HIV stress in primary school teachers in Zambia

A study was made of stress factors experienced by primary school teachers in Zambia after they had attended a course on stress management and counselling skills. Their pupils were significantly affected by poverty, death and illness of parents, fellow-pupils and teachers, teenage sex and pregnancy, violence in the home and, among girls, low self-esteem. The HIV epidemic had a major bearing on these factors, and there were wide-ranging effects on the teachers' own lives. Despite the training they had been given, many teachers felt that they could not adequately counsel their pupils on these matters. The teachers were in need of continuing support and training to enable them to cope with this aspect of their work.