Sunday Times, South Africa - Sunday, April 25, 1999
Prega Govender
This comes amid a call by Health Minister Nkosozana Zuma for AIDS to be made a notifiable disease and a Gauteng High Court judge's disclosure this week that he has AIDS.
Although the draft HIV/AIDS policy for schools and colleges expressly states that no pupil or teacher will be forced to disclose his or her HIV status, the national education department says it will welcome disclosure of the disease at schools. Abraham Seckle, the national deputy director of education responsible for the HIV policy for schools, said he welcomed the call by Zuma to make AIDS a notifiable disease, as long as the person's human rights were not violated.
"HIV-infected people could be helped if they came out into the open. Whether we like it or not, AIDS is now firmly entrenched in our society. By breaking their silence, pupils and teachers who have the disease can get help.
"Teachers and pupils must learn to accept that there will be people who are HIV infected in their midst. The best place to make others aware of the disease and to drive the point home is at school assembly," Seckle said. "For example, an AIDS-infected teacher could come to the front of the gathering and start off by saying, 'I have AIDS. But I am coping with it in this way'.
"But obviously those who disclose their condition must not be discriminated against or vilified. The new policy specifically mentions that no one will be barred from getting an education if he or she tests positive for AIDS."
Seckle said the "sensitive issue" of installing condom dispensers at schools was also contained in the new document.
"The school governing bodies should discuss the issue and make recommendations. There is nothing wrong with the use of condoms. We know that they promote safer sex, but the onus is up to the schools in conjunction with their governing bodies to decide whether they want dispensers."
The new policy, expected to be finalised later this year, makes provisions for precautions teachers should take when pupils are injured at school. "For example, teachers should wear protective rubber gloves if there is a risk of exposure to blood," Seckle said.
Some 840 "master" trainers throughout the country had been training at least two teachers from each high school to implement the education department's AIDS project for pupils.
"As part of life-orientation skills to pupils, the ABC of sexuality is now being taught. Abstinence, being faithful to one partner and using a condom are emphasised.
"We must openly talk about sex at schools so that pupils realise the dangers. Our aim is to bolster high morals," Seckle said.
"But the problem we are facing is resistance from some headmasters who are locking up the AIDS material in their cupboards. We are now going on a strong drive to get these principals on board."
Bheki Khumalo, Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu's spokesman, said the department would not stand in the way of teachers and pupils who wanted to disclose they were infected with the AIDS virus.
"Lots of people want to sweep the topic of AIDS under the carpet. If AIDS-infected pupils and teachers openly talk about it, I think it will drive the point home that it is a killer disease," Khumalo said.
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