| HIV/AIDS has eaten into every fiber and fabric of social life. In the education sector, it threatens to overwhelm the very fabric and structure of educational organizations, management, and provision of services as has traditionally been known. Like in the rest of the world, HIV/AIDS in Kenya is conceptualized as having the potential to negatively affect the education sector in terms of: (i) the demand for and supply of education, (ii) the quality and management of education, (iii) adjustments in response to the special needs of a rapidly increasing number of orphans as well as adaptation to new interactions both within and between schools and their communities.;In the absence of a vaccine, HIV/AIDS education programs are critical in educating individuals about actions they can take to protect themselves from becoming infected or infecting others. However, educating young people about becoming infected through sexual contact can be controversial (Kelly, 2002, Gachuhi, 1999).;Utilizing an ethnographic lens, this study focused on understanding experiences of head teachers in implementing HIV/AIDS education programs and the meaning of these programs to students in rural secondary schools in Kish District, Kenya. The following questions guided this study. (1) What is the role of head teachers in implementing HIV/AIDS programs? (2) How do they respond to HIV/AIDS cases in school? (3) How do they communicate matters related to HIV/AIDS in school? (4) What are students' perceptions of HIV/AIDS education programs?;Data for this study were collected in Kisii district for a period of 4 months through participant observation, open-ended face-to-face interviews with five high school head teachers and 14 high school students in two focus group discussions. I also interviewed a self-selected student, who happened to be HIV infected. The findings indicated that meaningful HIV/AIDS intervention initiatives in schools in rural Kisii remain contested along patterns of socio-cultural beliefs, religious morals, economic, and a wider crisis in education. These forces coalesce to create a culture of silence, which impede, shape, and guide implementation of school-based HIV/AIDS education programs. In such environment, school administrators experience dissonance in implementing HIV/AIDS education programs as envisioned just as students are caught in dangerous conflict between what they learn in school and observe in their communities.;Further, the study showed that HIV/AIDS education programs should shift from being informational to being empowering. Particularly, life-skills such as problem-solving skills, decision-making, communication, refusal and negotiation skills as well as skills that may help students to avoid alcohol and drugs should be encouraged. Further, VCT services, treatment, and nutritious food are intertwined. The study suggested that when a clear, binding, evidence-based and culturally appropriate policy on school-based AIDS education is developed and communicated to all stakeholders, head teachers and their schools are likely to receive enormous support in the implementation phase. |
