Durban - Screening for sexually transmitted infections, contraception including condoms and pregnancy testing may be available to pupils within the next six months.
The Basic Education Department has now officially given the go-ahead for these and a range of other critical, voluntary health services to be provided at schools, with parents’ consent.
It was during the South African Aids Conference in Durban on Thursday that the “bold action” was announced – at the same time that the department unveiled its draft national policy on HIV and TB.
Deputy Basic Education Minister Enver Surty said the draft document – which would apply to both public and private schools – made South Africa the first country to develop a policy in response to the twin epidemics in the education sector.
He addressed delegates via video message.
The policy’s goals are to assist pupils, all school staff and education officials by:
* Arming them with the knowledge to make informed life choices
* Improving their access to HIV and TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and support services.
Among other things, it proposes that schools be flexible in ensuring that the education of HIV- and TB-affected pupils, who are unable to attend class on a regular basis, is not disrupted.
It also suggests that pupils, school staff and education officials diagnosed with TB not attend school or work while infectious.
Speaking on the provision of sexual and reproductive health services at schools, the department’s Dr Saadhna Panday said that while it was a “sensitive issue”, the evidence was “sobering”. She cited statistics including that:
* 37 percent of pupils from grades 8 to 11 were sexually active.
* In 2010 there were 36 702 pregnant girls at school.
* Nearly 7 percent of girls and 2.5 percent of boys between 15 and 19 were HIV positive.
* 40 to 50 percent of new infections occurred among the youth.
“Talking to young people about sex does not increase sexual activity… If young people use condoms during their sexual debut, they are more likely to use them going forward,” she said quoting research.
That pupils have access to condoms at schools – as part of the integrated school health programme – has sparked fierce criticism since it was proposed last year.
It has, however, had the support of KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Senzo Mchunu, rights organisation Equal Education, and the Treatment Action Campaign.
The programme was born of a collaboration between the national departments of Health and Basic Education, and has been hailed for the myriad of other services it affords pupils on school premises.
These include the assessment of motor skills, oral hygiene, vision, hearing and mental health.
Up to now, at the more than 10 000 schools that the programme has reached, the sexual health component has not been implemented.
Panday explained that guidelines had very recently been concluded, along which school governing bodies would now discuss with parents the range of sexual health services that may be available to their children.
In the first two years of implementation, the poorest schools would be prioritised. - The Mercury