Action in-swaziland--the-need-for-holistic-structural-interventions-to-build-resilience-to-hiv-and-to-strengthen-human-capital-in-a-maturing-aids-epidemic[1]

UNIVERSITY OF

KWAZULU-NATAL

For queries contact Khaled Ahmed on [email protected] or [email protected]

1 Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa2 Ministry of Health, Swaziland, National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), Swaziland

3 Institute of Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK,

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A quarter of respondents said they were away for 1-3 days in the past month. Of this sub-sample, 11% stated that they had been away from school for a month or more the previous year. 14% said that they had been absent so often in the past they had to repeat the grade Females reported this slightly more than males.

Illness and then inability to pay for schooling costs were the principal reasons behind absenteeism and grade repetition. Females cited illness consistently far more often than males. The key financial barriers were fees and then the cost of school uniforms and other supplies.

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Child support grants will provide support for households vulnerable to financial insecurity and the economic impacts of AIDS. Existing cash transfer programmes in South Africa and South America have demonstrated their effectiveness in increasing access to education for children.

Enforcing Swaziland's repetition policy, where no more than 10% of students are allowed to repeat, will reduce the ease at which children are repeat grades. High repetition rates lead to over-aged children in classrooms, reduces the quality of education and is costly for households.

Reducing pregnancy related dropout and new HIV infections by improving sexual and reproductive health education and enabling easier access to family planning methods. Providing specialised services, such as flexible learning schedules, to girls that become pregnant will reduce dropout rates.

Full implementation of government sponsored early learning centres. Interviews with teachers highlight that children enrolling in primary school with this head start possess greater cognitive skills.

Children in Swaziland face multiple constraints in accessing education. The financial burden of schooling continue to act as a significant barrier and households are forced to temporarily remove their child from school because of irregular household income patterns. The phased roll-out of free primary education in Swaziland will unfortunately be insufficient in dealing with in-direct costs such as uniforms. The health and wellbeing of students are major areas of concern, especially female health, that will require further investigation to determine the nature of reported illnesses.

Successful completion of primary education will require holistic interventions in order to address these barriers. This will be critical in building the human capital base and in providing relevant life skills to prepare them for life outside school in an environment of a maturing AIDS epidemic.

Key FindingsKey Findings

Conclusion Recommendations

Background Methods

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Over a third reported having family or friends who had dropped out. The main reasons cited were: the inability to pay for fees to continue their education (43%), and pregnancy (24%).

Around half said they faced difficulties when returning to school after being absent. These problems were: keeping up with lessons (49%), understanding the lesssons (55%) and lack of support from teachers (75%).

Addressing the constraints to primary school education in Swaziland: The need for holistic structural interventions to build resilience to

HIV and to strengthen human capital in a maturing AIDS epidemic

1 2 1,3Khaled Alan Ahmed , Jennifer Tyldesley , Rochelle Burgess

ObjectivesSwaziland is heavily burdened with multiple health and development issues. Poverty affects over 60% of the population, orphan numbers are rising whilst traditional kinship ties are deteriorating. It is home to the world's worst HIV epidemic – with a national HIV prevalence rate of 26.1%.

The AIDS epidemic is maturing and consequently the direct, and in-direct, impacts are being seen across all segments of life. The capacity for the Swaziland to deal with the long-term effects rests on the skills and knowledge of the youth. Education, therefore, becomes critical. Schooling strengthens resilience to HIV vulnerabi l i ty and is an enabl ing environment where practical life skills are learnt and developed.

However, high rates of grade repetition and drop-out undermine efforts to develop the human capital base. We explore the barriers and difficulties faced by primary and secondary school children in Swaziland in accessing education, with particular attention paid to females.

A quantitative survey was conducted in 8

primary schools across the country, including

rural and urban regions. 527 students were

interviewed, with female students equally

represented (N=264). The survey explored

four areas. First, the demographic and socio-

economic backgrounds of the students and

sources of school finances. Second,

absenteeism, grade repetition (both their own

and their classmates), and dropout. Third,

problems students experienced after

periods of absence. Lastly, the school

environment and their aspirations.

A systematic literature review preceded

the fieldwork and helped in the design of

the survey. Findings were supplemented

by semi-structured qualitative interviews

with teachers and headmasters. Focus

group discussions were also conducted

with parent-teacher associations.

1. To investigate the instances of, and reasons behind, absenteeism, grade repetition and drop-out amongst school children

2. To explore how socio-economic conditions are acting as barriers to education

3. To recommend evidence-based holistic interventions that strengthen Swaziland's education system and tackle the key drivers of poor attendance patterns