AIDS education can help reduce ignorance, fear, and discrimination. It can also encourage people to delay sexual activity and to use condoms when they do engage in such activities.
Teachers participating in the training course improved their ability, skills, and confidence to conduct AIDS classes. They learned to explain sensitive issues and words to students in class-specific lessons.
Educational Benefits
Education helps people learn what HIV is, how it is transmitted, and how to prevent infection. It also helps to reduce stigma and discrimination, which can cause many people to hide their positive status. This can be dangerous, as it can lead to isolation, which can also lead to infection.
A study found that teachers who received training on teaching AIDS had an increased ability, skills, and self-confidence in conducting HIV classes compared to their counterparts who did not receive such training. Furthermore, the teachers who participated in the training had more satisfaction with their experience than those who did not.
The research also showed that no community members actively opposed the teaching of AIDS in schools. However, teachers still face challenges when teaching sensitive topics in the classroom. They need to be educated on discussing these topics with their students and provided with support and materials for their lessons.
Social Benefits
Spreading knowledge about AIDS is critical to changing attitudes and reducing discrimination. HIV AIDS education courses can also help women protect their health and defer marriage, reducing childbearing among girls and preventing AIDS-affected children from falling prey to HIV through breastfeeding.
Education can help people recognize their vulnerabilities and know how to protect themselves from infection while assisting people with AIDS to find medical and social support. In a study that looked at teachers’ experiences of teaching HIV in schools, teachers who received training on HIV were more likely to teach about the subject in their allocated class time than those who didn’t. The trained teachers also reported that the training material made discussing sensitive words and topics easier in their classes.
Personal Benefits
Anyone can get AIDS, not just young people or injecting drug users who get infected. It’s a cross-section of society, and we must educate everyone so they know how to protect themselves from HIV infection.
Education is also needed for those who are HIV positive so they can reduce the stigma and discrimination that leads to isolation and early death. This includes teaching how to keep the virus from spreading and avoiding discrimination, such as avoiding sharing food, towels, or toilets with HIV-positive people.
In one study, teachers who received training on HIV used group work and discussion to teach the students about the basics of HIV/AIDS, ways to decrease the spread of HIV, and assertiveness skills. Students in the intervention program showed better improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and protection self-efficacy than the comparison group that watched educational DVDs without discussion. The trained teachers could accommodate the curriculum within their speculated class time and still make time for other classes.
Economic Benefits
Many studies have shown that HIV education is effective in delaying sexual initiation and promoting safe sex practices. It also has the potential to reduce discrimination against HIV-positive people by improving knowledge about transmission, thus reducing ignorance and fear.
Educated women are more likely to delay marriage and have fewer children, which can help reduce the spread of the disease. In addition, education helps empower girls and women, who are often the chief income earners in households and can use their earnings to improve health.
However, a recent study found that teachers not trained in teaching HIV/AIDS are more hesitant to teach this sensitive topic in their classrooms. They report feeling uncomfortable discussing these issues with their students and having difficulty discussing them. Moreover, the researchers observed that these teachers did not encourage their students to participate in discussions and were often annoyed when they asked questions.
