AEGiS-15IAC: Education outcomes and household illness and death in the South African school setting.

15th International AIDS Conference

Bangkok, Thailand - July 11-16, 2004

Education outcomes and household illness and death in the South African school setting.

Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. ThOrD1384)

Schierhout G, Kinghorn A, Govender R, Johnson S, Mungani J, Morley P
Health and Development Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

BACKGROUND: It is widely recognised that HIV and AIDS may disadvantage childrens education in severely affected countries, but quantitative data demonstrating effects and children at risk are scant. The main objective of this study was to investigate associations between chronic illness and death in the household and select educational outcomes in a school setting.

METHODS: A cross-sectional analytic survey was conducted in a random sample of 44 schools in Limpopo Province and Free State, two provinces in South Africa. Orphanhood, household illness and death and other factors were assessed in self-complete questionnaires with Grade 10 learners (N=1445), median age 17 years. A range of educational outcomes were included. Attributes of the school and community environment were assessed in structured interviews with Heads and teachers.

RESULTS: In Limpopo Province and Free State, 4% and 7% of learners respectively were double orphans and 9% and 13% were maternal orphans. Negative education outcomes affected between 9% and 19% of learners. Some 18% of double orphans and maternal orphans reported erratic daily attendance compared to 8% of non-orphans (Figure1) (OR=2.59; 95% CI=1.35;4.93;p>chi2=0.003 for double orphans and OR=2.05;95% CI=1.27;3.30 for maternal orphans). Orphans were also likely to report sustained school absenteeism; drop out; performance declines and under-enrollment of household children. In multivariate models, education outcomes were signficantly associated with: recent maternal orphaning (OR=2.27 for erratic attendance); double orphaning (OR=2.09 for erratic attendance); living in fluid households (OR=1.50 for absenteeism due to work) and class disorganisation (OR=1.65 for absenteeism due to work). Gender was found to be a significant factor, with boys and girls affected in different ways.<IMG SRC="images/prog/ThOrD1384_IMG01.jpg" border=0>Fig. 1. Proportion of learners reporting erractic daily school attendance.

CONCLUSIONS: In these school settings, several attributes of educational disadvantage were found to be associated with orphanhood and other risk factors. Measures of association may be under-estimates as many of the most vulnerable children may already have dropped out.

Keywords: AEGIS, Schools, Family Characteristics, Teaching, Foster Home Care, Death, Educational Status, Demography, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Cross-Sectional Studies, Absenteeism, Risk Factors, HIV Seropositivity, Research, South Africa, Male, Child, Female, education

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ThOrD1384