Abstract
The disease which has come to be known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) first emerged in the early 1980s. While HIV refers to the virus that is transmitted mainly, but not exclusively, through unprotected sexual contact, AIDS is the advanced form of the condition which follows infection and is characterized by a severe breakdown of the body’s ability to fight disease. HIV/AIDS now constitutes a global pandemic which has impacted on individuals, families and national and regional economies through the stress it places on key social systems. Nowhere has this impact been greater than in sub-Saharan Africa where a number of factors have elided to create a crisis of previously unimagined proportions.
This chapter focuses on the effects of HIV/AIDS on education in Southern Africa and is based on a study of several countries in the region, placing particular emphasis on the situation that prevails in Botswana. A number of key contentions are presented to the reader which includes the following:
- HIV/AIDS has impacted all areas of social life in the region including and especially education
- Educational institutions have been viewed as central to ameliorating the effects of the pandemic
- An essentially Western notion of school effectiveness has been artificially imposed on the educational approaches employed in the fight against the disease
- It is open to question whether more nuanced and local solutions might not be more effective in
addressing the effects of HIV/AIDS
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Exploring key issues in education |
| Editors | D. Kassem, D. Garratt |
| Place of Publication | London |
| Publisher | Continuum |
| Pages | 144-159 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781847060846 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
