This study is intended to provide an analytical framework to assist educational decisionmakers
of sub-Saharan Africa and their partners in assessing the impact of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic on educational quality. The practical value of the framework is to provide guidelines
in setting educational policy priorities and designing planning strategies to support national
efforts in reaching the Education for All goals. Evidence of the impact of the HIV/AIDS on
educational quality is still limited and too often anecdotal. While more systematic research is
required, enough information is currently available to draw some implications for policy
development. The author argues that the theme of educational quality is particularly
appropriate for developing policy responses to HIV/AIDS in the education sector, because the
responses must be multi-faceted and holistic to take into account the complex factors that
mediate the achievement of educational quality. A focus on a single factor, such as teacher
supply or curriculum, would be insufficient to protect the education sector from the impact of
the epidemic. In essence, the effort to prevent and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in the
education sector must be mainstreamed in strategies to promote and protect educational
quality.