Abstract

A lot has been done in secondary schools to make learners have knowledge about HIV and AIDS, how it is contracted, spread, and how to prevent its spread. More has also been done on encouraging learners to go for tests so that they get to know their status. Little mention has, however. been done regarding the support mechanisms for those learners who are already HIV positive in boarding secondary schools. This study, therefore, sought to find out the state of support mechanisms available to learners who are living with HIV in boarding secondary schools considering the many challenges they are likely to face. The study took place in three selected boarding secondary schools of Ngumbe, Lunzu and Blantyre secondary schools in Blantyre City Education District. This study used face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and document review as methods to collect data for the research. The purpose of the study was to find out what teachers perceive as their role in helping learners living with HIV and AIDS, and investigate the school-based practices for caring and supporting learners living with HIV and the experiences these learners go through in boarding secondary schools. The study found out that teachers saw themselves as taking the role of parents to all the learners in boarding secondary schools especially in the absence of their parents.Teachers see themselves being responsible for the provision of the physical, social,spiritual and moral support to learners who are HIV positive in the boarding setup. The study also found out that teachers lacked the skills on how to take care of the learners who are living with HIV in the boarding secondary schools. It was also revealed that the schools do not have guidelines for teachers to follow on how to take care of learners who are HIV positive, instead they use their own discretion to respond to the varioussituations. Furthermore, the study revealed that learners who are living with HIV face challenges like fear of discrimination and stigmatisation, lack of supplementary foods among many other challenges.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2023

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