The perceptions and responses of South African school principals regarding HIV and AIDS in their schools

Abstract

Despite numerous HIV and AIDS training programmes for educators, little appears to have been achieved in terms of creating a wider understanding of the social and cultural complexities of the disease and its impact on the quality of teaching and learning. There appears to be a lack of developmental programmes that help principals provide the type of leadership which ensures that teachers and children who live in a context affected by the disease still find themselves in a school environment characterized by high levels of quality, care and compassion. To this end, we conducted a qualitative research enquiry to ascertain the current perceptions of school principals regarding the impact of HIV and AIDS on their schools and to find out how they have responded to this challenge.

Keywords:

• HIV and AIDS education
• school management
• principals