Ogun begins education curriculum to fight HIV/AIDS

The Ogun State Government has commenced the implementation of Family Life HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) curriculum to combat the scourge of HIV/AIDS among youths in the state.

Speaking during a five-day training workshop for teachers on the implementation of FLHE in secondary schools on Thursday, the Permanent Secretary of the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Alhaji Olusegun Solarin, said the objective of the training was to keep participants abreast of the contemporary developments in the Family Life HIV/AIDS.

He added that the curriculum was also to promote sexuality education and the need for the youth to rationally plan for the future.

The workshop was organised by the state government in conjunction with United Nations Population Fund.

According to Solarin, ”It should be noted that taking full responsibility over one‘s urges is a learned habit which should be encouraged among the youths and the adolescent. More importantly, control of the spread of HIV/AIDS shall be emphasised during the training due to the prevalent rate of HIV/AIDS among the youths of 15 -29 years.The reason being that many of them engage in risky behaviours such as drug abuse, initiation into cultism, indiscriminate sex and so on.”

He stated the need to intensify the campaigns against the spread of the disease among youths, most of who are students in secondary schools by equipping them with skills that will prevent them from engaging in activities that will predispose them to the virus.

”This training would equip you with the concept of human sexuality which is the totality of our being as males and females. You will also be informed on values and value verification, self esteem, goal setting, assertiveness, negotiation and decision making and other important areas of human sexuality,” he stated.

He appealed the train-the-trainer participants to ensure that the knowledge acquired in the workshop is impacted to other teachers and students.

He expressed hope that the workshop would go a long way in moulding the attitude, interest, emotions and total beaviour of young people and in consequence reduce the prevalence of the scourge,

Solarin added that a reduction in the spread of the HIV virus or even total eradication of the epidemic would enhance a good quality of life for the people and make the society a better place for all.

The Director of Education Support Services of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Julius Adeneye, in his own remark, described the training as the second of its series in the 6th Country Programme (6CP) that started in January 2009.

He disclosed that the present workshop was organised for 20 teachers of English Language, Biology, Social Studies and Basic Science selected from five schools in three local government areas of the state
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201011210145092