Innovations in Education: the role of Education Sector in Combating HIV/AIDS Presented By: Kendra Blackett-Dibinga Authors: Kendra Blackett-Dibinga, Dr. Kechi Anah and Nelia Matinhure

Introduction & Contextual Framework  Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than 25 million people with HIV/AIDS, roughly 63% of the global total  Close to 60% of all adults with AIDS are women, and 75% of all young people aged 15 to 24 with HIV/AIDS are female.  The continent is home to 90 percent of the children living with HIV/AIDS and 80 percent of the children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.  As caregivers die, the burden of care falls to extended families, communities and faith based organizations  Resources to meet the needs of orphans are in short supply

HIV/AIDS & Impact on Education  HIV/AIDS is decreasing the demand for education  Drop out rates for orphaned children are increasing due to death of their caregiver  Research has shown that schools, and particularly teachers, should be targeted for HIV/AIDS education

Role of Schools in Addressing HIV/AIDS  Schools, if facilitated, can be an important player in the fight against HIV/AIDS  Increased access to education for girls is important in reducing their own risks to HIV/AIDS  Schools play a significant role in early childhood development  Children who go to school are provided with opportunities for social interaction, character building and enhanced learning  OVC are provided an opportunity to address grief and trauma through social interaction

Innovations in Education  Key Question: How can schools be facilitated to provide essential services inclusive of psychosocial care and support, HIV/AIDS education and life skills education and by so doing serve as change agents in their communities?

Conditional Cash Transfers  In recent years, governments have explored the use of conditional cash transfers provided to households to encourage practice of desired behaviors (sending a child to school, accessing health services)  Conditions are placed on households which, if not followed, means they would no longer receive the cash  What happens when we place similar conditionalities on social institutions (i.e. schools) which are in many communities central providers of care and support services to their members, not only students?  Even more, what happens when we use these conditionalities to enroll increased numbers of orphans and vulnerable children who would otherwise not be able to access school?

Africare’s Block Grant Program  The Community-Based Orphan Care, Protection and Empowerment (COPE) project launched in Zimbabwe in 2002 used “Direct Cash Transfers to schools” in exchange for OVC enrolment  The goal of the program was to encourage shared responsibility of orphans and vulnerable children and their caregivers by increasing community capacity to respond to their needs  Between , COPE facilitated the enrollment of 3,025 children by providing direct cash transfers to schools ranging from USD  In exchange, schools were trained to provide life skills and HIV/AIDS education as part of the school curriculum through school-based COPE Clubs  Grants were used for infrastructural improvements, desks and other furniture, school supplies, sporting equipment, and stationary

Results  Over 20,000 people benefited from this resource exchange not including the 3,025 direct beneficiaries  Cost per child = $3  Project achieved over 90% retention rates for the OVC enrolled under the resource exchange  Noticeable reduction in stigma and discrimination, as reported by teachers and OVC beneficiaries

Results-2  Teachers received life skills and psychosocial training enabling them to better serve their students  Enhanced school performance by OVC as a result of bereavement counseling and emotional stability  Grants facilitated increased access to vocational education for older OVC not able to attend formal school

Moving Forward  With funding from PEPFAR, the project is now being scaled up to 4 additional countries (Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique)  Use of in-kind goods as opposed to cash to guard against exchange rate fluctuations  The goal is to provide schools with the resources needed to sustain increased educational enrolment of OVC and sustain this increase while ensuring quality of education and building the capacity of teachers through training in life skills and HIV/AIDS education

Lessons Learned  Cash transfers and similar resource exchange programs are cost-effective Rather than paying individual school fees the program can enroll more children for less cost by addressing a key need of the school. SchoolBlock Grant Amount # of OVC Exempted # of Terms Exempt ed Amount/Child if School fees paid directly Cost Savings Kagamba Secondary School (Uganda) $2,857603$8,280$5,423 Rwamanyonyi Secondary School (Uganda) $2, $10,200$8,200 St. Paul Secondary School (Uganda) $1,943803$9,600$7,657

Lessons Learned-2  Conditional transfers to schools can be a tool to decrease stigma and discrimination by reducing opportunities to single out children supported by the program

Lessons Learned-3  Conditional cash transfers can be a tool to increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS and life skills for all children, including OVC who are most at risk of infection All schools supported agreed to provide life skills and HIV/AIDS education as part of the school curriculum

Lessons Learned-4  Block grants are an effective capacity building tool for teachers, who are at the same time parents and caregivers and members of a larger community Training provided to teachers can therefore have a cascading effect in the communities  Schools with active/trained PTAs are able to ensure the proper use of block grants and monitor OVC enrollment  The link between the schools and PTAs is important to ensure that children who are most in need are provided support

Challenges  Grants need to be sufficiently flexible Ability to hire additional staff or construct new classrooms to ensure quality  Communities need to be properly sensitized  Schools need to be assisted in determining and budgeting for their needs (short and long-term)

Conclusion  Schools and governments welcome the block grant initiative because Cost effective: serve more children at lower cost Sustainable by building the capacity of the community to Seek resources to assist OVC Has potential to decrease stigma and discrimination towards OVC b y providing benefit to the entire community Provides children with necessary information to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS Increases motivation and involvement of parents, caregivers and the community

Thank You!  Governments of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Rwanda  The children and their caregivers  The participating schools and teachers  The program staff  Africare’s Office of Health and HIV/AIDS  USAID/PEPFAR and other donors (Irish AID, WFP)