Jamshedpur, Feb. 9: In a bid to spread awareness among schoolchildren the State AIDS Control Society (SACS) would launch an ambitious AIDS education programme in government-run schools from mid-February.

Sources said that during a recent survey conducted by SACS, it identified around 1,150 government-run schools across the state, to be covered within the ambit of the programme.

In the first phase, it would launch the programme in 220 schools based in urban areas.

“The idea of launching the programme is to spread awareness among students about HIV and AIDS and its prevention. Schoolteachers will be involved in implementing the programme. SACS officials will also assist the teachers,” a senior functionary of SACS told The Telegraph.

According to D.P. Taneja, special officer of SACS, the logistics were being worked for launching the programme.

“We are developing a module and booklets to be distributed among students participating in the programme,” said Taneja.

This is the first time that SACS would undertake a project for schoolchildren. Earlier, it had implemented projects for high-risk groups such as commercial sex workers, migratory workers and intravenous drug users. He added that weekly classes would be conducted after school hours in the schools to be covered in the first phase. SACS officials would train the teachers so that they could teach the same to their wards.

Asked why SACS was targeting only government-run schools, Taneja said they intended to cover the government-run schools first as the students of these schools were not that aware about the dangers of AIDS.

“Compared to private schools, the level of awareness in government schools is much less. It is not a bad idea to start with the government-run schools,” he added.