Psychosocial factors hindering secondary school students from up taking voluntary counselling and testing services: the case of Dar es Salaam region in Tanzania

The study investigated psychosocial factors hindering secondary school students from taking Voluntary Counselling and Testing services (VCT). It examined the level of knowledge of secondary school students on HIV/AIDS and VCT services, assessed students' perceptions towards VCT services and identified factors that hinder students from taking up VCT services. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam region at Azania, Kibasila and Jangwani secondary schools. Purposive and random sampling procedures were employed to obtain the study sample. The sample comprised of 324 students, 30 teachers, 3 heads of schools and 10 VCT officers. The survey instruments were questionnaires, interviews, documentary analysis and focus group discussions. The Statistical Package for Social Scientist software was employed for data analysis. Study findings revealed that most students have negative perceptions on VCT uptake due to fear of stigmatization and lack of sufficient knowledge about VCT services. Incompetence of some VCT officers on providing services and inadequate knowledge in the community on how to live with HIV/AIDS victims were also among the contributing factors to the students' negative perception on VCT services. In light of these findings, the study recommended that workshops and seminars should be frequently provided to students to impart knowledge about VCT services as well as educate the community on how to live with people living with eliminate stigmatization of the victims- HIV/AIDS in order to eliminate stigmatization of the victim.