School as a Workplace in Kenya: Evaluation of the Teachers Matter HIV/AIDS Project

Abstract

Countless HIV/AIDS interventions rely on teachers to deliver vital prevention messages to their students but do not target the teachers as direct beneficiaries, even though the teachers themselves are at risk of HIV infection. In 2004, the Horizons Program of Population Council embarked on an operations research initiative to test the feasibility of implementing a teacher-centered workplace program based in schools. The study was conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE), the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and UNICEF. Called ―Teachers Matter,‖ the project’s main audience was primary and secondary school teachers. The purpose of the research was to assess whether such a program would improve teachers’ HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; increase the proportion of teachers seeking voluntary HIV testing and counseling; and enhance their ability to cope with HIV/AIDS issues in the workplace.