SUMMARY:

The Programme Goal is to develop indigenous capacity to provide young learners with HIV prevention

training and appropriate life skills to affect lasting moral and behavioural change.

PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES

1.Increase the capacity of the 6,631 Life Orientation teachers to promote HIV prevention through abstinence

and faithfulness.

2.Reach 1,000,052 total learners with a message that promotes HIV prevention through abstinence and

being faithful including 150,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).

3.Develop the capacity of the Department of Education at the provincial and district level.

4.Develop the administrative, logistic and academic capacity of RaG and Hope Education to sustain quality

HIV prevention education.

BACKGROUND:

Schools, particularly Life Orientation classes which are designed to prepare children for life, provide an

ideal setting to address topics related to HIV prevention. Because Life Orientation classes have only

recently become mandatory, the teachers have yet not received proper training nor do they have sufficient

materials and resources In response to these needs, Reaching a Generation (RaG), a community-based

South African organization, in cooperation with Hope Education (HE), a US NGO, developed a training

programme for Life Orientation (LO) teachers focusing on HIV prevention and the development of skills

necessary for teaching LO. Along with teacher training RaG/HE has developed an age appropriate, child-

centred curriculum called iMatter to equip Life Orientation teachers with the materials they need for LO/HIV

prevention education. These programmes have been developed in cooperation with the Department of

Education and have the Department's full support. The LO/HIV prevention teacher training is based on a

learner centred model and focuses on practical and interactive activities that engage the teachers. Begun

as a pilot programme in the Free State province in August 2006, teacher training was tested, revised,

improved and expanded. To date, more than 3,000 teachers have been trained. The process uses Master

Trainers working in cooperation with Department of Education LO Educators to provide direct LO teacher

training in the provinces.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

ACTIVITY 1: Teacher training

The LO/HIV prevention training typically takes place during daylong workshops held for groups of 50 to 100

teachers. This is accomplished in close cooperation with the Department of Education. Such cooperation

increases efficiency by utilizing the personnel, communication channels and infrastructure that is already in

place. For example, the Department of Education handles communication with the schools and individual

teachers and manages the majority of the follow up.The teacher training was been designed to have every

LO teacher from each district attend. Unfortunately, limited resources made this impossible at times. In the

past it has been necessary for one teacher from certain schools to attend and then return to the schools and

provide the training and resources to other teachers. Because the trained teachers taught other teachers

there was a high ratio of teachers to learners trained: 3,000 teachers for 2.5 million learners impacted. In a

scaled up version, every LO teacher will be able to attend and directly participate in the training. Thus by

training all LO teachers directly, we will see over 6,000 teachers impact over 1,000,000 learners in a year.

ACTIVITY 2: Curriculum materials

In addition to the training manual, each teacher will also receive age-appropriate HIV prevention materials

for each of his or her learners in the Foundation and Intermediate Phases. This book called "iMatter" is

complimented by a corresponding iMatter Teacher's Guide (see Appendix B for sample lessons). Each

lesson of iMatter indicates which learning outcomes and assessment standards from the National

Curriculum Statement are being taught. Teachers are required to keep a file of their work as well as a

learner's portfolio. Both the iMatter Teacher's Guide and learner books indicate the specific dimensions of

HIV prevention teaching that can be included in both the learners' portfolios and teacher's file.

As required by the Critical and Developmental Outcomes of the National Curriculum Statement each iMatter

lesson is age appropriate in terms of language and cultural approach. The National Policy states:

"Education should ensure that learners and students acquire age- and context-appropriate knowledge and

skills in order that they may adopt and maintain behaviour that will protect them from HIV infection." The

policy furthermore states: "A continuing life skills and HIV and AIDS education programme must be

implemented at all schools and institutions for all learners, students, educators and other staff members."

During the teacher training session, a district official from the Department of Education responsible for LO

assists the teachers in understanding the correlation between the iMatter training and the National

Curriculum Statement and articulates how the content learned will be used for performance appraisals in

the future. Depending on the province, this person is called either a Learning Facilitator or a Curriculum

Specialist. They also explain how to apply Outcomes Based assessment in compliance with the National

Policy of Assessment.

The iMatter curriculum was specifically developed for Sub-Saharan Africa in Swaziland. Before the

development began, Hope Education conducted due diligence and research to determine what the content

should include and to ensure that no duplication was taking place. Both in Swaziland and South Africa, the

iMatter materials are found to complement existing materials. The Foundation Phase book is for Grade 2 -

Grade 3 and the Intermediate Phase book is for Grade 4 - Grade 7. Since the experience in Swaziland,

iMatter has been modified for the South African context. Education specialists in South Africa identified the

grade-appropriate National Curriculum Standard learning outcomes contained in each iMatter lesson in

order to better integrate with the South African school curriculum. Practical teaching tips and activities to

equip the LO teachers were also added. While the LO/HIV prevention teacher training has been designed to

include an iMatter book for every child, current financial support allows for each teacher to receive only one

copy of the iMatter material to utilize as a resource for teaching the Life Orientation and HIV prevention

programme. In a fully funded programme, teachers will receive a copy for each of his or her learners.

Recent changes within the requirements of the Department of Education along with the experience of the

past two years provide additional content that would be helpful if included in the iMatter materials. A second

edition of iMatter will be designed in order to align it even more fully into the requirements of the Department

of Education. The project will be completed between September and December 2008. The second half of

the programme being proposed here will use the second edition of iMatter.

ACTIVITY 3: Partnership and certification activities

Activity Narrative: Since the pilot teacher training programme, RaG has secured agreements with the provincial education

departments to provide HIV/AIDS prevention/awareness training to the LO teachers in the provinces of

Eastern Cape, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and portions of Gauteng and Kwazulu

Natal. Experience has shown that the Department of Education becomes increasingly supportive the more

involved they become in the RaG/Hope Education training. Initially the involvement is primarily limited to

sending the teachers. But as the programme continues and positive results are seen and feedback is heard,

they become increasingly involved in providing venues, logistical support, and meals for the teachers. In

addition, the district officials within the provinces are providing monitoring and evaluation to ensure the

materials are being used and implemented in the schools. This is done on a continuous basis. At times RaG

staff members accompany the district officials in order to capture this part of the process on video.

The HIV prevention/LO teacher training course has been registered with UMALUSI and the South African

Qualifications Authority (SAQA). UMALUSI is a monitoring and moderating organization responsible for

general education and training as well as further education and training. SAQA is responsible for the

development and implementation of the National Qualification Framework established in 1995 to create a

single and integrated qualification system for the education sector. Through a partnership with Worldwide

Education Providers, RaG will be able to offer up to 5 credits to the teachers who participate in the training.

The Department of Education in their draft proposal requires that each of their teachers complete 120

credits of continuing education every 3 years.

Feedback from education leaders who have been involved with the training has been very positive. Mrs.

Hariette Speckmeier, Provincial Coordinator: Life Skills and HIV and AIDS for the Department of Education

in the Free State Province, states: "We value your contributions and input into our current programmes in

the province. The resources help our educators as there is a big need in this part of the programme. The

training is well received and helps us to build capacity in our educators in the field of Life Orientation. It is

my pleasure to confirm on behalf of the Department of Education that the Life Orientation Department is in

agreement with Reaching a Generation (RaG) to continue to present Life Orientation (LO) training to all the

teachers in the Free State.