PRESS RELEASE

Date: 29 April 2010

The Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) and Tshwane Mayoral AIDS Council will be launching a programme called “Managing HIV in Schools”, on the 21st of May 2010 at 3pm at FPD Head Office in Lynwood Ridge. The keynote speaker of the day, Dr G Ramokgopa, Mayor of Tshwane has engaged 350 schools in Tshwane to participate.

Statistics show that 6-8% of children are orphaned by AIDS in South Africa. To these orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC), schools serve as a place of safety and support where many receive their only meal of the day. Across Tshwane, the picture in our schools is just as devastating with a large number of OVCs and children infected with HIV. According to statistics from the Tshwane Mayoral AIDS Council, there are approximately 14 000 HIV positive ‘missing’ children who have not received testing and are therefore not receiving antiretroviral treatment.

Educators, who are crucial to our learners receiving a solid education, have one of the highest HIV prevalence rates as a group in South Africa at approximately 12.8% and 21.4% amongst teachers in the 25-34 age groups. On World AIDS Day in 2009, President Jacob Zuma said that, “We need extraordinary measures to reverse the trends we are seeing in the health profile of our people”. This programme will be one such extraordinary measure that expects to achieve increased voluntary counseling and testing amongst the school’s learners and staff, create awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and management strategies and most importantly, integrates participating schools into government and NGO treatment and support services in the area.The Mayor of Tshwane, Dr G Ramokgopa has the following to say about the programme: “the success and integration of this programme within Tshwane’s existing school support programmes will be critical to reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS across our schools and communities”.The pilot programmed will be launched in May 2010 across Tshwane’s four school districts with the hope that the programme be expanded beyond Tshwane as soon as possible.

Contact: Joanne Brink
Education Faculty

Tel: (012) 816 9035
Fax: 086 584 7376
Mobile: 072 728 5877

E-mail: joanneb@foundation.co.za
Website: www.foundation.co.za

HIV/AIDS, skills