The educational impacts of cash transfers in Tanzania

Cash transfers boost educational outcomes for poor children on average, but which aspects of educational performance are most responsive and which poor children benefit the most? This study examines the educational impacts of cash transfers, drawing on a randomized, community implemented conditional cash transfer program targeted to poor households in Tanzania. On average, being assigned to receive transfers significantly improves children’s likelihood of having ever attended school (by between 4 and 5 percentage points), with suggestive evidence that this is driven by more age-appropriate enrollment for the youngest children. However, school attendance and primary school completion remain unaffected on average. Girls and boys benefit similarly, and only students with stronger initial educational performance experience increases in primary completion rates.     

Supporting Lesotho teachers to develop resilience in the face of the HIV and AIDS pandemic

HIV and AIDS threaten to erode the wellbeing of teachers who are faced with an increasing number of children rendered vulnerable by the pandemic. This article explores the usefulness of a supportive group intervention, Resilient Educators (REds), in supporting Lesotho teachers to respond to the HIV and AIDS-related challenges. A time-series pre- and post-intervention design was used to evaluate the programme. The findings indicate that the intervention led to an increase in the sense of agency of participating teachers both on a personal and community level. The findings have international significance for teachers working in similar contexts characterised by extreme adversity.     

“Vulnerability” in AIDS-affected states: Rethinking child rights,educational institutions,and development paradigms

The article interrogates current international development constructs of childhood, rights, vulnerability, and schooling in light of the daily experiences of two Malawian children affected by HIV/AIDS. It aims to better understand how development efforts targeted at these children function in practice, and suggests that current development discourses and frameworks may sometimes operate to make the lives of vulnerable children and communities harder and less secure. New frameworks for international HIV/AIDS development programming are needed that conceptualize the child and community as part of global educational, social, political, and economic systems that can fuel inequality as well as improve life experiences.     

Analysis Toward Charles Dickens “Hope and Despair” in “Trilogy of Orphans”

In the middle of the 19th century, with a series of excellent novels the great British critical realist writers Charles Dickens created us a vivid world of"hope and despair". Of all his voluminous works, the famous"trilogy of orphans"is all representatives of"hope and de spair. which not only greatly influenced many contemporary writers, but also used for reference by the budding young writers.     

The educational attainment of orphans in high HIV countries in sub-Saharan Africa: An update

Twenty years ago, it was widely expected that the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa would lead to a severe deterioration in the educational outcomes among a rapidly expanding orphan population. This article reviews the extent to which this happened by analysing recent national household survey evidence from five high HIV prevalence countries, namely Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The main findings are that while some orphans continue to be educationally disadvantaged in some countries, the overall sizes of already quite small enrolment and educational attainment differentials between orphans and non-orphans have not significantly increased in any of these countries. The main reasons for this are the overall decline in the orphan population (due to the mass availability of life-prolonging anti-retro viral medication), free primary education, lower levels of absolute poverty, and targeted support of various kinds for orphans by governments and NGOs.     

The impact of orphanhood on education attendance: evidence from Zimbabwe

The development community has started to question the exclusive focus of social protection programmes on orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS in the context of widespread poverty and vulnerability in Africa. This paper, using 2009 Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey data and multivariate regression analysis and simulations, shows that the impact of orphan-hood on children's access to education should be not underestimated. Specifically, the probability differential of dropping out of school, when comparing double-orphans and children with both their parents, is almost as large as the gap between a child from the fourth quintile and the poorest quintile.     

Physical and sexual abuse in orphaned compared to non-orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review assessed the quantitative literature to determine whether orphans are more likely to experience physical and/or sexual abuse compared to non-orphans in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It also evaluated the quality of evidence and identified research gaps. Our search identified 10 studies, all published after 2005, from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. The studies consisted of a total 17,336 participants (51% female and 58% non-orphans). Of those classified as orphans (n = 7,315), 73% were single orphans, and 27% were double orphans. The majority of single orphans were paternal orphans (74%). Quality assessment revealed significant variability in the quality of the studies, although most scored higher for general design than dimensions specific to the domain of orphans and abuse. Combined estimates of data suggested that, compared to non-orphans, orphans are not more likely to experience physical abuse (combined OR = 0.96, 95% CI [0.79, 1.16]) or sexual abuse (combined OR = 1.25, 95% CI [0.88, 1.78]). These data suggest that orphans are not systematically at higher risk of experiencing physical or sexual abuse compared to non-orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. However, because of inconsistent quality of data and reporting, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Several recommendations are made for improving data quality and reporting consistency on this important issue.     

Providing psychosocial support to special needs children: A case of orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe

The AIDS pandemic has orphaned hundreds of thousands of children worldwide and most of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. Being orphaned by AIDS creates peculiar circumstances which may affect the children's ability to benefit from regular education. The impact of vulnerability on children's well-being has been documented by UNAIDS, UNICEF and by other organizations and writers. This study sought to ascertain the effectiveness of implementing psychosocial support (PSS) among children who are orphaned by AIDS in improving their schooling outcomes. A total of 20 children with ages ranging from 10 to14 years, attending four different primary schools located in the rural wards of Mberengwa district of Zimbabwe were involved in this study. All the children showed signs of emotional need and they were lagging behind in their academic work. Psychosocial support was provided to these children over a period of eight months resulting in improvements in several areas, including schoolwork during and after the intervention period.