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Abstract:
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Society faces the serious challenges of having to find solutions to look after orphaned
and vulnerable children (OVC), who often survive against all odds, and are exposed to
more threatening or challenging environments than other children. Although this is a
widespread and global problem, in sub-Saharan Africa it is exacerbated by other
precarious social conditions such as poverty, unemployment, inequality and domestic
violence, among other factors. South Africa is no exception to these challenges. Being a
developing country, it is still faced with an escalating problem of vulnerable children. This
scenario is complicated by the fact that the scope of vulnerable children is vast and
complex, but OVCs form the most vulnerable group, as they experience multiple
dimensions of vulnerabilities. The South African Government took a positive step and
responded with a series of legislations, policies and programmes to mitigate the
vulnerability of children. However, despite these responses, the issue of vulnerability
continues to grow. In schools, vulnerability makes it extremely difficult for OVC to cope
with the demands of academic work and causes them to repeat their grades several
times.
The present study explored the challenges facing OVC in schools of the Maleboho East
Circuit. The communities around the Maleboho East Circuit are termed multi-risks
communities, where social issues such as poverty, unemployment, inequality and
substance abuse are prevalent. The study anchored itself on ecosystem theory,
emphasising the importance of a person in context, strength-based, which was a shift
from deficiencies to strengths and resilience theory. This approach provided a lens and
mind map that guided the study. This was paramount for a study of this nature, as the
problems experienced by the child at home will eventually cascade into the school
environment, where academic performance is needed. The three theories were
complementary to each other, as they were used to compensate each other’s
deficiencies.
The study followed an interpretive paradigm, which placed emphasis on the participants’
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lived experiences. In a study such as this one, where in-depth data was required; this
paradigm allowed the researcher to enter the participants’ lived world through a focus
group discussion and personal interviews. From the interviews, themes and sub-themes
were generated that were informed by the participants’ responses.
Findings indicated that the OVC face many challenges both in school and in their homes
as well as their communities. In their homes, they are heavily burdened with household
chores that consume most of their time, making it difficult for OVC to juggle both
household duties and academic work, causing serious barriers that hinder their academic
progress, and results in them often failing and repeating their grades multiple times. They
are also challenged by other psychosocial issues such as anger and frustration, and
emotional difficulties caused by their lack of basic and school necessities.
Though faced with these challenges, they developed their own coping strategies to
manage their situation. However, the researcher concluded that the OVC’s challenges
made them feel and become educationally excluded. As most OVC are coming from
impoverished homes, they will fail to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty they are
subjected to. Therefore, the researcher recommended that the government as a
custodian of children’s welfare should create an environment that is more conducive for
the policy for inclusive education to be implemented. Schools should adopt a
responsibility, where the focus is not only on education, but on creating an environment
where all learners will be catered for holistically, irrespective of their background, thereby
enabling them to become better citizens of tomorrow. This is in line with the spirit of the
Constitution of South Africa, 1996. |