HIV/AIDS education in Kenya: an evaluation of policy, provision and practice in secondary schools

Abstract

One of the key responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis has been the provision of School- based HIV/AIDS education, to try and improve teenagers’ ability to make wise and sensible decisions regarding their behaviours. The interventions have been premised on links between education and behaviour, the underlying assumption being that teaching young people how to protect themselves from HIV can lead to a reduction in risk behaviour and hence a reduction in HIV incidence (UNAIDS, 1997). An important part of this process has been the development of an education sector policy on HIV and AIDS, aimed at implementing and effecting, among others, the policy goal of Prevention. This study, with the use of a systems theory as a theoretical framework, examines the policy, provision and practice of HIV/AIDS education in secondary schools in Kenya with the view to informing policy and providing options for re-designing and scaling up (if necessary) the HIV/AIDS program. A methodology combining literature review, semi- structured interviews and a school survey was adopted. The school survey covered students, teachers and Head teachers; while the semi structured interviews covered policy makers. Results revealed that there are discordances between national HIV/AIDS policy rhetoric and school realities. There is a general failure of schools to implement the type of detailed HIV/AIDS policy described despite the fact that the demand is high. Although there are merits that the study did not cover a wide enough population to warrant the generalizations it makes, the research findings and recommendations that do exist from previous investigations largely confirm rather than refute these results