USAID Supports Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to Roll out Revised Education Sector Policy on HIV/AIDS on the Coast

A Kenyan woman addresses an audience while standing in front of a banner that reads Health Outcomes Through Prevention Education
USAID and Kenya's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are working with county educators to implement the revised policy
USAID Kenya

Revised policy will help educators and students lead the way to an HIV-free generation

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Robin Johnson
+254 719112135

April 1, Mombasa – U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Education Specialist Irene Muriuki joined the County Education Director for Mombasa County, today for the Coast roll out of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s revised Education Sector Policy on HIV/AIDS. The workshop brings the county education teams together to discuss their role in implementing the revised policy on HIV/AIDS and to provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge to begin implementation.

“This policy will equip teachers, parents and other educators with the guidance and tools they need to ensure young people who don’t have the virus stay that way. For those pupils who are already living with HIV/AIDS, the new policy means they will get the support they need to come to school strong and ready to learn—eventually becoming educated adults who will contribute to Kenya’s growth,” said Ms. Muriuki.

USAID and the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provided technical assistance to the Ministry to revise the original 2004 policy. The new policy will help educators better respond to current issues related to HIV and AIDS, and harmonize guidance with the Constitution of Kenya. USAID is working with all 47 County Education Offices to implement the policy nationwide.

The assistance is provided through USAID’s Healthy Outcomes for Prevention Education activity which uses peer education and community-based interventions to educate young people about HIV/AIDS and encourage healthy behavior in approximately 400 primary and secondary schools in the informal urban settlements of Nairobi and its environs.

The U.S Government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, invests a half a billion dollars (KSH 43 billion) a year to support thousands of individuals and institutions stopping the spread of HIV, caring for the children orphaned or left vulnerable by HIV, preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child, and help people living with HIV to lead more productive lives by ensuring the consistent availability of Anti-Retroviral medication.

Learn More

Government of Kenya: Education Sector Policy on HIV and AIDS 2013