Gender differences in associations between exposure to school HIV education and protective sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease/HIV diagnosis among high school students

This study aimed to assess associations between school HIV education and protective sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease (STD)/HIV diagnosis with a representative sample of male and female high school students. Data from male and female adolescent participants in the 1999, 2001 and 2003 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 12,243) were analyzed. Adjusted regression analyses stratified by gender were conducted to assess relationships between school HIV education exposure and the following outcomes: no sexual initiation, condom use at last sex, no multiple sex partners in the past three months and no history of STD/HIV diagnosis. Participants were mostly White (75%) and were 51% male; the subsample of sexually active students was younger than the total sample but was otherwise similar in demographics. School HIV education was reported by 93% of our sample and was significantly related to sexual initiation among boys (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval = 1.4–2.7) but not girls. Among sexually experienced students (n = 4752), boys reporting exposure to school HIV education were significantly more likely to report condom use (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.6–3.1), no multiple sex partners (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 2.3–4.4) and no STD/HIV diagnosis (odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 2.0–5.0); girls reporting such exposure were significantly more likely to report no multiple sex partners (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.3–3.6). In conclusion, exposure to school HIV education is associated with sexual protective behaviors and reduced likelihood of STD/HIV diagnosis for boys but less so for girls, suggesting the need for more gender‐tailored approaches to school HIV education.     

Evaluating knowledge,attitudinal, and behavioral change effects from a multinational HIV/AIDS education program for youth

This project tracked the mid-term evaluation processes, practices, and products of a multinational program to reduce at-risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti. It focused on participant and community perceptions; program effectiveness in promoting abstinence and monogamy decisions; and factors supporting ongoing resistance, decision persistence, and program sustainability. Instrumentation included focus groups and interviews with 731 participant youth, parents, community stakeholders, and staff; program documents; and expert on-site observations. Program efforts are effective in influencing informational, attitudinal, and behavioral changes across stakeholder groups. Data underscore process effects of specific program tools and features, through participant attributions. Critical relationships between internal and external factors, and collective local practices grown from program knowledge and skills, support risk reduction awareness and behaviors. Systematic evaluation, including design features, can inform similar efforts across national and cultural boundaries. Effective strategies are highlighted and linked to community perceptions and program outcomes.     

The education of the handicapped for life in developing countries

Conclusion The greatest problems for developing countries, both economically and socially, are the wastage of scarce funds on unrecognised handicapped children in normal schools, the support by their relatives of the unproductive blind, deaf, physically handicapped, epileptic, leprous and mentally retarded children, and the present manpower loss through insufficient pre-planning for the vocational training, employment or settlement in co-operative workshops, of disabled young people coming from special schooling.The role of education for the handicapped child in a developing country should be to develop his abilities to the full, by use of a curriculum which is as demanding as possible, taught by staff who give the children realistic expectations to live up to. His educational experiences should be designed to compensate for what he loses as a result of his handicap and also give him the broad coverage afforded to his normal peers. This education must separate him as little as possible from his normal home environment and be followed by his integration in the community as a useful and socially acceptable member.

---

Die Sondererziehung In Den Entwicklungsländern

---

l'Education Des Handicapes Dans Les Pays En Voie De Developpement

     

Vernacular knowledge and critical pedagogy: conceptualising sexual health education for young men who have sex with men

Over 30 years after HIV was first recognised in the USA, the epidemic continues to pose a disproportionate threat to vulnerable and marginalised populations. Increasing HIV incidence among young men who have sex with men has spurred debate around the content and approach to HIV prevention interventions directed towards this vulnerable population. A comprehensive model for conceptualising the content of sexual health education is described, which can be tailored to the unique needs and experiences of young men who have sex with men through the application of social theory. Vernacular knowledge is incorporated as a manner of nesting sexual health messages within the shared understandings of young men regarding same-sex sexual practices, gender roles and expectations, community mores and conventions and other shared knowledge of sex and sexuality. Critical pedagogy is then discussed as a way of guiding one’s pedagogical approach during intervention design and implementation that is most conducive to both individual empowerment and community solidarity. The paper concludes with strategies for turning the corner from theory to practice, beginning with formative research that culminates in the design of relevant, community-based sexual health education programmes for young men who have sex with men.     

Quality of education and the demand for education — Evidence from developing countries

The relationship between quality and demand is analysed using data from various countries, with special emphasis on Burkina Faso, Mali, and Tanzania. Four types of educational quality are postulated: value, output, process and input quality. The relative importance of quality compared to external efficiency and costs is assessed. The paper is a reanalysis of existing studies. Qualitative data are complemented by simple analysis of educational statistics. The studies had different though over-lapping foci: one study explored reasons for non-enrolment, drop-out and exclusion from school under the umbrella theme of the quality of education. Another one emphasised social demand in rural areas, with quality one of a number of topics. A third study looked at attitudes towards education and educational strategies, restricting itself to parents. A primary level, the quality of education influences the demand for education. The relative importance of quality varies from one context to another. Quality influences the decision to enrol less than the decision to carry on. However, it affects enrolment to such an extent that moderate correlations have been observed between pass rates and repeater rates on the one hand, and enrolment rates on the other. Value quality is mainly related to enrolment. Output quality is the criterion for selecting a school or a school system. Output, process and input quality affect dropping out and irregular attendance. Repetition, justified on unsatisfactory output quality, is related to input quality. The decision to participate in education combines considerations of educational quality with an evaluation of costs, both direct costs and opportunity costs.     

Young people's views of sex education: gender,information and knowledge

This paper derives from research that had the aim of understanding more about adolescents' views of sex education and adolescent sexuality. The data are taken from three separate pieces of research conducted in 1984, 1998 and 2003. This paper presents data about gender, information and knowledge relating to sexuality. It seeks to demonstrate that attitudes to information and knowledge vary significantly with gender. The data suggest that many adolescents we studied were offered different access to information about sex and sexuality in their families. The argument is that this has impact on the sources of information that they rely upon and prefer. We investigate the underlying issues about the ways boys obtain not only information about sex, but also their attitudes to sexual encounters. Sources of information and counselling about sexuality varied with gender. Boys and girls were exposed to different kinds of experience, in which information about sexuality and messages about desire also vary. Home and intimacy with parents, especially mothers, is important for many, although not all, girls in a way it is not for boys. This indicates a picture of boys learning about sex and sexuality in ways that by and large do not include adults, or more especially trusted adults, and where there appears to be some elements of exclusion from the family. This has important implications for sex education programmes, and may offer us insights into why the boys resist school sex education work.     

Uses of examinations in developing countries: Selection, research, and education sector management

In September 1984, The Chinese government asked if the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank would be interested in assisting the officials in the Ministry of Education to think through some of the policy options in the field of examinations and standardized testing. In response, in April 1985 a meeting was held in Beijing. Attending the meeting were all officials in charge of examinations at the provincial and national levels, technicians and psychometricians in charge of designing examination items, and senior university officials and planners in the Ministry of Education. Attending from outside the country were the chief executive officers of examination agencies in three OECD countries: from the United States, Robert Solomon (ETS); from Japan, Tadashi Hidano (National Center for University Examinations); and from the United Kingdom, John Reddaway (Cambridge University Examination Syndicate); directors of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement; and experts on the examination systems in Sweden, Australia and Kenya.This article summarizes the comments given to the Chinese Government following that meeting. The amount of attention devoted to problems of logistics and economies of scale is perhaps more pertinent to large, heterogeneous nations like China, but many of the comments could be applied to developing countries generally. These comments cover three areas (1) specific testing issues such as aptitude vs achievement tests, multiple choice vs other formats, etc.; (2) management issues within the system of selection such as whether government agencies or universities should make the selection decision, and whether a testing agency should be autonomous from government control; and lastly, (3) the uses of testing to perform necessary research and education sector management functions.     

Exploring the global/local boundary in education in developing countries: the case of the Caribbean

This article focuses on education in developing countries in the context of globalization and with specific reference to the Caribbean. It examines the concept of globalization and related concepts and positions developing countries within this context. It explores the possibility of the creation of a third space where the local and the global can co-mingle and new understandings can emerge. The article argues that although the global/local interface constitutes a zone of tension, it can, in the realm of education, become an area of creative opportunity. It outlines some parameters that can guide the way in which the third space can be shaped when Caribbean and other developing countries are faced with the challenge of accommodating external ideas into local education.     

Globalization and its challenges for developing countries: the case of Turkish higher education

This paper examines the challenges faced by the Turkish higher education system and exposes the inequities and realities educators in a developing nation must struggle with as they try to find a prestigious spot in the knowledge-production industry. After a brief overview of the literature that illustrates how globalization penetrated into each stage of development of Turkey’s modern institutions of higher education, the paper presents a discussion, based on national and international statistics, of the challenges these institutions face as a result of globalization, namely increasing demands for higher education; faculty shortages; the internationalization of higher education; research and knowledge production; and the process of financing higher education.     

Attitudes and values in sexual behaviour and sex education: A cross-cultural study among University students in Greece and Scotland

This article describes a survey comparing university students in Greece and Scotland with regard to their attitudes to sexual development and sex education. A questionnaire was constructed in Greek and English and was completed by 436 university students in Greece and an equivalent number in Scotland. Comparative results show a tendency for students' attitudes to converge with regard to gender identity, inter-sexual relations, appropriate forms of sexual behaviour and the factors that shape it. Differences exist regarding the aims of sex education, the concept of a sexually mature person, and the moral principles that should govern inter-sexual relations.     

The higher education crisis in developing countries: Issues,problems, constraints and reforms

This paper looks at the current higher education crisis in developing countries and discusses how problems are analyzed and decisions made in the context of higher education reform. It focuses in particular on discrepancies between objectives and achievements in an attempt to highlight the importance of risk analysis in strategic planning for higher education development.The paper observes that traditional approaches to higher education planning and decision making have failed to build into their development and reform strategies appropriate mechanisms to evaluate risks and deal with uncertainties. Countries have been following three main strategies to minimize the adverse effects of the higher education crisis: thepassive risk approach, thepositive risk approach, and thediffuse risk approach.Experts have advocated a contingency planning approach to planning for educational projects sponsored by international donor agencies, taking into account the management requirements for a smooth implementation of innovative projects. In the case of higher education reforms, focusing on management variables is important but not sufficient. Animpact assessment approach is needed to reflect the challenging nature of higher education reforms which, by essence, confront established practices and vested interests.

---

Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel wird die gegenwärtige Krise der Höheren Bildung in den Entwicklungsländern untersucht und erörtert, wie zur Umgestaltung der Höheren Bildung Probleme analysiert und Entscheidungen getroffen werden können. Schwerpunktmäßig werden die Diskrepanzen zwischen Zielsetzungen und Leistungen herausgearbeitet, um die Bedeutung der Risikoanalyse in der strategischen Planung zur Entwicklung der Höheren Bildung hervorzuheben.Der Autor deutet darauf hin, daß bei den traditionellen Ansätzen zur Planung und zum Treffen von Entscheidungen in der Höheren Bildung versäumt wurde, in den Reform-und Entwicklungsstrategien geeignete Maßnahmen zur Evaluierung von Risiken und zum Auffangen eventueller Unsicherheitsfaktoren vorzusehen. Die Länder verfolgen drei Hauptstrategien, um die negativen Auswirkungen der Krise in der Höheren Bildung so gering wie möglich zu halten: denpassiven Risikoansatz, denpositiven Risikoansatz, und dendiffusen Risikoansatz.Experten befürworten, Pläne für von internationalen Spendeninstitutionen geförderte Bildungsprojekte auszuarbeiten, durch die man auf jeden möglichen Fall vorbereitet wäre. Dabei sollten die Anforderungen an die Verwaltung zur reibungslosen Durchführung innovativer Projekte berücksichtigt werden. In Bezug auf die Reform der Höheren Bildung ist es zwar notwendig, das Hauptgewicht auf verwaltungsbezogene Variablen zu legen, jedoch reicht dies nicht aus. EinAnsatz zur Einschätzung der Auswirkungen wäre der richtige Weg, um die Herausforderung, die die Höhere Bildungsreform für traditionelle Praktiken und einflußreiche Kreise bedeutet, aufzuzeigen.

---

Résumé Le présent article examine la crise que connaît actuellement l'enseignement supérieur dans les pays en développement et étudie la manière dont les problèmes sont analysés et les décisions prises en ce qui concerne la réforme de l'enseignement supérieur. L'accent est mis en particulier sur les différences entre les objectifs fixés et les résultats obtenus afin de mettre en lumière l'importance de l'analyse des risques dans la planification stratégique pour le développement de l'enseignement supérieur.On fait observer dans cet article que les approaches traditionnelles de la planification et de la prise de décision en matière d'enseignement supérieur n'ont pas réussi à intégrer dans leurs stratégies de réforme et de développement des mécanismes appropriés pour évaluer les risques et prendre en compte les incertitudes. Les pays suivent trois stratégies majeures pour minimiser les effets nuisibles de la crise de l'enseignement supérieur:l'approche passive, l'approche positive et l'approche diffuse des risques. Les experts plaident en faveur d'une approche de la prise en compte des événements imprévus dans la planification des projets d'éducation financés par les agences donatrices internationales, en tenant compte des exigences de gestion pour une mise en oeuvre souple des projets novateurs. En ce qui concerne les réformes de l'enseignement supérieur, l'accent mis sur les aspects administratifs est important mais insuffisant. Uneapproche de l'évaluation de l'impact paraît nécessaire pour refléter l'aspect déf: des réformes de l'enseignement supérieur qui, par essence, se heurtent aux pratiques établies et aux intérêts acquis.

     

Young offenders in New South Wales,Australia and the need for remedial sexual health education

The 2005–2008 Australian National Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategy identifies young people as a key target group in need of sexual health education, screening and management. For young people who are in contact with the New South Wales (NSW) juvenile justice system, a dire need for remedial sexual health education exists. NSW young offenders indicate initiation of sexual activity at a younger age than their peers, higher numbers of sexual partners, infrequent condom use and higher rates of sexually transmitted infections. They also report family instability, poor accessing of health services, and low school attendance: all factors that result in poor sexual knowledge and health outcomes. An examination into the cognitive profile of these young offenders indicates remedial education for this group may require a dual approach in order to redress their specific circumstances and needs. The first approach should target young offenders who simply missed out on stages of sexual health information in the school curriculum. The second approach requires a tailored teaching methodology more appropriate for a group with atypical cognitive profiles. Both approaches need to engage an educative model that acknowledges that these disadvantaged young people are already sexual active; and that many did not have the benefit of an informed or consensual decision making processes. More importantly, the tailoring of a sexual health education program to these young people needs to resonate with teaching to a cognitively distinctive population who have experienced higher than usual rates of alcohol and other drugs abuse, and higher than usual episodes of physical and emotional abuse and neglect.     

Educating teachers for the improvement of the quality of basic education in developing countries

In discussions about improving the quality of basic education in the developing countries much focus has been on education functioning to improve the economic conditions of individuals. Basic education as critical literacy which empowers people to improve their social and personal lives by participating politically in decision-making processes relating to equitable distribution of economic wealth appears to be missing from the discussion on basic education. Grounding her arguments in observations of classroom teaching in two developing countries, the author argues in this article that the current ‘socialization’ approach to education in the developing countries needs to be replaced by innovative, critical approaches involving ‘resocialization’ if basic education is to play a role in improving the lives of the masses. What some developing countries are doing in teacher education to achieve this innovation is also discussed.