In the post-apartheid era, the growing AIDS problem and the lack of an academic, rather than vocational, education system is devastating for South African black children, Dr. Bhekinkhosi Sikhakhane, speaker at a Global AIDS Awareness Week lecture last Thursday, said. Sikhakane, who has a doctorate in education from Harvard, is the principal of Thalana High School in a South African township. Following the demise of apartheid, he said, the school has fallen to pieces. He is now working to improve the quality of education for its students, who are all black.

Under the apartheid system, which officially lasted until 1994, "blacks were provided with a most inferior education, prepared to serve their (white) masters," he said. Starting in 1976 with the Soweto boycotts, many young, politically active blacks refused to attend school, in protest of the white government's policies. Sikhakane said these blacks "paid the price of being an uneducated, but liberated, people."

After 1994, the curriculum had to be overhauled. Yet, many teachers had little formal education, and so Sikhakane helped start workshops to reeducate the educators. At first, only 15 percent of students graduated from Thalana High School. Now, he said, there is a 60 percent pass rate, and he remains hopeful that this year, 80 to 90 percent will graduate.

Sikhakane discussed the African AIDS epidemic. He said, "We have conquered apartheid . but we have this monster, HIV/AIDS, which has killed many people."

Sikhakane said AIDS is a greater problem among blacks than whites, citing the economic disadvantages blacks still face, even though apartheid's legal restrictions have been eliminated. He added that the wealthy can afford to buy expensive anti-AIDS drugs, such as protease inhibitors, while the poor are dying more quickly, due to lack of treatment.

He was hopeful, however, that mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus is being limited due to new medical treatments. He said "counselings are in place in hospitals," and the number of AIDS awareness campaigns is increasing.

The government is "in the process of reevaluating national values and African values" about the virus, Sikhahane said. Myths are still rampant in some black villages that lubricants from condoms actually infect users with HIV, but he added the government is working hard to dispel these rumors.

Following his lecture, Sikhahane took questions from the audience. He also shared examples of his students' work, including daily journals kept for courses.

"It was very interesting to see more than just statistics and find out how AIDS is affecting (South Africa), and what measures are being taken," Monica Asher '05 said.

Daniel Fink '04, co-president of the Brandeis Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) chapter, said "the focus of (Global AIDS Awareness) week is on the global AIDS pandemic," especially in developing countries. He added that while Dec. 1 is Global AIDS Day, the Brandeis chapter wished to hold their events before Thanksgiving and finals.

Other Global AIDS Awareness Week events included a screening of the film "And the Band Played On," about the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, and a lecture "Orphans and Global AIDS Pandemic" by Professor Eva Thorne (POL).

Sikhahane's lecture was co-sponsored by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.