The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has attacked the government for its poor handling of HIV/Aids and President Thabo Mbeki for ongoing mixed messages on the pandemic, following a meeting of its national executive committee in Johannesburg last month.
Sadtu’s national executive committee (NEC) is ‘profoundly” concerned about the ‘tardy roll-out of the government’s HIV/Aids programme, especially in relation to the provision of antiretrovirals. No amount of herbal remedies will substitute for this,” the NEC said in a statement.
The union said it was vital to clarify the situation regarding prevalence rates among educators.
In this regard, it mentioned the study of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). The ELRC has members from all the unions and the Department of Education as an employer.
The study, which was released last year, found that 12,7% of the representative sample of 17 088 teachers who agreed to an HIV test were HIV-positive and that 10 000 teachers are in need of immediate antiretroviral treatment for Aids.
In addition, it found that in some provinces the HIV prevalence among educators exceeded 20%. The study also found that women teachers in their most productive years (25 to 34) have the highest rates of HIV, exceeding 21% prevalence.
‘As Sadtu, we see this as a major crisis for teachers, students and communities, resulting in increased teacher absenteeism and low morale, and contributing to an impending teacher shortage. This situation adds up to a stressful, non-productive environment for our educators today,” Sadtu’s NEC warned.
To address this situation, Sadtu and three other teacher unions have joined forces for a pilot project to provide educators and their partners with free and confidential HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment services. The other unions are the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa, the National Teachers’ Union and the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie .
‘As unions, we try to protect and support our members. It is unfortunate that the leader of the country does not see HIV and Aids as a problem for teachers and for our schools. It’s time to take our heads out of the sand and face this reality,” the NEC said.