Evaluation of a comprehensive school-based AIDS education programme in rural Masaka, Uganda

TLDR

The study aimed to evaluate a year‑long, 19‑activity school‑based AIDS education programme in rural Masaka, Uganda. The programme comprised 19 extracurricular activities delivered by specially trained teachers over one year in 20 intervention schools, evaluated through quantitative questionnaires (1274 students) and qualitative focus groups (93 students). The programme produced minimal gains—seven of nine questionnaire variables showed no significant improvement—and focus groups revealed superficial coverage of key activities because of limited classroom time and teacher discomfort; the authors recommend full integration into national curricula and life‑skills education.

Abstract

A 19 activity extracurricular school-based AIDS education programme lasting 1 year was conducted in rural southwestern Uganda using specially trained teachers, and was evaluated using mutually supportive quantitative and qualitative methods. In total, 1274 students from 20 intervention schools and 803 students from 11 control schools completed questionnaires at baseline, and their classes were followed up. In addition, 93 students from five of the intervention schools participated in 12 focus group discussions. The programme had very little effect—seven of the nine key questionnaire variables showed no significant increase in score after the intervention. Data from the focus group discussions suggest that the programme was incompletely implemented, and that key activities such as condoms and the role-play exercises were covered only very superficially. The main reasons for this were a shortage of classroom time, as well as teachers' fear of controversy and the unfamiliar. We conclude that large-scale comprehensive school-based AIDS education programmes in sub-Saharan Africa may be more completely implemented if they are fully incorporated into national curricula and examined as part of life-skills education. This would require teachers to be trained in participatory teaching methods while still at training college.