1,800 teachers died of HIV/AIDS last year

At least 1,800 of South Africa's 350,000 teachers died of AIDS-related diseases last year, Johannesburg's Afrikaans daily, the 'Beeld', reported on Monday.

Dr Kineau Swart, the health department's national co-ordinator for life skills and HIV/AIDS school programmes, told delegates
at a National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) conference that the figure would increase to about 12,600 in 2010 if teachers did not change their behaviour. Swart was quoted as saying that according to statistics, between 14 and 16 percent of teachers and between seven and eight percent of school principals were infected with the virus.

The disease was likely to impact hugely on pupils and the current number of 139,000 orphans was likely to increase to 2.5 million by 2012, Swart added. She said it was estimated that one in every five pupils between five and nine years, and one in four pupils between 10 and 14 years, would be left orphaned.

Demands would increasingly be made on teachers who had pupils affected by HIV/AIDS in their classes, the report said. Apart from assistance in handling the psychological trauma and stigma, teachers would be required to care for the physical well-being of pupils by ensuring they received the correct nutrition and water while taking their medication. Swart suggested that the possibility of decreasing the training period for teachers at tertiary institutions be considered because it was expensive to train teachers who died shortly after completing their course, the report said.