Combating HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Nigeria: Responses from National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)
Terhemba Nom Ambe-Uva
National Open University of Nigeria
National Open University of Nigeria
Abstract
Universities have come
under serious attack because of their lackluster response to HIV/AIDS. This
article examines the response of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and
its strategic responses in combating HIV/AIDS epidemic. This is achieved by
examining NOUN’s basic structures that position the University to respond to
the epidemic; and second, by assessing HIV/AIDS strategies and policy framework
the University has put in place. An interpretative epistemological stance was
used for this study, and a qualitative research involving focus group
discussion (FGD) and analysis of secondary data was carried out. Results showed
that NOUN has identified the impact the epidemic has on the university,
although it has yet to institutionalize an HIV/AIDS policy. NOUN’s Draft
Service Charter, however, has identified the fight against HIV/AIDS as a core
mandate of the University, and the introduction of HIV/AIDS certification
programs can be viewed as proactive policies in response to the epidemic.
Results of this study are discussed in terms of their relevance to future
research and the impact such policy frameworks may have on combating the
epidemic, both within the University and the wider community.
Keywords: National Open University of Nigeria;
HIV/AIDS; epidemic; institutional policy; basic structures; Nigeria
Introduction
The article is part of
a larger endeavor, the aim that was to explore the response of National Open
University of Nigeria (NOUN) in combating the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic. While an earlier
study (Peters & Olugbemiro, 2005) focused on the efficacy of the
introduction of Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) program in HIV/AIDS Education and
Management at NOUN in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the study reported here
focused on the strength of distance education (DE) in fighting the epidemic.
Specifically, it analysed various policy frameworks put in place, and measured
both staff and students’ perceptions about the University’s response to
HIV/AIDS.
A recent study by
Peters and Olugbemiro (2005) shows that the introduction of an HIV/AIDS program
at NOUN would contribute to raising the level of awareness in the different
segments of the Nigerian society, stimulate research, and create research
networks on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. It also notes that the program would
facilitate human resource capacity building and support positive behavioral
changes. An earlier study by Aderinoye and Ojokheta (2004) investigated the
links between DE and HIV/AIDS. This study shows that DE in Nigeria and
throughout the continent of Africa is helping to democratize and spread
knowledge, even to those living in remote, marginalized, and isolated
communities. The Aderinoye and Ojokheta study also acknowledged that DE has
helped individuals to acquire basic literacy and arithmetic skills, and in some
instances, earn certificates in higher degrees, as well as obtain a multitude
of broad-brush education skills that target whole populations (e.g., governance
skills, life skills, AIDS education aimed at preventing and reducing its
spread, improved farming techniques, etc.).
It is in recognition
of the above that the University of Ibadan (a dual mode university) was the
first university in Nigeria to establish a Diploma program in HIV/AIDS
Education at the Distance Learning Centre to assist in developing the capacity
of workers on HIV prevention. This challenge was soon taken over by NOUN (a
single mode university) to introduce a postgraduate diploma in HIV/AIDS
Education and Management. The success of this program has informed the decision
of the University to introduce the program at the diploma level.
In another study,
Pridmore and Yates (2006) examined the strengths of open, distance, and
flexible education in HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation. These scholars argue
that to confront AIDS and meet Millennium Development Goals in countries where
HIV/AIDS is prevalent, governments must go beyond current efforts and
accelerate conventional responses. This can be achieved by increasing access
and quality of education and schooling, raising public consciousness, and
encouraging people to practice healthy behavior, through emerging accessible,
flexible, and cost effective DE. Furthermore, growing evidence indicates that
in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a geography where teachers are in short supply and
institutional capacity to support teaching training is inadequate; so where new
teacher graduates replace those teachers who have fallen victim to the AIDS
pandemic, DE remains an effective strategy for teacher training (Aderinoye
& Ojokheta, 2004; UNESCO, 2002; 2001; Pridmore & Nduba 2000).
The question that
demands our attention here is, ‘To what extent have universities recognized
this ‘window of opportunity’ and have included HIV/AIDS not only in their
curriculum, but also developed effective institutional policies to combat the
epidemic?’ Available evidence suggests that universities are yet to take up
this challenge fully. As noted by Kelly (2002), although there has been
considerable tinkering around the edges, universities have yet to take the
‘bull by the horn’ to gain control over the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In some cases,
universities have undergone what would be the medical equivalent to a botched
heart operation. Moreover, none has received the heart transplant that they
really need.
This study was
conducted to shed light on the following questions:
·
1) How does education influence the HIV/AIDS epidemic? In
addition, how has education itself been affected by HIV/AIDS?
·
2) What role can universities play in the fight against
HIV/AIDS?
·
3) What efforts have NOUN, a single mode DE university, made in
the fight against HIV/AIDS?
Research Approach
This study follows an
interpretive and case-based research approach. Walsham and Waema (1994), who
noted that the use of a single case as a basis for drawing inferences on a
particular area of study is related to an interpretive epistemological stance,
illustrate the qualitative and inductive nature of case-based research.
Orlikowsi and Baroundi (1991) also maintained that case-based interpretive
analysis involves inductive reasoning, which is guided and couched within a
theoretical framework, which in turn, leads from the concrete case situation to
the social totality beyond the individual case. Stake (1994) has listed the
attributes of a case study to include uniqueness, functional specificity, integrated
bounded system, and consistency. Noting that case studies can be either
qualitative or quantitative, Stake adds that a case study is not a
methodological choice, but a choice of objects to study. Given the research
questions, the case study design research methodology was selected for this
study.
Lincoln and Guba
(1985) argue that the primary instrument in qualitative research is human –
i.e., the researcher might pose certain problems in evaluating their study’s
objectives as the ‘author.’ This situation is what B odker and Pedersen (1991)
termed being a ‘cultural insider.’ However, by employing focus discussion
groups and analyzing secondary data, it was determined that objectivity could
be enhanced, because the focus of the research centered on the validity
of the interpretation as distinct from qualitative research, which focus on
questions and methods.
Background to the Study
HIV and AIDS
constitute one of the biggest threats to the global agenda. HIV/AIDS have been
noted to imperil not only humankind, but also humankind’s institutions. In
short, HIV/AIDS undermines the very institutions that are designed to protect
communities (UNESCO, 2000a), including educational institutions. Indeed, the
epidemic is presenting enormous challenges to the higher education sector by
weakening demand for – and access to – education by depleting institutional and
human capacity, reducing availability of financial resources, and by impeding
the delivery of quality education (UNESCO, 2006). Nonetheless, the World Education
Forum, held in Dakar in April 2000, noted that a key objective of any
international strategy must be to realize the enormous potential that the
education system offers as a vehicle to help reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS
and to alleviate its impact on society (UNESCO, 2000a). Growing evidence
indicates that education is one of the best defenses against HIV infection,
because it equips young people with invaluable tools that increase
self-confidence, social and negotiation skills, to improve earning capacity and
family well-being, which in turn, fights poverty and promotes social progress.
Across 15 countries
surveyed in Round 2 of the ‘Afrobarometer,’ (see http://www.afrobarometer.org/) evidence
indicates that large proportions of Africa’s people have either lost family or
friends to AIDS, or suffer under the burdens of AIDS by caring for sick family
members or orphans (Afrobarometer, 2004). In most of these countries cited in
the Afrobarometer, the HIV prevalence rate exceeds five percent, numbers that
indicates that the epidemic is now undermining every aspect of society,
including families, health, education, industry, and economic development
(Kelly, 2003).
According to Piot
(cited in Katjavivi & Otaala, 2003), education is at the core of one of the
great challenges facing humanity, namely winning the fight against AIDS.
Education is life sustaining because it gives children and young people the
life-skills and tools they need to carve out their lives. Clearly, education is
a lifelong source of comfort, renewal, and strength for people. Piot also noted
that the world’s goals in promoting ‘Education for All’ and in turning
back the AIDS epidemic are mutually dependent. Without education, AIDS will
continue to spread. If AIDS remains out of control, education will be out of
reach. The focus of this study is placed on the synergy between distance
education and HIV/AIDS.
Education and HIV infection
Studies by
Vandemoortele and Delamonica (2002) show the inverse association between
disease burden and the level of education that exists for most infectious
diseases. The incidence of malaria and cholera, for instance, are known to be
negatively associated with the level of education – those who know less about malaria
and cholera are more apt to become infected. For HIV/AIDS, however, there may
be an exception during its initial introduction into a society because of its
main propagation channel, but further down the road, the ‘education vaccine’
theory works. Indeed, it is often said that people ‘who wear a tie, do not die
of cholera.’ Combined with macroeconomic policies, education is a key tool in
promoting social wellbeing and contributing to poverty reduction. This is
because education directly affects national productivity, which in turn
determines overall living standards and a country’s ability to compete in the
global economy (Krueger & Mikael, 2000). Investment in education is vital
simply because it helps countries, like Nigeria, to achieve six of the eight-millennium
development goals: 1) poverty reduction, 2) access to universal primary
education, 3) gender equality, 4) reduced infant mortality, 5) improved
maternal health, and 6) lower prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Making education
available to both genders, boys and girls alike, has been proven to provide
protection against HIV infection (World Bank, 1999). Evidence that education
itself protects against HIV is strong. Data from the late 1980s and early
1990s, when the epidemic was just emerging, shows a positive correlation
between the level of education and rates of infection. Kelly (2000) in a study
in Zimbabwe found a marked decline in HIV prevalence rates in 15-19 year old
males and females with a medium to higher-level education, compared to
increases among those with lower educational levels.
Education is a central
tool required to reduce the social and economic vulnerability of women.
Evidence shows that education aimed specifically at girls and women can slow
and even reverse the spread of HIV. Education does this by arming women with
valuable life and decision-making skills – which all contribute to poverty
reduction, gender equality, personal empowerment, and increased awareness of
human rights issues. Women can then pass on to their children, partners, and
friends these valuable skills and knowledge. Education enables women’s economic
independence by delaying marriage, proactive family planning, and by increasing
their ability to engage in paid work to support themselves and their families
(UNAIDS, 2000; Gregson, Waddell, & Chandiwana, 2001).
The Impact of HIV Infection on Education
HIV/AIDS has had a
pronounced affect on both the supply and demand for education. The epidemic can
affect the performance of educators through increased deaths, absence, and the
financial and emotional burden they face in caring for relatives and friends
stricken by AIDS. For instance, it has been shown that the death of one teacher
deprives a whole classroom of children. In 1999 alone, an estimated 860,000
children in SSA lost teachers to AIDS (Kelly, 2000b). In a recent survey in
Nigeria, it was discovered that illness (of one’s self, relatives, or friends)
combined with attending funerals, accounted for more teachers’ reported work
absences than any other reason ( Ssengonzi, Schlegel, Anyamele & Olson,
2004). Death and illness are thus affecting education sector administrators,
finance and planning officials, inspectors, and managers in many countries.
These losses represent the loss of sector knowledge, and holds major negative
consequences.
Table 1. School administrators’ reasons cited for
the number of days missed
The impact of the
epidemic on the demand for education is less clear, however. While Africa’s
school age population will be smaller, it will nonetheless continue to grow.
AIDS mortality does not have its primary effect on school-age children. And
while an estimated 3.8 million children have been infected since the epidemic
began, more than two-thirds have died. UNAIDS reports that in 1999, 570,000
children under 14 died of AIDS, the vast majority of them in SSA (UNAIDS, 2000).
During this same time frame, approximately four times as many adults (age 15 to
49) died of AIDS. This fundamentally generates a cohort of AIDS orphans (a huge
population that will require education) which will be put a further at risk of
infection and death. In terms of monetary impact, HIV/AIDS is estimated to add
between US $450 million and $550 million per year (US dollar values for 2000)
to the cost of achieving the mandate set out in ‘Education For All’ (UNESCO, n.d.)
in 33 African countries. This implies that the epidemic increases the total ‘Education
For All’ financing gap for the countries by about one-third (World Bank,
2002).
HIV/AIDS and Universities
When a society needs
to face a problem, it typically turns to its schools and asks what they are
doing about it. In the context of HIV/AIDS, schools are expected not only to
teach, but also instill in their students the skills, knowledge, and values
that promote safe behaviors in order to protect themselves against HIV
infection. Yet, there are more challenges to these responses from the
universities, which themselves are not HIV-free. Kelly (2003) argues that
despite the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS inside university populations (i.e.,
staff and students), it is apparent they have no institutionalized response to
slow the scourge. Indeed, formal responses to the epidemic have not yet been
integrated into their core operations. Universities instead are slow to react
simply because they are embracing a ‘hush-up’ response to the epidemic.
A growing body of
literature, however, shows that it is imperative that universities implement
systemic institutional responses to stem the epidemic (Kelly, 2003; Katjavivi
& Otaala, 2003; ACU, 2001; Anarfi, 2000; Mwape & Kathuria, 2000).
Listed below are nine reasons that outline the demand for universities to
reposition themselves to respond to this growing epidemic:
·
1) No university is immune to the disease
·
2) The disease has the potential to impair institutional
functioning
·
3) The long lead time between initial HIV infection and the
development of AIDS has major implications for universities
·
4) Their mandate of ‘service to society’ demands the engagement
of every university to fight HIV/AIDS
·
5) Universities have a special responsibility for the development
of human resources
·
6) Universities are crucial agents of change and provide
leadership to effect such social change
·
7) Universities must be at the forefront in developing deeper
understandings of HIV/AIDS
·
8) HIV/AIDS raises a host of complex moral, ethical, human
rights, and legal issues that cry out for the kind of knowledge, understanding,
and insights that universities are specially equipped to provide
·
9) HIV/AIDS is not a passing phenomenon, but one that is likely
to negatively impact society for the remainder of this century
Recent literature
shows that African universities are coming to the realization that HIV/AIDS is
real and that death is now a daily reality for their staff, their students, and
the communities they serve. Pioneering efforts by the Association of African
Universities (AAU), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), and the
South African Universities of Vice-Chancellors Association (SAUVCA), have
impressed upon African universities the need to adopt a holistic response to
the epidemic within their institutions and across the entire higher education
sector. The Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE) for the Association for
the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) decided to undertake case studies
that examine the ways HIV/AIDS affects several universities in Africa, and to
document these universities’ particular responses and coping mechanisms. Out of
these case studies emerged a synthesis entitled ‘Challenging the
Challenger: Understanding and expanding the response of universities in Africa
to HIV/AIDS’ (Kelly, 2001). This report acknowledges that a thick
cloak of ignorance surrounds the presence of the disease in the universities –
a cloak of death that is lined with layers of secrecy, silence, denial, and
fear of stigmatization and discrimination.
Responses from the Educational Sector in Nigeria
The above challenge
from Kelly (2001) has spurred many African universities and the larger
educational sector to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In Nigeria, the
Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa contains elaborate
review of policy and research documents for the educational sector’s response
to the epidemic. The alarming spread of HIV/AIDS, which saw the prevalence rate
skyrocket from 1.8 percent in 1998 to 5.8 percent in 2001, compelled the
Nigerian Government to shift its mechanisms and strategies to prevent the
spread of HIV, mitigate its consequences, and provide care and support for
those living with, or affected by, AIDS. It is within this context that
education was identified as a central method for achieving the requisite
behaviorial changes needed to stem the epidemic, both inside and outside the
classroom. Consequently, the first national workshop on HIV/AIDS and education
organized by UNESCO and Federal Ministry of Education (FME) with support from
UNAIDS and UK’s Department for International Development, was held in Abuja,
Nigeria, with the aim of identifying appropriate preventive education response
to HIV/AIDS challenges in Nigeria (Ohiri-Anichi & Odukoya, 2004). As a
demonstration of its commitment to addressing the epidemic on continental
Africa, Nigeria hosted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Summit on
HIV/AIDS in June 2001, during which the Abuja Declaration (2001) was made.
The Nigerian
government also established an elaborate multi-sector response that focuses on
prevention, treatment, and intervention. It established the Presidential
Council on AIDS and the National Action Committee on AIDS, the latter comprised
representatives from the Presidency, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal
Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, Federal Ministry
of Finance, and other relevant federal, state, and local parastatals, NGOs, and
international organizations working on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. The HIV/AIDS
Emergency Action Plan, coordinated by National Action Committee on AIDS, is the
country’s current HIV/AIDS policy.
Tangible efforts have
since been recorded by the educational sector in Nigeria in prevention,
treatment, and intervention. A few worth mentioning in this study are:
·
a) The Federal Ministry of Education has a full-fledged HIV/AIDS
Unit, which supervises and coordinates all HIV/AIDS activities in Nigeria’s
schools
·
b) Following the approval of the National Council on Education
in March 1999 at its 46th session for the incorporation of sex education into
Nigeria’s national school curriculum, the Nigerian Educational Research and
Development Council (NERDC) collaborated with other government agencies, NGOs,
and UN agencies, to develop curriculum on sex education. Sex education is
deemed critical in helping young people acquire adequate knowledge, skills, and
responsible attitudes, needed to prevent sexually transmitted infections,
including HIV/AIDS.
·
c) In 2002, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in
collaboration with UNICEF introduced a peer education program entitled, ‘Empowering
Youth through Young People.’ The objective of this program was to reach new
graduates of university programs serving the one-year compulsory NYSC program
with reproductive health and HIV/AIDS messages, train some to be trainers
themselves, and for all to act as ‘peer educators’ in and out of school.
·
d) Many NGOs, faith-based organizations, and educational
institutions have been active in outreach programs, setting up youth counseling
centers, promotion of behavior change via radio and television programming,
peer education, discussions, awareness, and so forth.
·
e) eUNESCO supported the establishment of a Preventive Education
Unit at the National Teachers Institute (NTI), Kaduna (another single mode DE
institution in Nigeria), to assist in the training of teachers in HIV/AIDS.
·
f) In 2003, the National Institute for Educational Planning and
Development (NIEPA) held two seminars in Abuja and Ondo to accelerate Nigeria’s
educational sector’s response to HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The
objectives of these seminars was to develop managerial capacity, prevention,
planning and impact mitigation, and facilitate access to education for
vulnerable children and orphans.
·
g) In 2003, National Universities Commission/UNESCO/ National
Action Committee on AIDS, established ‘Youth Friendly Centers’ in three
universities: Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, University of Nigeria Nsukka, and
University of Ibadan.
·
h) The MacArthur Foundation grant funding to Nigerian
universities such as University of Ibadan, Bayero University Kano, and others,
to support and strengthen their human capital, institutional facilities, and
university systems. The Foundation and the Association of African Universitis,
gave the University of Ibadan, to conduct a ‘situation analysis’ of HIV/AIDS
and the development of HIV/AIDS policy. AUU has since extended this grant to
University of Ilorin.
·
i) The National Universities Commission and UNESCO introduced HIV/AIDS
training program for all staff of educational institutions in SSA, including
primary, secondary, universities, polytechnics/tecnikons, and colleges of
education. This program specifically targets teachers and teacher-trainers
involved in the delivery of basic and higher education in Africa.
·
j) Nigerian universities have also benefited from the initiative
from African universities Training of Trainers Course (TOT) involving the UNDP
and University of Natal for three individuals from each of 31 African
universities identified on HIV/AIDS and development. The overall aim of TOT is
to contribute to the prevention of HIV/AIDS amongst students and staff within a
broader vision/framework designed to address issues of prevention, care and
mitigation of the pandemic. The specific aims include: 1) train academic staff
in methodology and methods of curriculum development and teaching HIV/AIDS; 2)
empower university teachers to integrate HIV/AIDS into their own teaching and
provide similar training to colleagues; and 3) enhance research related to
HIV/AIDS within the university and among other related stakeholders.
·
k) Some Nigerian universities have developed and implemented
systematic programs to fight HIV/AIDS through the development of HIV/AIDS
curriculum for inclusion in a compulsory general studies course.
As commendable as
these efforts from the educational sector are, the former Minister of
Education, O. Ezekwesili (2007), stated that HIV/AIDS requires imaginative and
creative solutions, which demand that the regulatory agencies, the National
Action Committee on AIDS, and the educational sector to think outside-the-box.
Nigeria’s universities, therefore, are being called upon to show more
commitment through the development of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policies
designed to fight HIV/AIDS.
National Open University of Nigeria: Background
The National Open
University of Nigeria (NOUN) is the only single mode, distance education
university in Nigeria. The University was established on July 22, 1983, by the
Open University Act, which subsists in the Law of the Federation of Nigeria
(1980) Appendix III. After being closed for several years, the University was
re-opened in 2002, and renamed the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
NOUN was re-launched upon Nigeria’s realization that distance education was
becoming an increasingly important policy option for developing countries
(Ambe-Uva, 2006). The adoption of distance education is a “. . . process in
which a significant proportion of the teaching is conducted by ‘someone’
removed in space and time from the learner. The link between that ‘someone’ and
the learner is therefore necessarily provided by different means of
communication and instruction” (Perraton, 2001, p. 79).
A special case for the
sustenance of an open university system in developing countries – and
especially Nigeria – was made by Jegede (2007). Jegede noted that “ Nigeria is
an enigma, displaying a glaring contrast of development and inadequacies
cohabiting side by side in many spheres of life.” The inadequacies Jegede
identified include:
·
Using the human development index (HDI) (an index used to
measure a country’s performance on four key indicators: life expectancy, GNP
per capita, gross primary school enrolment, and access to safe water) Nigeria
ranked 151 of 174 nations.
·
Nigeria, described as country ‘too rich to be poor,’ is a land
of abounding poverty with more than 70 percent of Nigerians living on less than
US $1 a day.
·
Nigeria, since independence, has been known for its quality
education and its versatile, mobile, and exceptional people. Despite its
‘wealth,’ over 55 percent of Nigeria’s population is illiterate, while another
10 percent remain illiterate due to declining quality in education, or lack of
access they need to acquire new skills, after their primary school education
has ended.
Nigeria’s current
context, therefore, is fertile soil for distance education to take root and
thrive. Nigeria is currently characterized by population growth, growing demand
for education, dwindling of financial resources, increasing fiscal constraints
– all conditions that obstruct Nigerian’s access to basic and higher education.
NOUN aims to meet Nigerian’s demand for higher education without compromising
quality. Nonetheless, the majority of Nigerian people remain marginalized and
hard to reach, that is the poor, illiterate, women, and those living in remote
areas. Considering that Nigeria boast of 131.5 million citizens, with an HDI of
0.453, of which 52.2 percent live in rural areas (ADB, 2006:93-94), it is easy
to see and to conclude that Nigeria needs to increase access to basic and
higher education provisions for its people.
Table 2. Selected basic demographic and education
indicators for Nigeria
Table 2 shows that
uncertain health outcomes await Nigerian youths. Indeed, one-third of Nigeria’s
population lives on less than US 1$ a day, and they lack human development
(<0 .5000="" 2004="" a="" according="" achievement="" adjusted="" and="" attainment="" country="" development="" educational="" expectancy="" given="" human="" in="" income.="" index="" is="" life="" measurement="" o:p="" of="" real="" s="" terms="" the="" to="" undp="" which="">
Behind South Africa,
Nigeria ranks second with the highest number of persons living with HIV/AIDS in
SSA. At the end of 2003, approximately 5.4 percent of Nigerian in the age range
of 15-49 were HIV-positive, an increase from 1.8 percent 15 years ago (FMOH,
2001; UNAIDS, 2004). Nigeria also has one of the fastest growth rates of new
HIV infections and AIDS cases in West Africa. HIV/AIDS has now reached epidemic
proportions in Nigeria, having already crossed the threshold of five percent.
This means AIDS will soon be the leading cause of adult morbidity and mortality
among those age 15-49, arguably the most productive people needed to support
any society. This reality will have a devastating impact on all facets of
Nigeria’s socio-economic fiber, and will hinder Nigeria’s progress in education
– the very tool that Nigeria needs to teach its people and thus stem the spread
of HIV/AIDS.
This epidemic’s impact
is far reaching. At time of writing, HIV/AIDS is the world’s fourth largest
killer, but it ranks number one in SSA (UNAIDS, 2002). In 2002, the region is
home to only 7.5 percent of the world’s population, yet it accounts for nearly 70
percent of those living with HIV/AIDS, 70 percent of incident HIV infections,
and 77 percent of the AIDS deaths (UNAIDS/WHO, 2002). As of 2002, approximately
29.4 million in SSA between ages 15 to 49 were living with HIV/AIDS, a
staggering figure of nine percent of the adult population (UNAIDS/WHO, 2002).
Whereas life expectancy in the sub-continent increased from 44 years in the
1950s to 59 years in the early 1990s, it plunged to 49 years and is projected
to drop even further as the disease spreads (UNDP, 2000a). According to the
World Health Organization (WHO, 2002), life expectancy in the region would
currently be 62 years if it had not been for the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This means
that Nigerian’s reduced life expectancy holds serious implications on the health
and functioning of Nigeria’s universities.
Table 3. Life expectancy with and without AIDS in
selected African countries
With the gloomy
picture painted above, what basic structures does NOUN possesses that will
position it to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic? How is NOUN positioned to deal
with the epidemic within the university itself? And how can NOUN be of
‘service’ to the community it serves?
Basic Structures in Noun
The University has
embraced a ‘learner-centered’ approach to learning. A learner-centered
educational process is a departure from the conventional teaching and learning
culture, in that one now employs a wide range of tools to effect learning
outcomes. These tools recognize and are designed to support self-learning. They
include printed course materials, tutor marked assignments, self assessment
exercises and feedback systems, radio and television broadcasts, audio and
video tapes, CDRoms, help from tutors, and individualized counseling and help,
via telephone, facsimile, or electronic mail. These tools enable remote distant
delivery to an ever increasing number of learners, despite physical distances.
Equally important, in
a relatively large country such as Nigeria, the University’s geographic
penetration of 18 study centers in 2003, to 27 study centers in 2007, shows
that NOUN now services some of remotest the regions in Nigeria. It also shows
the geographic extent to which the epidemic can attack the University,
especially if concerted efforts are not made to stem the epidemic. As of 2007,
NOUN has 35,000 students enrolled and is projected to grow to more than 100,000
by the year’s end (Jegede, 2007). The University is therefore an essential
means of meeting the needs of Nigerians who, for reasons of distance, work or
family commitment, cannot otherwise engage in educational opportunities. In
other words, the University reaches people in communities in which they would
otherwise be deprived of opportunities to learn. Moreover, NOUN’s expansion of
its service area is expected to make a significant contribution in stemming the
epidemic by increasing people’s access to education. Moreover, NOUN’s
educational programmes are designed in such a way as to enable people to start
applying what they have learned immediately (Jegede, 2003).
Table 4. Regional Distribution of NOUN Study
Centers
The University also
strives to ensure that those educated will remain in their local communities,
thereby reducing localized unemployment rates which, in turn, will help to
alleviate rural poverty, increase literacy, and hopefully stimulate and
invigorate local economies (Jegede 2003).
The main strength of
the University is that it is a fundamental tool needed to break the vicious
cycle of poverty that has gripped many areas of Nigeria. NOUN aims to achieve
this goal by increasing access to affordable, yet quality education that
transcends all barriers.
Efforts of NOUN in Fighting HIV/AIDS
The University’s
response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic is guided by NOUN’s Draft Strategic Plan
(January, 2005 to December, 2009). This plan identifies the need to provide
effective strategies to combat the epidemic, not only within the University
itself, but to all the communities it serves. Even before the plan was drafted,
however, NOUN was mobilizing against the scourge. In 2004, the School of
Science and Technology organized a workshop on HIV/AIDS awareness. This
workshop created awareness that underscored the fact that if left unchecked,
HIV could very well impair the functioning of the University’s workforce.
Table 5. Economic impact of HIV/AIDS on NOUN’s
workforce
The Draft Strategic
Plan contains two areas related to fighting HIV/AIDS epidemic. First, the
University mandate is to foster a conducive working environment for staff,
students, and visitors. It will achieve this by embarking on internal training
and retraining. Second, the Draft Strategic Plan spells out that the University
must utilize its resources to enhance community development. Emphasis has been
placed on the provision of educational opportunities for marginalized groups
(i.e., youth and women), which is necessary to help them acquire relevant
skills to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Table 6. Selected sections of NOUN’s Strategic Plan
related to HIV/AIDS
While the University
is certainly on the right track, it must remain committed to the goals and
targets set. For instance, while the HIV/AIDS policy is expected to be ready at
the time of writing, that deadline has come and gone. For a young institution
like NOUN, such a delay can be pardoned. Yet as NOUN extends its institutional
reach and increases its enrolment, such a delay could mean that opportunities
are being missed, that NOUN is not addressing the epidemic in a timely manner.
The development of an institutional policy on HIV/AIDS should be on the front
burner of the University’s plan of action. As noted by Saint (2004), a written
institutional policy provides explanation for internal decisions and legitimacy
for actions taken in the process of AIDS control and prevention. Such a policy,
however, can only be as effective as the leadership that owns and supports it.
Luckily, NOUN does not need to start from the scratch, as a major resource for
preparing an institutional HIV/AIDS response can be found in the work of Chetty
(2004), and the guidelines developed by ACU (2002). In addition, the
Paris-based International Institute for Educational Planning has established a
reference clearing house on AIDS and education (see http://hivaidsclearinghouse.unesco.org/ev/php).
These can serve as reference documents for Universities engaged in drafting
institutional policies on HIV/AIDS.
Since the University
has yet to formally institutionalize an HIV/AIDS policy, staff and students
response during a recent focus discussion group (FDG) indicated a lack of
commitment on the part of staff and students, and a discontinuation in
awareness and workshops. For instance, most staff (FDG-A) employed at NOUN
after 2004 admitted that they have never heard about or discussed HIV/AIDS at
the office. The staff focus group indicated that the University must adopt a scientific
approach towards the fight against HIV/AIDS, because ‘prose alone’ – namely
rhetoric – will not solve the problem. The freshmen (FDG-B) focus group noted
that the HIV/AIDS program was not integrated into the students’ curriculum. The
freshmen in this focus group admitted, however, that open dialogue between NOUN
and students can facilitate this process. Lastly, the focus group comprised of
students who have spent a minimum of two semesters at NOUN (FDG-C) either
ignorantly – or apathetically – indicated that they do not need more education
about the disease. One telling response was, “We do not have a student union,
and our study groups are not only inept, but grossly inadequate to discuss with
the university authority.”
Table 7. Focus Group Responses
The focus groups
responses buttress the investigation made by the ADEA on Universities in
Africa, and what the AAU synthesis report confirms to be true. Both
acknowledged that universities in Africa have little knowledge about their
HIV/AIDS status, and do not consider the epidemic as being relevant to their
institution’s guiding mission and vision, and the challenges it faces. These
reports also argued that no rigorous impact assessments by the universities
themselves have been undertaken, and in cases where there are pockets of
assessments, they are sporadic and uncoordinated responses that rely heavily on
the initiative of concerned staff or students. This fact is frustrating efforts
to ‘mainstream’ the institutional response across Africa’s universities, which
in turn, limits understanding of the need to institutionalize such needed
responses, thereby creating a vicious cycle of reification. And in many cases,
uncertain leadership by top management is at the root of the problem (UNESCO,
2006).
NOUN has a
Post-Graduate Diploma (PGD) in HIV/AIDS Education and Management, which aims at
providing students with in-depth knowledge in HIV/AIDS education and
management. NOUN delivers this diploma via open and distance learning. The
program is designed to raise the level of awareness of different segments of
the Nigerian society to the reality of HIV/AIDS epidemic, by stressing the need
for education and management of this fatal disease. Specifically, the program
seeks to:
·
a) Increase awareness and sensitization among the general
population and strategically target stakeholders
·
b) Develop institutional and national capacity to cope with the
training, knowledge sharing, and management, required to educate Nigerians
about HIV/AIDS
·
c) Enable the students to be very resourceful and possesses
broader scope of knowledge in HIV/AIDS
·
d) Equip students with relevant skills they need to impart
knowledge professionally to people they serve
·
e) Equip students with relevant skills needed to impart healthy
habits to target populations
·
f) Equip students with counseling abilities, so they can have a
more positive influence to those infected with the HIV/AIDS virus
As noted by Peters and
Olugbemiro (2005), however, the program is currently being ‘patronized’ mostly
by those already working in the healthcare sector. If the objectives of the program
are to be realized, there must be a shift in clienteles and this can be
achieved by adopting a more rigorous approach for marketing the program, that
targets audiences beyond healthcare practitioners.
In addition, in
recognition of the special needs of distance learners, NOUN has established the
Directorate of Learner Support Services (DLSS). The DLSS plays a supportive
role and provides the much needed people, structures, and environment for both
students and staff. The director also serves as the intermediary between
students and the institution. Student counselors are important arm of NOUN’s
Learner Support Services. Apart from supporting students through their academic
work, Learner Support Services provides counseling and guidance related to Sexuality
Education, HIV/AIDS awareness, Peer Education, and other professional
consultations to staff and students who are engaged in distance education.
Counselors are also responsible for keeping in touch with distance learners,
and provide ‘early warning signals’ regarding difficulties with studies and
behavioral problems. NOUN has since pushed ahead of conventional universities,
through its provision of two counselors for each NOUN study centre, a move that
was recently applauded by the Nigerian Psychological Association (NPA).
There is also a
growing number of published and unpublished research works on HIV/AIDS in NOUN.
Some of those dedicated individuals who have researched and published works in
this area come from NOUN’s School of Education, Directorate of Examinations and
Evaluation, and the Vice-Chancellery. An institutional effort, however, needs
to be put in place by the Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and
Distance Learning (RETRIDAL) to promote research on the nexus between HIV/AIDS
and the distance mode of learning.
Despite these
invaluable efforts, in the absence of a holistic HIV/AIDS policy, the efforts
of the University in the realm of teaching, research, and services can become
sporadic, uncoordinated, and reliant on the initiatives of a few dedicated
staff and students (UNESCO, 2006). NOUN must also build a bridge to link and
coordinate with the university’s internal environment with its external
environments where the virus is flourishing and gaining an upper hand. In an environment
that traditionally fosters discussion and debate, challenges timeworn ways of
thinking and being, and offers responses to some of society’s most pressing
concerns, NOUN is in a good position to ask much needed questions about the
epidemic and explore ways in which distance education can be used to create a
difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Observations show that
NOUN has identified the impact that HIV/AIDS has had, and will continue to
have, on society. Identifying a problem does not guarantee a solution, however.
Diagnosis and prognosis are only the first steps in the right direction.
Therefore, this article urgently calls for the institutionalization of a policy
framework for a comprehensive response addressing prevention, treatment, care,
and social support.
Conclusion
As the HIV/AIDS
epidemic continues to spread in Nigeria, the emerging literature on HIV and
education seems to have reached the consensus that HIV/AIDS can both have a
devastating impact on education and can be positively impacted by education. It
also shows that distance education can respond flexibly to the needs of working
adults to help them obtain the training they need and to provide opportunities
for even the most disadvantaged populations (Pridmore & Yates, 2006;
Pridmore & Nduba, 2000).
Furthermore, it has
been shown that the capacity of open and distance learning to support
large-scale campaigns – i.e., HIV/AIDS education – is significant in the
context of continuing education (UNESCO, 2002).
This article attempts
to provide a systematic approach to universities’ response to the epidemic,
using NOUN as a case study. Although the issue of universities’ response to the
epidemic began to draw attention from scholars and commentators (Kelly, 2003;
Katjavivi & Otaala, 2003; ACU, 2001; Mwape & Kathuria, 2000), these
studies tended to centre on the institutional efficacy of universities. Whereas
the current literature informs us of the need for universities to advance the
frontiers of knowledge in the fight against HIV/AIDS, this paper places the
research issue into a much narrower perspective by considering NOUN’s basic
structures, which naturally better positions it to fight this destructive
epidemic. This research strategy generated insightful findings, some of which
have been reported here. Findings show that within a few years of
establishment, NOUN had already committed itself to the fight against HIV/AIDS
via workshops and awareness creation, and had put in place Learner Support
Services, where student counselors provide knowledge to students about HIV/AIDS
and behavioral change, and has introduced a PGD program in HIV/AIDS Education
and Management. NOUN’s failure to institutionalize its HIV/AIDS policy,
however, shows that it has not addressed HIV and AIDS in depth and scope, even
though its structure as a distance education provider positions it better to
wage such a war. Failure to take a leadership role may also endanger NOUN,
considering the number of students it serves and it far flung geographical
distribution and impact. Findings also suggest that NOUN has not yet made
concerted efforts to provide knowledge about HIV/AIDS among its own staff and
students, although its PGD program is instructive and a positive step forward.
Across Africa, studies have repeatedly shown that universities have been inept
in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and most have made very little effort to draw-up
a policy framework that adequately addresses the epidemic (ACU, 2001; Kelly,
2003). Clearly, new policy initiatives concerning these issues are needed (ACU,
2002). In considering these initiatives, it would be helpful to consider five
key components:
1.
Responsibility of staff and students
2.
Provision of prevention, care, and support services
3.
Employment policy
4.
Enrolment policy
5.
Integration of HIV/AIDS education into teaching, research,
services, and activities in all schools, centers, institutes, units, and
departments
It is important to
introduce a caveat in conclusion. Institutionalizing an HIV and AIDS response
in NOUN would require it to do much more than just producing high quality
research and supporting peer education and awareness raising campaigns. It will
require serious self-reflection and analysis on the impact the epidemic can
have on NOUN – specifically the extent student and staff illness and death can
have on the inner workings of the institution, and how this will affect the
‘supply and demand’ side in NOUN’s provision of quality education. Moreover,
will NOUN be able to keep in place the much needed mechanism required to
provide prevention, care, and support services to its staff, students, and the
surrounding community it serves (UNESCO, 2006).
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