The HIV/AIDS pandemic presents multifaceted challenges to the education sector . On the one hand, education must be structured so as to manage the effects of the epidemic in their various forms, from sickness and loss of teachers and the presence of infected children among the pupils, to the preparation of the system and of the teachers to attend to the special needs of a growing number of orphans. Furthermore, the sector will be called upon at the same time to play a vanguard role in the efforts to prevent new infections, while also discovering additional resources to sustain, maintain and improve quality, and expand access to education. It is a gigantic task, a well-nigh impossible mission.

It is undeniable that the education sector can play a key role in stemming the rise in the epidemic. The sector directly targets those who, because of their age, are part of the so-called "generation of hope" -those young Mozambicans aged 6-15 who are mostly not yet sexually active, and who are therefore not HIV-positive (with the exception of those cases in which the virus has not been transmitted sexually).

Education, in its widest sense, is crucial for an effective response to the epidemic. This is an extra bur den on the education system and an added responsibility. The situation is worsened by the fact that the education system will have to struggle to play this multifaceted role in a context where the sector itself is being severely affected by the epidemic.

In order for the education system to respond to the needs of young Mozambicans, the sector must be able to respond to the threats which the epidemic poses to itself.

In recent years education sector professionals and those familiar with HIV/AIDS have undertaken research on how to proceed with effective sectoral impact assessments. While the number of such studies is limited (see Kelly, Carr-Hill, Kataboro and Katahoire, 2000, and JTK Associates, 1999), there is a growing understanding of the importance of accounting for HIV/AIDS impacts when planning the way for ward for the education sector .