Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

The percentage
of girls from HIV
households going
to government
schools is much
higher than that of
girls from non-HIV
households
children from HIV households that a
marked change in the rates for boys and
girls is seen.
When the household head is illiterate, the
current enrolment rate for girls (25%) is
one-third of that for boys (75%). However
with increased level of education of the
head of the household, the difference in
the rates is seen to decrease and is 84.6
percent for boys and 76.9 percent for
girls when the head of the household is
educated upto high school. The sample
does not have any household where the
head of the household having children
within this age group is a graduate or a
diploma holder.
6.5 Type of school attended
To a large extent, the type of school
attended by children is indicative of the
economic status of a household. In the
present sample however, with reference
to children of both the age groups,
the percentage of children going to
government schools is almost the same
for both types of households. It is very
marginally higher for HIV households;
70.2 percent for HIV households & 68.6
percent for non-HIV households in the
6-14 years age group and 64.6 percent
for HIV households & 64.2 percent for
non-HIV households in the 15-18 years
age group.
Irrespective of the type of household,
for children in the age group of 6-14
years, the percentage of children going
to government schools works out to be
higher for girls as compared to boys,
although the difference is marginal in
non-HIV households. However, in the
case of the children belonging to the
age group of 15-18 years, the percentage
of girls going to government schools
is slightly higher than that of boys in
HIV households, while the percentage
of girls attending government schools
is much lower than that of boys in
non-HIV households. However, in
both age groups, it is seen that the
percentage of girls from HIV households
going to government schools is much
higher than that of girls from non-HIV
households.
6.6 School attendance
Table 6.5
Distribution of currently enrolled children
by type of school attended
(in Percentages)
Type of school HIV households Non-HIV households
6-14 years Boys Girls All Boys Girls All
Government 62.2 76.9 70.2 68.0 69.3 68.6
Private • 36.7 23.1 29.3 31.7 30.3 31.1
Informal/others 1.0 -- 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
15 - 18 years
Government 64.3 65.2 64.6 69.4 58.7 64.2
Private • 35.7 34.8 35.4 30.6 41.3 35.8
Informal/others -- -- -- -- -- --
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
The average number of days of absence
from school during the last academic
session is more for children belonging
to HIV households, as compared to
non-HIV households (Table 6.6), for
children belonging to both age groups.
The average number of days absent from
school works out as 9.7 for the children of
HIV households and 5.5 for the children
belonging to non-HIV households in the
age group of 6-14 years and 8.3 days for
children from HIV households and 5.5
for children from non-HIV households
in the age group of 15-18 years. Except
for children in the age group of 15-18
years from HIV households, it is seen that
girls are absent for lesser number of days
than boys.
82 Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil Nadu, India