Implementation of Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communication to Youths (PIASCY) as a curriculum intervention in selected primary schools in Iganga District

Abstract

This study on, “Implementation of PIASCY as a curriculum intervention in selected primary schools in Iganga District” was carried out in ten (10) selected primary schools. The purpose of the study was to establish the manner in which the PIASCY programme is implemented as a curriculum intervention in a selection of ten (10) schools in Iganga District. The study specifically aimed to: identify strategies being used to implement PIASCY as a curriculum intervention; assess the successes associated with PIASCY implementation and find out the challenges facing the implementation of PIASCY as a curriculum intervention.

The study adopted a mixed methods research design. The main data collection methods comprised interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, write and draw exercises, non-participant observation and a self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative data from interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, write and draw exercises and observation was grouped into themes and sub-themes for easy presentation, comparison and analysis. The quantitative data from the teachers’ self-administered questionnaire was computed into frequency counts and percentages.

The findings of the study indicate that the most frequently used strategy for implementing PIASCY is the use of school assemblies and parades. Other strategies used but to a smaller extent include; clubs, skits, guidance and counseling and incorporation of HIV/AIDS issues into academic subjects. In addition, study findings also show that the greatest success associated with the PIASCY implementation is high pupil retention rates in schools and to a smaller extent, HIV/AIDS awareness and general behavioural change among pupils. Further findings also indicate that the greatest challenge to the implementation of PIASCY in the research schools is the controversy about sex education; most especially whether primary children should be exposed to sex education at such an early age or not, given the cultural sensitivity attached to matters pertaining sex in society. To a smaller extent, other challenges included; District officials wanting to have full mandate of monitoring instead of the teachers’ college and also given that the PIASCY initiative was introduced by a political leader, some of the stakeholders who do not subscribe to the ruling party do not fully support its implementation, claiming that those are political initiatives to win popularity.