14 December 2011
A Manual “HIV Prevention and Youth" has been published in Tajikistan. The manual has been adapted especially for teachers of pedagogical universities of Tajikistan. Adaptation and publication of the manual in the Tajik and Russian languages was carried out by a group of experts under the leadership of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tajikistan in frame of joint project of the National in-service teacher Training Institute and the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office.
International consultants from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan provided technical and informational support during the adaptation process. First of all, they presented information materials on preventive education developed in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and shared their experiences on adaptation of materials, provided practical assistance during focus group discussions for collection of recommendations and comments related to the manual.Eleven modules on topics relevant for Tajikistan include basic information about HIV and AIDS, drug use prevention, stigmatization and discrimination, responsible behavior, gender, labor migration and HIV prevention, integration of prevention programs in education, monitoring and evaluation of the quality of preventive education and others.
Interactive techniques described in the manual will help teachers involve young people in the learning process. Thus, this handbook will contribute to improving HIV prevention efforts, and then improve the quality of teaching students of pedagogical universities. The main focus of teaching is not only to increase knowledge but also to develop skills and attitudes for maintaining and promotion of younger generation health.
In June 2011, 40 teachers from pedagogical universities took part in two trainings on preventive education, using the adapted manual. Both trainings were conducted at the National in-service Teacher Training, which provided a conference room and all equipment needed for successful learning.
According to one of the training participants: "very interesting and new information, such as gender, stigma and discrimination, are presented in the manual. I will be able to use many exercises presented in the manual to change students' attitudes toward the problem and teach them how to protect themselves from HIV."
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/manual-for-teachers-hiv-prevention-and-youth-published-in-tajikistan