The 'Rebuilding Human Capital in Swaziland' project team presented their final report to the project steering committee on 19 March in Mbabane, Swaziland. Those present included representatives from NERCHA, PEPFAR, UNICEF Swaziland and government ministries for Health, Education and Economic Planning and Development.

The recent decision by the government of Swaziland (in January 2010) to roll-out free primary education in phases was noted as being a necessary step forward to improving Swaziland's education sector. This, however, was stressed as being insufficient by the committee. There are several key issues that will need to be addressed in order to reduce incidences of absenteeism, grade repetition and dropout amongst school children in Swaziland. These issues as well as potential interventions were discussed at the meeting and were driven, in part, by the policy recommendations cited in the report. These were:

• Child support grants: School fees are not the only financial barrier to education. Uniform costs, transport and even school lunches can become considerable expenses, but these are often not subsidised. Cash grants to households can lower the financial burden of sending their children to school and thereby increase access to education.
• Enforcing the repetition policy: Currently, the policy of not allowing any more than 10% of the class to repeat a grade is not practiced. This has contributed to a high prevalence of over-aged students. Enforcing this will lessen the strain faced by teachers in teaching classes with diverse ages, and make learning easier for students.
• Tackling pregnancy-related school drop-out: This was shown to be a problem both in secondary and in primary schools. Unwanted pregnancy could be reduced by improving education on sexual and reproductive health in schools as well as making family planning services more readily accessible to students either on campus or nearby. Where young women were already pregnant, an effort to retain them in school after giving birth should be encouraged.
• Supporting further roll-out of early childhood education: Attending playschool or nursery has been shown to improve the health and nutrition of children as well as developing their cognitive and motor-skills. Teachers in Swaziland have noted that children with this early education excelled relative to their peers when entering grade 1.

Members of the project team will be presenting findings from the report at the International AIDS Conference in July 2010. The final report from the project will be available on the HEARD website. The project team is grateful to the organisations and government ministries who have assisted the project and to the children of Swaziland. We hope that the report will improve education in the country and assist in building a stronger future for the nation.

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