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Name of the Asset | Do HIV-AIDS Teacher Training Programs Work in Africa? Evidence from the Cameroon
Type of Asset | Working Paper
Date | September 2009
Summary
Are teachers who have benefited from HIV-AIDS teacher training programs more likely to significantly affect the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of their students, when compared to teachers who have not? This study assesses the impact of a typical HIV-AIDS teacher training program in Cameroon on student knowledge, attitudes and behavior.
Applying an identification strategy based on instrumental variables that control for teacher self-selection into the training program, the study found no effect on knowledge or behavior of 12-13 year olds, but it did affect their attitudes such as by wishing to remain sexually abstinent during adolescence. For 16 to 17 year olds, on the other hand, exposure to a trained teacher increases the likelihood that students are willing to discuss HIV-AIDS issues within their families. More importantly, older students who are exposed to a trained teacher are 29% more likely to have used a condom during their last sexual intercourse and are 27% more likely to have carried out an HIV test.
More empirical evidence, allowing one to establish cost-effectiveness comparisons with alternative approaches, is needed to able to ascertain whether teacher-training programs, such as the one considered in this paper, should be extended to the bulk of the schooling system.
Authors:
- Jean-Louis Arcand, The Graduate Institute, Geneva
- Eric Djimeu Wouabe, CERDI-CNRS, Université d’Auvergne
Country and/or Region | Cameroon
Name of the Program | Global Research Project ‘Promoting Innovative Programs from the Developing World: Towards Realizing the Health MDGs in Africa and Asia'
Funder(s) | The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United States
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