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against religious or triballines. "Nobody can beentirely independent. Schoolmanagers, create a freeworking environment forpupils, teachers, non teaching staff to work as a team. Weare talented differently, if youdiscriminate others, you willmiss other peoples talents.”
Stop stigma anddiscrimination:
• Increase the number of pupils in your school.• Boost your pupils self esteem.• Enjoy teaching.• Reduce dropout rates andincrease retention.• Contribute to goodperformance and grades.
 Vol. 9 No. 2 October 2010
Kick stigma out of your school
 Make learning and teaching fun
L
ast year, pupils of Kanyatsi Model PSin Kasese went to bury a parent of one of thepupils in the school. At the burial, it wasannounced that theparent had died of HIV.Mubatsi Nicholas ateacher in this schoolwrote to
Teacher Talk 
and said: "When food wasserved, pupils refusedto eat. They thoughtHIV had remained inthose plates. Two weekslater, the orphaned pupilreturned to school andall the children in hisclass refused to sit withhim."
This pupil faced stigmaand discrimination. Stigmais discrediting attitudestowards another person or yourself on the basis of somefeatures that are regardedundesirable. To stigmatizeis to label someone inferioror feel inferior because of anattribute they have.Discrimination is when somebody is treated less fairlythan others because of whatsituation he or she is in.In a school setting, pupilsand teachers may bestigmatized because theyare from a different ethnicgroup, have disability oran illness such as HIV orbecause their family has hadsomeone with HIV.
The Principal Assistant Secretary Ministry of Education andSports (MoES) Aggrey Kibenge says: 
"The Uganda constitutionprohibits any form of discrimination and stigmaagainst people. It gives equalopportunity to all rightslike education, medical,employment, belief in anyreligion and others.Stigma and discrimination iscaused by ignorance, mythsand misconceptions aboutHIV."
Dr Daniel Nkaada,Commissioner forPrimary schooleducation,
stressesthe importance of accommodating eachothers to work efficiently.It is wrong to divide people
Teachers, youmight be thinking that it is onlybeating whichhurts your pupils. Stigma anddiscriminationequally hurts.Make your schoolstigma free.
Joy Niwagaba, 43, is asenior woman teacherat St Paul's Community PS, Kasese. In a letter to
Teacher Talk
Joy say:
"I am so grateful to TeacherTalk for supporting my workas a senior woman teacherwith valuable messages. I also got a beautiful T-Shirt when I sent a letter toTeacher Talk."
 Dear Teachers,
Young Talk
 is also a great tool in supporting guidance and
QUIZ
Con flic t resolu tion
Share  w i th 
T ea c he r  Ta lk 
  the kindo f con f lic ts  tha t happen in  yourschools. Ho w  do  you deal w i th con flic t among  teachers, be t w een  teachers and pupils or  teachersand  the head-teacher in  yourschool.
 
Send  your ans w ers  to PO BO X  22366, K ampala
Teacher Talk
supports my counseling work 
If your schooldoesn't get
Young Talk 
and
Teacher Talk 
,Write toPO Box 22366,Kampalaor send SMS to077517458
The LC5 chairperson of Bukedea district, Rev Sam Ebukalin flags of a teach-ers Bicycle race during an Education fare that was held in the district in June this year. Activities like this help teachers to relate well with each other.
 
 counseling work.
Young Talk
  also helps pupils make good decisions and stay safe.
Dr Nkaada
 
Teacher Talk, October 2010
2
H
IV related stigma is usuallydue to ignorance. Get yourfacts on HIV right and live inharmony with people affectedwith HIV.
The Education sector HIV/AIDS workplace policy saysMoEs will ensure that noperson with HIV/AIDS istreated unfairly in regard torecruitment, appointment,grading, remuneration,employment, assignments,training and dismissal.If a worker harasses anemployee who is HIV positive,he/she shall be subjectedto strong disciplinary action,which may result intotermination.
Mariam Amile, Yumbe TownCouncil PS, says:
“We had an HIV positive teacher. She did nothide while swallowing her ARVs, However some people pointed fingers at her.
 When you stigmatize peoplewith HIV and their families, youincrease their suffering. Thisleads to denial, shame, loneliness,depression, anger, self pity andalcoholism
Increase awareness
Schools like Muni PS andMasindi Model School havemade efforts to reducestigma.Opendu Avento, 36,Muni PS Arua says: 
“We hada pupil living with HIV. Pupilsdid not want to play or share eatswith him. We talked to the pupilsabout the effects of stigma. Some pupils are now freely interactingwith him.”
Teachers of Bishop Willis,Demonstration PS, Iganga share views. Such moments help teachers to interact and reduces stigma
 Y 
ou can have a stigmafree school by setting up systems and rules towipe it out. BeatriceBainomugisha sharesuseful tips:
• Encourage pupils to talkopenly and reportstigmatising situations.• Involve pupils inidentifying the situations. Forinstance, you could ask them todraw a map to identify placeswithhigh levels of stigma in thecommunity. Display this map onthe school notice board.• Encourage pupils to draw,dramatize, use poems to showsolutions.• Discourage stigmatising wordswhen you hear them, but do itgently.• Involve the parents/care givers toknow how stigma presents itself and how to avoid it.
MN, a teacher of Kanyatsi ModelPS, Kasese, says:
 “
We have a childliving with HIV.When pupils learntabout it, they stopped sharing eats, play or sitnear him, thinkingthey would get HIV.This made him cry. We called a trained counsellorwho sensitized the school on HIV. We do this every Friday. Discriminationagainst him stopped. He isnow one of the prefects.”
Kureeba Chris, Headteacher Ngoma 1, PS,Ntungamo, says:
“We sensitize pupils and fellowteachers about HIV/AIDS. For example HIV is not ataboo and not caused bywitch craft.
 
th
 Pointing fingersincreases HIV 
Throughdrawings, pupilscan expressstigmatisingsituations
Treat people affected and infected with HIV fairly - MoES policy
Set up systems to eliminate stigma
W hen a n y one f a ces stig ma ,their  per f or ma nce a nd ef f icienc y deter ior a tes.If   y ou a r e being  stig ma tized, g et help. 
Ta lk to  y our collea g ues. Tellthem how   y ou f eel.• U se a senior tea cher tomedia te the discussion.• If this does not help, seek help from the hea d tea cher.• If  the problem is ca used b y  pupils, ta lks a nd a ctiv itiestha t promote f ree intera ctionbetw een tea chersa nd lea rnersca n be of help.
 
Ta lk  to someone
Effects of Stigma
S
tigma makes pupils feel insecureand have no sense of belonging.Sometimes, stigma results intoviolence just like it happened to
Zema Dominic a parent in MoyoHe says,
“My son got burnt whenhe was a baby. He developed deep scars. Pupils laugh and call himnames. They isolated him and he felt bad. He reported to the teacher,but the children continued. Oneday, he got annoyed and fought boyswho laughed at him. They stoppedabusing him.
The self esteem of stigmatizedchildren and teachers is low. Theybecome withdrawn, depressed,demotivated and may not work hardat their school work.
Other effects include:
•School drop out.•Absenteeism from school.•Poor class performance to pupilsand teachers.•Isolation and self pity•Self neglect.
 A   teacherin K asese is con-cerned.He sa ys:There is a  teacher inthe nearb y school  who camefrom abroad. He isno t married bu the asked  for a girl o f15  years  froma neighbouringhome  to help him.  Thesad  thingis  tha t he sleeps  wi th her on  the same bed andshe is ac ting as a  wife. Wha tcan  we do?  Wri te  to  Teacher  Talk,PO BO X , 22366, K ampala
 A d vise 
Support the affected
 In Masindi Model School,teachers supported a colleaguewhen he wa
s unwell.
Okecho Alex, a teacher says:
 
“We had a teacher who was HIV positive. He was always sick and absent. He feared todisclose his status. This affectedthe pupils’ performance. Thehead teacher reported him to the District Education Office. The community wanted him sacked.Teachers who knew his status encouraged him to disclose. Thishelped him. Whenever he fell sick, another teacher would take over his classes. His workloadwas reduced. He was encouragedto get treatment.
The teachers' guide onsupporting children in theera of HIV and AIDS is ahelpful tool for you. It says:
• Talk to the affected childrenand not about them.• Take note of any abnormalreactions to identify childrenwho are being stigmatised.• Explain to children that not allchildren who are HIV positiveget it from sex. There are othermodes of transmission.• Help children to discusssensitive topics like sexualityand death with ease.
Read with your pupils theHIV reader on Stigma anddiscrimination "Lonely Makina". Organise arole play on stigma anddiscrimination. Ask thepupils to tell you how they would feel if they werediscriminated against.
 
Give children as much informationas possible on HIV 
 
Teacher Talk, October 2010
3
M
any pupils are tempted by the short ex-citement or escape that drugs offer.
 About 20-30% of admission cases to Butabika Men-tal Hospital are due to drug abuse such as alcohol.Majority of these are young people. Most get intodrugs due to peer pressure, having wrong role mod-els, curiosity, exposure to drugs.
 Aboko Brenda, P6, Lira P7 PS says: 
M
 y friend started drinking alcohol because some of her friendsused to drink it. They convinced her to drink a littleuntil she got used. One day, she got drunk and wasraped. She became pregnant, stopped school. She can't look after her child.
Naigaga Florence a teacher in Lambala PS,Luuka district says:
 
We had boys who used todrink waragi. They were not listening to teachersand abused other pupils. We talked to them andalso called their parents.
Drugs harm the body and brain. Drug abusers havetrouble at school, at home, with friends, or withthe law. The chances that someone will commit acrime, be a victim of a crime, or have an accidentare higher when that person is abusing drugs.Drugs increase the risk of engaging in unprotectedsex, have multiple partners, defilement, rape andcross generational sex.
Dr David Basangwa from Butabi-ka Hospital, says:
 
Some affect yourability to make healthy choices anddecisions.
Kasirye Rogers, Executive Di-rector of Uganda Youth Devel-opment Link 
 says
 you can tell if  your pupil is abusing drugs if:
•
Performance declines or they are con-stantly absent.
•
They withdraw from the activities at school.
•
Have unusual amounts of energy or increasedfatigue.
•
Suddenly they start using freshner or perfume tohide smoke smell.
•
They are shabby and do not care about their ap-pearance.
A teacher in Bukedea looks at one of thePIASCY trees on display during the Educationfare held at the district headquarters in June. You can make one for your class or school
Protect pupils from abuse - learn from Amina's story 
During the National Teach-ers Day celebrations, Presi-dent Museveni disagreedon the teachers proposal toreinstate lunch fees in theUniversal Primary Education schools in thecountry. He strongly opposed the idea of gov-ernment paying for lunch for pupils in UPEschools. However, many schools already havewonderful lunch options.
 Write to Teacher Talk and share withreaders how you are addressing thelunch issue for you pupils.
 Write to22366, Kampala. Best practiceswill win prizes.
Help pupils stop drugs
•
Talk to them when they are sober.
•
Build a good relationship with them pupil.Give them time. Keep encouraging the pupil toleave drugs.
•
Do not blame or criticise the pupil.
•
Help the pupil realize the problem.
•
Find out how long the pupil has been using drugs. This will help you know the magnitudeof the problem.
•
Get the child to talk about the problem. Showthe child by word and action that you areready to help.
•
Get help from other professionals.
Contact:
UYDEL: 0414530353, Serenity Centre:0312 298842 and Mental Health Unitsin district hospitals. Read with yourpupils the HIV reader on risky behav-ior 'Vumi sees it All'. After reading, or-ganise a debate to help pupils identify the dangers of taking drugs
 
 Q u i z : 
 
 Watch out, your pupil may be on drugs
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