The impact of HIV and AIDS workplace awareness programmes on high School Teachers knowledge attitudes and sexual behaviour, 2004-2010: A gender perspective

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) workplace awareness programmes on high school teachers, knowledge, attitudes and sexual behaviour. The study assessed the impact of the HIV and AIDS workplace programmes in high schools between the periods of 2004 to 2010 in Lusaka urban. To pursue this very important study, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. Qualitative research was used to gain insight into people’s attitudes, behaviour, value systems or lifestyles. This approach was preferred because the techniques used aimed at obtaining response on what teachers know, think and feel about workplace awareness programmes on HIV and AIDS. In-depth interviews and semi-structured questionnaires were the main research instruments. The target population included all the High School teachers in Lusaka Urban. The study used stratified random sampling to select teachers. It was restricted to 100 high school teachers both male and female. Eighty (80) respondents administered self-administered questionnaires. Purposive sampling method was used to select 20 participants to be interviewed. Findings of this study revealed that basic knowledge on HIV and AIDS on how it can be transmitted and prevented were universal to all high school teachers. Although most high school teachers had basic knowledge on HIV and AIDS, they did not have enough knowledge on other matters concerning HIV and AIDS such as Mother to Child transmission, condom use, VCT and treatment. Some myths that surround the pandemic manifested in their attitude and behaviour when measures were put forward in trying to curb the pandemic.Although much documentation has been put in place at the Ministry of Education concerning HIV and AIDS workplace awareness programmes implementation in high schools, the situation in high schools was different. This was because some teachers in some high schools did not have much information on workplace awareness programmes an indication that not much was done at high school level.