HIV/AIDS Education in Armenian and Georgian Schools
According to UNICEF, research from around the world shows that comprehensive sexuality education in schools is absolutely the best way to prepare children for adulthood.
Anush, 20 Armenia
Since 2017 Anush has been involved in peer-to-peer learning activities on HIV and AIDS and now mentors young people and adolescents.
She carries out peer-to-peer information sessions in village schools of Northern Armenia as well as facilitates a youth club promoting awareness raising among young people.
As a young person she does appreciate the effectiveness of peer-to-peer methodology in delivering sensitive topics such as HIV/AIDS.
Hobbies: Films, Literature, Philosophy
Illustrations from School Presentations
Anush and her like-minded friends explain the topic to schoolchildren using the following slides
 |  |  |
Anush Discusses the Benefits of Peer-to-peer Learning
| Seasonal Migration Affects the Increase of HIV in the Country People migrate to Russia and Ukraine for seasonal work and those living in rural areas in poor social conditions are more vulnerable to the disease. According to National AIDS Center the estimated number of seasonal migrants is 80,000-100,000. Photo Credit: Asbarez.com |
Short Review on School Curriculum
In 1999 with the financial support of UNESCO a subject "Life Skills" was introduced in public schools of Armenia (in almost 380 schools) which was planned for 1-7 grades. The subject contained several topics of healthy lifestyle. Later in 2004 another material called "HIV/AIDS Prevention and Safe Behavior" was published for only 8-9 grades of public schools which provided deeper information about HIV/AIDS, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), drug use, etc.
In 2008 a new updated material was developed for 8-9 grade students and "Healthy Lifestyle" subject was officially included in the National Study Program of Republic of Armenia.
Currently, the subject is taught to high school students of 8-11 grades and introduces topics such as Hygiene, Addictions, Trafficking, Healthy nutrition, Physical education, Sexual behavior, Puberty, STDs, etc. The subject is taught by the teachers of Physical Education.
Healthy Lifestyle
Teacher's Manual for 8-9 Grade Students
Arman Janoyan, Physical Education Teacher
Arman has been teaching at Marmashen village secondary school for 4 years. He also teaches "Healthy Lifestyle" subject to 8-11 grade students.
The majority of teachers avoid discussing topics regarding sexual relationships as well as using vocabulary containing sexual words. The justification is that children get shy and teachers in their turn don't feel comfortable either, especially male teachers.
What is Peer Education?
Peer education is based on the reality that many people make changes not only based on what they know, but on the opinions and actions of their close, trusted peers. Peer educators can communicate and understand in a way that the best-intentioned adults can't, and can serve as role models for change.
Peer educators are typically the same age or slightly older than the group with whom they are working. They may work alongside the teacher, run educational activities on their own, or actually take the lead in organizing and implementing school-based activities. Peer educators can help raise awareness, provide accurate information, and help their classmates develop skills to change behaviour.
Peer educators are typically the same age or slightly older than the group with whom they are working. They may work alongside the teacher, run educational activities on their own, or actually take the lead in organizing and implementing school-based activities. Peer educators can help raise awareness, provide accurate information, and help their classmates develop skills to change behaviour.
Arthur 21, Armenia
Arthur is a youth worker and a peer-to-peer mentor on HIV/AIDS topics. He studies Psychology.
Arthur took part in a training of trainers (ToT) in 2016 and started working with high school students (aged 14-18) living in Rural areas of Northern Armenia, Shirak Region. He has been engaged in peer-to-peer learning activities for almost 4 years.
Hobbies: Lifelong learning, Wikipedia developing, Football, Chess
Arthur Is Sharing His Experience As a Youth Worker
Questionnaire provided to schoolchildren before and after each peer-to-peer section.
Photo Gallery
Public Events and Peer-to-peer Sessions at Schools
Photo Credits: Armenian Caritas NGO
Photo Credits: Armenian Caritas NGO
Margarita 21, Armenia
Margarita is a freshman in a Medical College. She has studied about HIV and STDs at school from the 8th grade from Biology class. She says that there was not enough information in the Biology textbook about those topics and she got the answers of her questions as she went to the Medical College.
"After school teenagers start a life where they need that information, but they are not properly taught it at school", she says. Margarita thinks that young people mainly go to different internet platforms to find out information which they lacked at school.
Margarita is a freshman in a Medical College. She has studied about HIV and STDs at school from the 8th grade from Biology class. She says that there was not enough information in the Biology textbook about those topics and she got the answers of her questions as she went to the Medical College.
"After school teenagers start a life where they need that information, but they are not properly taught it at school", she says. Margarita thinks that young people mainly go to different internet platforms to find out information which they lacked at school.
Elene 16, Georgia
I've learned about sexually transmitted diseases at school such as: Chlamydia, Herpes, Hepatitis B, HIV, AIDS, my biology teacher explained this topic at class, but I think she didn't explain it in detail. It would be better to get more information.
Usually I discuss those topics with classmates or just friends. I believe that our health is one of the most important thing we own and to make sure that it's in safe hands, we should be educated enough about health issues.
School is the main institution which should take that responsibility together with our parents. It would be much better, if we also discussed it in peers, as we learn more from each other.
I've learned about sexually transmitted diseases at school such as: Chlamydia, Herpes, Hepatitis B, HIV, AIDS, my biology teacher explained this topic at class, but I think she didn't explain it in detail. It would be better to get more information.
Usually I discuss those topics with classmates or just friends. I believe that our health is one of the most important thing we own and to make sure that it's in safe hands, we should be educated enough about health issues.
School is the main institution which should take that responsibility together with our parents. It would be much better, if we also discussed it in peers, as we learn more from each other.
Hobbies: Drawing, Yoga
Short Review on School Curriculum
Unlike Armenia Georgian schools do not teach a separate subject and topics such as sex, STDs, hygiene, etc, are discussed in the framework of limited information provided in Biology textbooks. After a long debates with Georgian Orthodox Church, parents and activists a new subject called Society and I is being introduced in 2018 which covers sex education, gender, equality, and other related topics. It's already a part of the new 2018-2024 curriculum approved by the Ministry, and is planned to be taught in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades.
Source: Jam News
Source: Jam News
 |  |
How Did It Start?
In 2015 that the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia was planning to introduce the "Society and I" subject for the 2016-2017 academic year.
The subject aimed to raise public awareness among adolescents. Kids would be spoken to about domestic violence, gender, tolerance, healthy lifestyle and personal hygiene in class.
A standard for the subject was developed. However, the project was placed on hold – clerics were the first to go against the subject, followed by prominent members of the society addressing the Ministry in writing.
The letter titled "Warning Bells" read as follows: "The Ministry of Education aims to exercise a massive attack on our children as instructed by the European Union. The new mandatory subjects "Society and I " and "My Georgia" intend to corrupt and poison children aged 7-13 with obscene and horrific sodomite values in addition to supporting degradation and confusion of their religious and national consciousness."
The letter was co-signed by famous directors, singers, composers, athletes, scientists and members of the business elite.
Tamar Sanikidze, Minister of Education at the time, responded to the letter stating that society had been misinformed and that the final version of the textbook was not yet developed.
Eventually, after the protests, words such as 'gender' and 'minority' disappeared from the preliminary version of the standard "Society and I" curriculum which had become available via the Ministry's official website.
Source: Jam News
The subject aimed to raise public awareness among adolescents. Kids would be spoken to about domestic violence, gender, tolerance, healthy lifestyle and personal hygiene in class.
A standard for the subject was developed. However, the project was placed on hold – clerics were the first to go against the subject, followed by prominent members of the society addressing the Ministry in writing.
The letter titled "Warning Bells" read as follows: "The Ministry of Education aims to exercise a massive attack on our children as instructed by the European Union. The new mandatory subjects "Society and I " and "My Georgia" intend to corrupt and poison children aged 7-13 with obscene and horrific sodomite values in addition to supporting degradation and confusion of their religious and national consciousness."
The letter was co-signed by famous directors, singers, composers, athletes, scientists and members of the business elite.
Tamar Sanikidze, Minister of Education at the time, responded to the letter stating that society had been misinformed and that the final version of the textbook was not yet developed.
Eventually, after the protests, words such as 'gender' and 'minority' disappeared from the preliminary version of the standard "Society and I" curriculum which had become available via the Ministry's official website.
Source: Jam News
| Not a single chapter is dedicated to sex education after the 8th grade: 9th-12th grade biology textbooks discusses sex education from a strictly biological, reproductive point of view. Source: Jam News |
Khatia Akhalaia from Georgia is a gender specialist and one of the founders of the Association for Labor and Education. She is facing severe aggression on social media after a campaign launched against her on the internet for her video tutorials on sex education on the internet.
She begins one of her videos for children by saying "Let's talk about the parts of our bodies that are between our legs".
In her first video on YouTube Khatia displays a conversation with her son where they discuss about different people, different families (LGBT), they speak about how to treat animals, etc.
Source: Jam News
Situation in Georgia is very bad. We have many early marriage and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) cases, high prevalence of suicide cases among adolescents, pedophilia cases as well as high rates of HIV/AIDS and STDs.
What Was the Reason of Public Attacks?
Khatia Comments on "Society and I" Subject
The head of Georgian Parliament's human rights committee Sopo Kiladze gave a speech about the child's rights code at a CoE-organised discussion in Tbilisi on 21 March.She said that parents in Georgia will have to opt-in to new sex education classes for their children.
The original bill, developed with UNICEF and submitted to parliament in February did not include a requirement for parents to opt in.
Speaking before the committee, Kiladze said, "sex education would be permissible only — and only with parents' consent and based on a request from a family. Clergy, Orthodox Christians, and others would have the right to participate in the decision-making process upon a family's request in specific crisis situations."
According to its authors, the Code on the Rights of the Child aims to create an 'integrated system' of support and protection for children's rights, covering all the areas related to childhood.
Source: OC Media
The original bill, developed with UNICEF and submitted to parliament in February did not include a requirement for parents to opt in.
Speaking before the committee, Kiladze said, "sex education would be permissible only — and only with parents' consent and based on a request from a family. Clergy, Orthodox Christians, and others would have the right to participate in the decision-making process upon a family's request in specific crisis situations."
According to its authors, the Code on the Rights of the Child aims to create an 'integrated system' of support and protection for children's rights, covering all the areas related to childhood.
Source: OC Media
Sopo Kiladze
Photo Credit: on.ge
Nicholas 18, Georgia
I used to be a volunteer at Kutaisi City Hall and working for the youth center. I was also working with different NGOs - such as PITA and Kutaisi Youth Center as a youth speaker to the peers and a trainer. I have a quite big experience working with adolescents. The topics I was working on included violence, freedom, digital world, women's role in Georgian, etc.
I think it's always easier to get to know some topics from your peer than from teachers who turn discussions into boring monologues. We use easier language, we receive questions, we discuss topic briefly, and we have a bunch of explanations from the reality, that makes life easier.
in Georgia neither at school nor in families teenagers don't learn how to start sexual life and they don't know how to to avoid HIV, AIDS and other sexual transmitted diseases. Peer education is the best way to discuss these issues.
I used to be a volunteer at Kutaisi City Hall and working for the youth center. I was also working with different NGOs - such as PITA and Kutaisi Youth Center as a youth speaker to the peers and a trainer. I have a quite big experience working with adolescents. The topics I was working on included violence, freedom, digital world, women's role in Georgian, etc.
I think it's always easier to get to know some topics from your peer than from teachers who turn discussions into boring monologues. We use easier language, we receive questions, we discuss topic briefly, and we have a bunch of explanations from the reality, that makes life easier.
in Georgia neither at school nor in families teenagers don't learn how to start sexual life and they don't know how to to avoid HIV, AIDS and other sexual transmitted diseases. Peer education is the best way to discuss these issues.
Hobbies: Music, Arts, Swimming, Ice-skating
What is Sex-Ed
Comprehensive sexuality education is a rights-based and gender-focused approach to sexuality education, whether in school or out of school. It is taught over several years, providing age-appropriate information consistent with the evolving capacities of young people.
Comprehensive sexuality education includes scientifically accurate information about human development, anatomy and reproductive health, as well as information about contraception, childbirth and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.
This education includes discussions about family life, relationships, culture and gender roles, and also addresses human rights, gender equality, and threats such as discrimination and sexual abuse. Taken together, these programmes help young people develop self-esteem and life skills that encourage critical thinking, clear communication, responsible decision-making and respectful behaviour.
Source: unfpa.org
Comprehensive sexuality education is a rights-based and gender-focused approach to sexuality education, whether in school or out of school. It is taught over several years, providing age-appropriate information consistent with the evolving capacities of young people.
Comprehensive sexuality education includes scientifically accurate information about human development, anatomy and reproductive health, as well as information about contraception, childbirth and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.
This education includes discussions about family life, relationships, culture and gender roles, and also addresses human rights, gender equality, and threats such as discrimination and sexual abuse. Taken together, these programmes help young people develop self-esteem and life skills that encourage critical thinking, clear communication, responsible decision-making and respectful behaviour.
Source: unfpa.org
Thanks for reading :)
Now take a few minutes to answer very simple questions about HIV and find out what you know by clicking here!
Now take a few minutes to answer very simple questions about HIV and find out what you know by clicking here!
