Spirit of inquiry
Knowledge creation in South African higher education
Published by: HESA, July 2006

Turning the tide
A strategic response to HIV and AIDS in South African higher education
HEAIDS Programme Report: 2002-2004
By: Dhianaraj Chetty & Barbara Michel
South African higher education celebrated a decade of democracy in 2004. As the country’s institutions and its citizens celebrate this freedom, it is time to reflect on the enormous challenges which confront South African society and the role which higher education is expected to play. Just over four years ago, institutional leaders in government and in the higher education community committed themselves to supporting and implementing a programme aimed at putting in place a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS across the higher education system. In effect, this meant putting in place policies, programmes, services and management arrangements that would percent, manage and mitigate the impacts of HIC and AIDS on individuals and on the intuitions as a whole. This review is, in part, based on evidence from a recent audit of responses to HIV and AIDS in higher education, but it also describes activities and interventions that have taken place over the past four years as a result of the national SAUVCA/DoE/CTP initiative. It shows significant progress over three years in the provision of prevention services, treatment care and support and the establishment, of institutional capacity to manage HIV and AIDS programmatically – across each institution. It also examines what progress has been made, albeit more slowly, in the integration of HIV and AIDS into the curriculum, research on HIV and AIDS and workplace issues. The review places these issues in the context of the epidemic in South Africa, the massive and complex process of structural changes taking place in South African higher education and strategic issues facing the HEIAIDS programme. A collection of good practice case studies drawn from higher education, highlights innovations in peer education, teacher education and prevention strategies using interactive media.

HIV and AIDS Audit
Interventions in South African Higher Education 2003-2004
Published by: HEAIDS
Tertiary institutions have a two-fold responsibility to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Firstly, South Africa's Public HE institutions are an instrument for the public good. This not only means that the institution must create a conducive space in which to foster the country's future knowledge workers, but also to foster citizens that have the capacity to critique and become compassionate citizens in the world around them. Secondly, the average student in South Africa falls into a high-risk grouping, is sexually active and is away from home, often for the first time in his or her life. This means that these students are at risk through an accumulation of psycho-social and sexual factors. While this does not necessarily predict behaviour, it must alert staff and leadership to the dangers implicit within the higher education environment. The objective of this audit and scan is to assess the state of HE institutions in order to see how best to respond to these challenges.