Demographic

The dropout rates are higher for boys than for girls in the lower grades, but boys’ dropout ratesare lower than girls’ rates. in the higher grades. This may be due to more girls dropping out due to variousreasons including a pregnancy. For both boys and girls, the dropout rates increase with grade. Alsonotable is that children in Shiselweni are more likely to drop out of school than children in other regions.In sum, in Swaziland on average one in three children who started Grade 1 will not complete Grade 7.2.4 HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENTThe physical characteristics of the dwelling in which a household lives are importantdeterminants of the health status of household members, especially children. They can also be used asindicators of the socio-economic status of households. The 2006-07 SDHS respondents were asked anumber of questions about their household environment, including questions on the source of drinkingwater: type of sanitation facility; type of flooring; walls; and roof; and number of rooms in the dwelling.The results are presented both in terms of households and of their usual members.2.4.1 Drinking WaterIncreasing access to improved drinking water is one of the Millennium Development Goals thatSwaziland, along with other nations worldwide. has adopted (United Nations General Assembly, 2001).Table 2.6 includes a number of indicators that are useful in monitoring household access to improveddrinking water (WHO and UNICEF, 2005). The source of drinking water is an indicator of whether it issuitable for drinking. Sources which are likely to provide water suitable for drinking are identified asimproved sources in Table 2.6. They include a piped source within the dwelling or plot, public tap, tubewell or borehole, protected well or spring, and rainwater. 1 Lack of ready access to a water source maylimit the quantity of suitable drinking water that is available to a household. Even if the water is obtainedfrom an improved source, water that must be fetched from a source that is not immediately accessible tothe household may be contaminated during transport or storage. Another factor in considering theaccessibility of water sources is the fact that the burden of going for water often falls disproportionatelyon female members of the household. Finally, home water treatment can be effective in improving thequality of household drinking water.Seven in ten households in Swaziland obtain water from improved sources. This proportionrepresents an improvement from the 1997 Population and Housing Census (56 percent). There is a widevariation between urban and rural households (92 percent and 59 percent, respectively). In the ten yearssince the 1997 Census, rural areas have shown a greater improvement in access to safe water than urbanareas. According to the 1997 Population and Housing Census, the proportion of households with safedrinking water is 89 percent in urban areas and 40 percent in rural areas.Water is available on the premises for 76 percent of households in the urban areas and 27 percentof households in rural areas. Overall, one in four households take 30 or more minutes to obtain water; 4percent in the urban areas compared with 34 percent in the rural areas.Getting water is a chore predominantly done by women. Water is collected by women for morethan half of the population; 46 percent by women age 15 or older and 7 percent by female children underage 15. This is particularly true in the rural areas, where for 54 percent of the population’s water iscollected by women age 15 or older and 8 percent by female children under age 15.1 The categorisation into improved and non-improved follows that proposed by the WHO/UNICEF JointMonitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (WHO and UNICEF, 2004).Household Population and Housing Characteristics | 17