Abstract
This study looked at the impact of the educational system alongside the media in creating awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youths. It was a case study of Lilongwe City Central. The Research was prompted by the continuous increase in the spread of HIV and AIDS pandemic among the youths.
This was a qualitative study that was rooted in the interpretivist paradigm and was conducted around the Traditional Authority Chimutu and Traditional Authority Mazengera in Lilongwe. The study comprised of 87 respondents, who were teachers, youths, and other personnel that are in the fore front of creating awareness.
The government of Malawi introduced the subject Life Skills Education as a way to help create awareness among the youth while the radio stations have a variety of programs to help create awareness.
The major finding was that indeed the youths are quite aware of HIV/AIDS but they choose not to comply to the awareness messages. The study also found out that teachers lacked adequate training, as well as the necessary materials for teaching. It also came out that the schools were demoralized as the subject was not taken as a core subject during Malawi School Certificate of Education. From the media it was found out that most broadcasters did not fully expound on the information and also that they seemed to not involve their target audience who are the youth.
From the findings it showed that there is more to be done in terms of behavioral change among the youth and the recommendations were to find ways of involving the youth more as well as advocate behavior change among them. If there is a quality behavioral system things are guaranteed to change for the better.