Health and HIV/AIDS education in primary and secondary schools in Africa and Asia. Policies, Practice and Potential: Case Studies from Pakistan, India, Uganda, Ghana
Abstract
This occasional paper presents the outcome of a study which was undertaken to establish the extent to which health education (including AIDS) is currently included in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools in Africa and Asia, the relevance of the curriculum content to children's needs, teaching methods and teacher preparation.
The study had two elements:
(1) a review of available literature and documentary evidence on the
current state of health and AIDS education in schools in Africa and Asia
(2) case studies of policy and practice in health and AIDS education in the four countries.
The first section of this paper provides an overview of the issues facing policy makers in determining whether and how to include health and AIDS education in school curricula. It draws on evidence from the literature and from the results of the four country studies.
The second section presents the methodology and main findings of the country studies. The case studies combined key informant interviews and collection of documentary evidence from central government agencies, donors and non-government organisations. The in-depth studies of schools involved over 3,000 pupils in 'draw and write' - a method to explore perceptions and health concerns. A summary matrix is provided to enable the reader to make comparisons across the four countries. This is followed by a more detailed presentation of the country studies.
Citation
Educational Paper No. 14, DFID, London, UK, ISBN 0 902500 69 4, 94 pp.
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