Kenya: Education At Risk As Parents Die of Aids

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

9 May 2007
Posted to the web 8 May 2007

Hezron Ochiel
Nairobi

The prevalence of HIV/Aids among fishing communities in Bondo is on the increase and is now threatening education, according to a new report.

The research by Bondo District health officials indicates that prevalence stands at 39 per cent with Uhanya, Usenge and Luanda-Kotieno beaches being the most affected.

The number of orphans has also risen sharply. One primary school on the beach has 380 orphans. The report says 32 per cent and 26 per cent of primary and secondary schools students have lost their parents.

In his speech at a teacher's workshop on capacity building in HIV/Aids on Tuesday, local public health officer, Mr Moses Oyaro, attributed the high prevalence to low information on the disease.

The beaches, he said, have attracted people from all walks of life, including prostitutes, pushing up the infection risk.

"To earn a living, widows, widowers and orphans have come to these beaches to join the lucrative fishing business and this has led to importation of the virus," he said.

Speaking at the seminar funded by the Ministry of Education, area education officer, Mr John Wachira, said Aids has adversely affected learning.

He noted that absenteeism among pupils affected by the disease is on the rise. This, he said, has lowered academic performance in the district.

"Pupils taking care of their sick relatives have regularly missed lessons and this does not auger well for their academic performance," he said.

Wachira noted that the increase of deaths among the teachers has led to a shortfall of 624 primary and 265 secondary school teachers.

"With these grim figures, improving education standards has become a nightmare," he added.

He appealed to the Government to employ more teachers in the district to avert a crisis.

The training at Maranda Special School aimed at educating teachers and education officials in reduction of risky sexual behaviour among students.

Education officers and heads of primary and secondary schools attended.