From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#4 (December 1999), Briefs page

AIDS saps Africa's educational systems

In Zambia, the number of teachers dying from AIDS is greater than the output from all of the country's teacher-training colleges combined, and the rate is expected to increase significantly, from 680 in 1996 to 2,000 by the year 2005, according to a study by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). In one of Kenya's eight provinces, between 20 and 30 teachers die each month, while the death toll among teachers in Namibia may reach a cumulative total of between 3,500 and 6,500 by the year 2010.

Presented at a conference of African education ministers held in South Africa in early December, the UNICEF study reports that the educational systems in much of Eastern and Southern Africa are experiencing increasing problems due to the absenteeism and loss of teachers, education officers, inspectors and planning and management personnel. Evidence suggests that the incidence of HIV infections sometimes is higher among teachers than the population in general, possibly since many are in higher income groups than other people in rural areas and tend to engage in more risky sexual behaviour, says the study. Even where new teachers replace those who have died of AIDS, they tend to be less experienced and less well trained, eroding the overall quality of education.

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