Higher Education HIV and AIDS gendered interventions among residential students in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the gendered interventions used by Higher Education Sector in Zimbabwe to reduce and eliminate the impact of HIV and AIDS among its semiconfined population. The study sought to find out how the Higher Education Sector collaborated with national agencies in managing the impact of HIV and AIDS among college inmates. The study used telephone and in-depth interviews of HIV and AIDS focal persons in the various Higher Education institutions. The participants were Student Affairs practitioners in Higher Education Institutions in Zimbabwe. The study found out that while the Higher Education Institutions manifest national awareness of HIV & AIDS preventive, co-ordination and management measures, there were no concrete interventions to mitigate the impact. Of significance was the fact that HIV and AIDS management was not mainstreamed in the management and administrative structures and functions of the respective institutions nor was it purposefully mainstreamed in university college curriculum? Thus HIV and AIDS issues remained at information dissemination level only. The study recommends that HIV and AIDS issues be gender sensitive and integrated in the management and curriculum of all institutions for sustainable gendered interventions on the impact of the HIV and AIDS pandemic on the higher education sector.