The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Expert for AIDS education in schools

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Expert for AIDS education in schools

By R.Ravikanth Reddy

HYDERABAD, JAN. 10. Indian schoolchildren must be exposed to awareness programmes on AIDS or else the situation may turn so worse that they won't survive to know what the dreaded disease is all about, Wouter Vander Schaaf, Coordinator of Educational International, the global teacher organisation representing over 29 million education personnel, said.

"Let us talk about it now than in a sorry tone after a few years," he said, speaking to The Hindu during his recent visit to India. The EI has 345 member organisations in 165 countries and territories. The All India Federation of Teachers' Organisations (AIFTO) represents India in EI.

Warning

Mr. Schaaf cautioned that if the Indian Government did not shed its inhibitions on introducing AIDS education in schools, the future generations would have to pay a heavy price. "It is the question of their survival," he pointed out, recalling the African experience.

The EI is involved in several AIDS education-related projects in association with the World Heath Organisation (WHO) in Africa.

Another major issue being addressed to by the EI is the high dropout rate in primary schools in India and it has taken up a project in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka along with the teachers' organisations. "Around 7 out of the 10 dropouts are girls and we are concentrating on this particular aspect," Mr. Schaaf said.

The Progressive Recognised Teachers' Union (PRTU), which has partnered with EI, is implementing the project in select schools in Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda and Nizamabad districts. As a part of the project, the teachers go to every house in the village and convince the parents to send their children to schools.

Improvement

"The project is paying rich dividends and there was marked improvement in some villages," he said. "My purpose of visit to Andhra Pradesh is to review the programme since we finance it," said Mr Schaaf who is based in Brussels. He said lack of teachers was the primary reason for the dropout rate and the Vidya volunteers scheme was further contributing to the problem. "Education cannot be imparted in an ad hoc way."

Privatisation opposed

He said the EI strongly opposes privatisation of education. "Privatisation results in the rich getting the best education. A two-caste system is being encouraged in India and teachers' organisations should oppose it."

He said investment in education should be viewed in a broader perspective with higher goals. He was of the view that teachers should design education policies or at least actively involve themselves.

"What happens in India is that the conclusions are shown to the teachers, which they have to accept."

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