Although medical personnel always encourage people living with HIV/Aids to disclose their status to close relatives, guardians or friends so as to be accorded the much needed special care, teachers seem not to be considered as close since they are kept in the dark about their learners’ health.

Reason? Because these learners and their parents are afraid of being stigmatised by the entire school community just in case their confidant (teacher) spills the beans. As Education Times found out, many students prefer to keep to themselves as regards their sero status.

And a director of a secondary school in Nyamagabe district confirmed our fears. The director, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says after carrying out voluntary HIV tests on all their students last year, two of them whose names have never been disclosed to the administration by the medical officials turned out to be HIV-positive. However, the administration has to date been left guessing since no student has ever come out to disclose their status. 

A few heroic cases

However, not all hope is lost as a few learners have gathered the courage to reveal their HIV/Aids status.

Victorine Ndwanyi, a matron at Lycée de Kigali in Nyarugenge district, says in her 20 years of interacting with students, she has received only two cases of HIV-positive boys. Interestingly, the two have surfaced in the last three years.

"In the first case, Mugenzi (not a real name) came to me and said he was finding it hard to walk to his home in Kimironko (in Gasabo district) in the evening after class because he was becoming weak given his ‘serious’ sickness.

But he did not specify what he was suffering from until I promised I would never reveal his condition to anyone,” Ndwanyi says. "Mugenzi, who was 18 at the time, told me he was born with HIV/Aids and that both his parents had died when he was aged 8.” 

Ndwanyi says Mugenzi’s story was so touching that she was forced to find him a place in the boarding section which reserve for upcountry students. She also pushed for a number of exemptions for Mugenzi given his condition.

"Without revealing much about his case, I recommended to teachers to always allow Mugenzi to immediately visit the sick bay whenever he sought their permission,” Ndwanyi told The Education Times, adding that the teenager takes his anti-retroviral drugs every morning and evening without other students noticing.

In the second case, a mother to an HIV-positive student last month confided in Ndwanyi about her son’s status and pointed out that he would need permission to go to hospital for medication on a regular basis. The mother, however, warned the matron against sharing that information with anyone else. 

"She told me that her son will hang himself if he learns that someone else other than his mother knows about his HIV status,’” Ndwanyi explains.  

Regine Mukamusoni, a nurse at GS Officiel in Huye district, however, says because of her privileged position, she usually gets to know every student’s HIV/Aids status but cannot disclose it to anyone for professional reasons. 

Government policy on HIV/Aids

The education sector policy stipulates that all school children and adults shall acquire the necessary life skills to be responsible and change behaviour in the fight against HIV/Aids. It proposed a number of strategies to implement the policy by recommending a review of the curriculum to include HIV/Aids and life skills modules and courses for all appropriate age groups.

Anti-Aids clubs

For instance in 2003, the Government directed all secondary schools to start anti-HIV/Aids clubs to enlighten the students about the scourge and teachers say the results are already visible. 

"The students are more disciplined and informed about the HIV today hence reducing the possibility of getting infected with the virus,” Mukamusoni said.

The clubs consist of students who spend time sensitising their colleagues about HIV/Aids and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Yvette Isimbi, a Senior Six student at Lycée de Kigali and the anti-Aids club president of her school, says their mission is to change the mindset of their colleagues about HIV/Aids. 

"Some students for example used to think that they would get infected if they borrowed an HIV-positive person’s pen. We teach our colleagues how someone gets exposed to the infection and how to avoid it,” Isimbi says, adding that they also hold debates and discuss how to fight stigma among other reproductive issues. 

And for their efforts, students of Lycée de Kigali last year won a television set after emerging best in an HIV/Aids competition organised by Nyarugenge district.

Protais Niyonzima, the director of GS Kamina in Burera district, says the last case of pregnancy in his school was in 2011 thanks to the anti-Aids club.

"Since the club started, we no longer have cases of students sleeping around carelessly because of the sex education they receive regularly,” Niyonzima reveals.

The clubs sometimes host officials from the Ministry of Health and non-governmental organisation for expert advice.

Diet

According to the education ministry instructions, schools do not offer a special diet for students living with HIV much as they need fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods.

Challenge 

When Education Times set out on a tour of various schools, it hoped to find out how students living with HIV/Aids are treated in terms of feeding, which facilities/measures have been put in place to make their life easier and to establish how they perform in class as compared to their HIV-negative classmates among others.

However, not as much information could be got simply because students and their parents prefer to keep that sensitive information to themselves for fear of stigmatization.

As a result, teachers, headteachers and counsellors say they cannot offer special treatment to someone they don’t know that needs it. That’s also why our question about the performance of HIV-positive students in class remained unanswered.

What research says

The performance of students infected and affected by HIV/Aids is not any different from those that are not impacted directly by the disease.

This was suggested by Research Fellow of the University of the West Indies, Joan Thomas, while presenting the research findings of a school-based HIV/Aids Stigma Research survey which was conducted within selected local schools in Jamaica in 2010.

She asserted that there was still need for the findings to be more carefully analysed before a definitive assertion could be drawn.

The findings amplified the effects of HIV and Aids-related stigma and discrimination on children’s school experienced and educational outcome.

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TEACHERS, PARENTS SHARE THEIR VIEWS

Jackline Umurerwa, head teacher at Groupe Scolaire Camp Kanombe Handling HIV-positive students is not simple because they are delicate but it’s possible. With continuous counselling and making them feel loved, such students can concentrate on their studies and even perform better than the others.

Jean-Baptiste Sibomana, teacher at Efotech S.SStudents that are living with HIV.Aids should be given special care. For instance if they want permission to go to hospital or to see their parents, it should be granted as soon as possible. Any delay could end up being costly to both the student and school.

Charlotte Mutoni, a teacherStudents of that calibre should not be discriminated against in any way. They should be shown love and given all the support they deserve. 

Sylidion Munyandekwe, a teacher Students should be given maximum attention by the school authorities. Teachers should make sure that  the students living with HIV take the medication on time. 

Fred Kalisa, a parentStudents who are HIV-positive should not be stressed by friends, teachers or parents at any given time because it psychologically affects them. All they need is counselling, patience and love from everybody. That is the best way to keep these students in shape.

Richard Rugwe, a teacherTeachers and parents must wok together to help a student living with HIV. But the only way of getting maximum support from the teachers is if they have an idea about the students health condition.