The South African education system is faced with the difficult task of redressing the inequalities and backlogs created by the racially segregated and unequally resourced apartheid structure. The system is also faced with the responsibility of reintroducing a culture of teaching and learning in the nation’s schools after the anti-apartheid struggle’s ‘freedom now, education later!’ slogan, a time when protest action brought about disruptions in young people’s education, and the much lamented ‘lost generation’. These challenges are further exacerbated by a variety of social factors, one of which is the HIV/AIDS pandemic currently ravaging the country.