The household impact of HIV/AIDS on the education of children: a study of HIV high prevalence states in India

Ramamani Sundar, National Council of Applied Economic Research, India

The HIV/AIDS infected individuals and their households face severe social and economic consequences of this epidemic. This paper will study one specific potential impact of HIV/AIDS - the education of children. It is hypothesized that the presence of a HIV positive / AIDS individual in a household could result in non-enrolment or drop out of children from schools. The paper will be based on data collected through a household survey currently being conducted in the HIV high prevalence states in India. The survey includes data on enrolment, attendance and discontinuation of schooling for all the children of school going age. The paper would also examine the gender differences in schooling and the stigma and discrimination faced by the children in schools. Since the survey includes both HIV and Non-HIV households, the paper will attempt a cross sectional analysis of the differences in children’s education in the two sets of households.