DOCUMENT 3(B) HIV/AIDS AND EDUCATION: A HUMAN CAPITAL ISSUE

Introduction to HIV/AIDS and Education

HIV/AIDS is of great concern to the education sector. It will affect:

• Supply - educational staff at all levels will probably experience similar increased levels of illness and death as the general population;
• Demand - the number of school entrants will be lower than would be the case in the absence of AIDS. This change in numbers will, over time, work its way up the educational system. In addition children may be kept out of school because their labour is required at home or there are no resources to send them to school;
• Provision of education. This considers the process and quality. The curriculum should include AIDS education and look at the special needs of those affected by the disease.

AIDS is, in some ACP countries, already affecting sizeable populations and has important implications for development. At the most basic level it will: increase morbidity (illness) and mortality (death), particularly among young adult populations; decrease life expectancy; and increase infant and child mortality rates. The full impact is not clear, as nowhere has the epidemic run its course.

The European Community and Education

It is increasingly acknowledged that education and training are critical for long-term development success. "Major long-term gains in development and wealth are possible only if the entire population possesses a reasonable level of education"^.1 The importance of education is recognised in the Lomé Convention, which states that co-operation shall be aimed at supporting development and "back up the policies and measures adopted by those States to enhance their human resources."² The main provisions are found under Title XI, Cultural and Social Cooperation backed up by the policy guidelines on support to education and training laid down by the Council, and the Fiche de Programmation Sectorielle no 8, Education.

The Council Guidelines argue for a balanced approach to education and training, but accord priority to basic education; note that each receiving country is unique and must be assessed individually; highlight the need to support institutional reform; and stress the need to integrate structural adjustment support with regular EDF funding. The Education Fiche notes that only 19 of the 70 NIPs identified education and training as areas of priority, and on average less than 8% of the last 3 EDFs were committed for human resource development.

Type of Support

The sectoral fiche sets out clear guidelines of how and what support is to be given. They are:

• The ACP state must want support for the education sector.
• The state must commit itself to reforms and actions that support Community aid.
• Educational needs must be considered in structural adjustment.
• Education should get a bigger share of the budget.

The sectoral priorities are firstly: basic and primary education; improved access to education for females, through increasing enrolment of girls and the numbers of female teachers, and training of teachers and instructors. Secondly: reforming education so it addresses the needs of society and the economy and improves efficiency; ensuring strongly employment-linked professional training; supporting university education; support of economic planning and education management.

Education at Special Risk³

The education sector is both particularly susceptible and vulnerable to HIV and AIDS because of its nature. This is shown in Figure 1.

Demand. The pattern of demand may change for the following reasons:

• Numbers. The projected number of children requiring education will decline. Firstly the birth-rate will decline, following the premature death of potential mothers and, possibly, increased use of condoms and empowerment of women. Secondly perinatal transmission and orphanhood will increase infant and child mortality. Absolute numbers in any cohort will not decline, but rather the rate of increase will be reduced.
• Availability of children for education. There is a real danger that families affected by AIDS will be forced to keep children out of school to care for the sick, work the land, or earn an income. These children may also feel discriminated against or ostracised. Orphans may be totally occupied by the struggle for survival, and education may not be an option for them. This is likely to lead to children never enrolling or dropping out.
• Affordability of education. In some settings attendance at school requires a cash outlay for fees, uniforms and books. AIDS may result in exclusion of children from schooling because family income falls due to death and illness, or the family income per capita is reduced by taking in orphans.
• HIV infection. Children and students at the higher levels of education are becoming sexually active, which means they are not immune to infection. This is especially true of females and means that HIV-infected and ill scholars and students will appear in the educational system.

Supply. Education is a labour-intensive, service activity, and the more qualified, skilled and experienced the labour, the better the sector will serve the country. The supply of labour may be affected by the epidemic. There is some evidence to suggest that teachers may be more susceptible to infection than other groups, the reason being that their higher incomes and greater mobility are important risk factors. In many countries, teachers may be posted to areas away from their families.

The supply of teachers may be reduced by:

• Illness. This is particularly important as government employees tend to have generous sick leave packages, thus staff may be on the payroll for long periods, but not able to work or be replaced.
• Death. Teachers are likely to experience the same levels of mortality as comparable professions. Evidence suggests that this may rise from about 0.4 to 2.7 per cent of the cohort aged 20 to 40. Clearly this is a cause for concern where teachers are already in short supply.
• Absenteeism. This is likely to increase due to funerals of colleagues and family, and the need (especially for female staff) to care for family members.

It is not only teaching staff who may become scarce; these factors may affect administrators, headquarters staff, the inspectorate and so on.

There may also be a problem with financial resources. The problem of funding from parents and the community has already been raised. Governments may also face problems with the education budget line as there are increasing demands for health and welfare. In most countries all this is taking place in an environment of structural adjustment, and already restricted resources.

Process and Quality. The education process will be affected by the problems outlined above. In particular the following trends may emerge:

• Decreased uptake of education, and less continuity, as pupils' education is disrupted by illness of family members, deaths and declining resources. This will especially be the case for females.
• Increased problems of those schools facing changing demands, decreased supply of staff and funding, and growing numbers of orphans.
• Absenteeism and loss of teachers, with a move to a less well qualified and experienced teaching force, as those with experience and training are replaced by younger staff.
• A growing shortage of resources from parents, the community and the state.

At the same time the education sector has a vital role to play in prevention activities, as AIDS prevention messages and education must begin at an early age. These messages are most effective when they reach primary school children. One of the most cost effective ways is to include these messages in the curriculum, in some form. Education establishments and staff are also potential resources for outreach into broader communities.

It is clear from the above that, with the donor emphasis on basic education; access of females; educational planning and management; and training of teachers, HIV/AIDS is a issue of great concern in affected countries.

From Knowledge to Action

How should those working in the education sector respond to the HIV epidemic? There are a number of things that can be done.

The following steps set out how HIV/AIDS should be considered:

Step 1. Establish if it is appropriate to consider the issue of HIV/AIDS in the country. Use Document 2 in this Toolkit.
Step 2. In order to establish the scope of the problem apply Figure 1 of the sectoral checklist.
Step 3. Specifically consider the issues as laid out in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2. Including HIV/AIDS in Education Sector Support
Issue	Potential Problem	Response
Demographics	Decline in projected student numbers	Revisit population projections. Revise plans to take account of changes.
	Increased staff mortality rates	Build increased mortality into human resource planning and development.
Economics	Students can't afford schooling.	Support for poor students.
	Student labour required.	Support for poor families or their communities; flexible schedules.
	Education budget under threat.	Lobby Finance Ministry
Equity	Students with special needs because of:
	Poverty	Poverty alleviation with special emphasis for students.
	Orphanhood	Adapting education for orphans.
	HIV infection	Respond to special needs of infected students.
	Gender - female students	Protect female students, exempt from fees?

Step 4. Using the information gained from this sector study, use document 4 to ensure that HIV/AIDS is included in the project cycle management, if consultants are used ensure they are given Document 5- Including HIV/AIDS in Consultants' Terms of Reference.

Finally

HIV/AIDS is a real threat to the education sector, and thus potentially to human resource-based development. The European Community recognises the importance of education (which is a basic right) for this. It also appreciates the need for basic education, planning and reform and the importance of giving disadvantaged groups access to education. The implication of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is that these goals become more difficult to achieve. Furthermore the education sector has a considerable responsibility for addressing HIV/AIDS, as it is the most appropriate and cost- effective place for education to take place.

The issues facing the education sector will occur, at all levels, from primary to tertiary, including the inspectorate, planning cadres and teacher training. The effect of HIV/AIDS on education and the role of education in responding to the epidemic has generally been ignored.

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Notes:

[1] Digby Swift, EU's investments in education and training in the ACP states, The Courier, no. 159, September-October 1996, p65.

[2] Lomé IV Convention, Chapter 2 Objectives and guidelines of the Convention in the main areas of cooperation, Article 13.

[3] This is in part drawn from Sheldon Shaeffer, Education Sector AIDS Brief, Academy of Educational Development, Washington DC, (1996).

The World Bank Development Economics Development Research Group