Positive Learning: How the education sector can meet the needs of learners living with HIV

Adolescents and young people living with HIV face several challenges in enjoying their right to education in a safe, supportive, inclusive and enabling learning environment. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, UNESCO, in collaboration with UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), is launching the Positive Learning Toolkit, an online tool to support education stakeholders to meet the needs of adolescents and young people living with HIV, in both the formal and informal education sectors. This toolkit is adapted from the UNESCO document Positive learning: how the education sector can meet the needs of learners living with HIV (2021).

 

Helping every learner living with HIV make the most of their education

Joanna Herat, Acting Chief of Section for Health and Education, at UNESCO, says that despite a lot of progress in ensuring safe, inclusive and equitable learning environments, young learners living with HIV still face many challenges.

“The Positive Learning recommendations help schools and the whole education sector to find ways to ensure that every learner living with HIV can make the most of their education, in a setting free from discrimination and which recognises their health needs,” Herat says. “They are not a one-size-fits all solution but are in fact designed to be adapted to local and national contexts, recognizing that the response will be different in settings where HIV prevalence is relatively high among the general population, or in concentrated epidemics.”

“This toolkit is for you, whether you are a teacher, a government representative, a UN staff member or a youth activist,” Herat continued. “We all have our part to play in making education settings safe spaces where young learners living with HIV can thrive."

The Positive Learning document was developed through a partnership between UNESCO, The Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and the Global Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+Global), and the online toolkit aims to:

• support national education sectors to fulfil the needs and rights of all learners living with and affected by HIV and, by doing so, improves their educational experiences and outcomes;
• address the daily realities of adolescents and young people living with HIV as they navigate issues such as sexuality, relationships, gender identity and expression, treatment access, and adherence.

The Positive Learning Toolkit contains:

• a series of recommendations to address the challenges faced by learners living with HIV such as creating an inclusive and health promoting learning environment and the provision of adequate comprehensive sexuality education;
• examples of good practice including recommendations for the education sector to adapt to local and national context, as well as country case studies of promising practices;
• a glossary of terms;
• information and resources to explore further including an online evidence base.

The Positive Learning Toolkit is a further addition in the online tools for promoting health and well-being in the education sector, which IIEP manages on behalf of UNESCO, including the Health and Education Resource Centre and the Comprehensive Sexuality Education Implementation Toolkit. It is currently being launched in English and French, with Russian and Spanish language versions to follow next year.