High school teachers' experiences of dealing with learners made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS

The HIV and AIDS pandemic have become not only a health concern but educational and social concern as well. According to Beyers and Hay (2011, p. 99) many school-going children are not only affected by HIV but a large number of adolescents are also either HIV positive or have AIDS. Other researchers argue that education should act as a vaccine against new HIV infections (Kendall and O’Gara, 2007, p. 6). This argument comes with the expectation that all teachers are willing and ready to work with learners made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS; without considering the lived realities of the teachers in relation to HIV and AIDS. While many teachers make a difference in the lives of affected and infected learners through the way in which they deal with the learners concerned, some may not take up the challenge to assist the learners, while others might unknowingly and unintentionally do harm. This study, therefore, aimed at exploring high school teachers’ experiences of working with learners made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS in order to generate guidelines to assist teachers to effectively deal with vulnerable learners in their classrooms