to be included in imparting knowledge and skills in the programme. One learner commented: "the programme at the moment is focused on telling us the information but not showing us".
It was interesting that the views expressed by the learners in the workshop sessions corroborate Campbell and MacPhail's (2002) finding from their study of a schools-based peer education programme that the highly rigid and regulated environment in the school context hindered active participation and critical engagement of youth in prevention programmes. Moreover, the didactic teaching methods and rigid teacher control of the programme undermined