Abstract
Abstract : Studies have been conducted on the role of public schools in providing psycho-social support to orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) with respect to the range and nature of interventions provided for them to promote their psycho-social well-being. However, relatively few studies have been documented on the role of Full-Service Schools (FSS), which is a care and support resource introduced by the South African Education Ministry within the public schooling system in an effort to mainstream psycho-social and educational support for orphan and vulnerable children. This qualitative multiple case study contributes to the understanding of the role of Full- Service Schools in promoting psycho-social and educational well-being of orphans and vulnerable children. Three Full-Service Schools within the Pinetown Education District participated in this study. In total, the participants from the three schools comprised of 13 School Based Support Team members, 11 School Governing Body Members, 12 representatives from the school’s network of support providers, 30 orphan and vulnerable children, 2 School Counsellors, 3 Learner Support Educators, 4 Learner Support Assistants, 2 District FSS Programme Co-ordinators, and 1 Provincial FSS Programme Co-ordinator. The Atlas-ti software programme was used to conduct content analysis of the data collected. Data from each school was analysed with respect to identifying in-vivo quotes related to the school’s roles and responsibilities to provide educational and psycho-social support for orphans and vulnerable children. Thereafter, the identified in-vivo-quotes from all three schools were integrated using the Atlas-ti software along the six objectives of the study. These were to explore: the influence of the Full-Service School selection criteria on its OVC support roles and responsibilities; how budgets were managed for care and support programme provision for OVCs; the provision of the range of support programmes and services for OVCs; how the training and development programme for Full-Service Schools influenced it’s support role; the role of support structures and specialist personnel in promoting care and support at Full-Service Schools; and the collaboration between the FSS and its network of support providers to strengthen its role as a care and support resource for OVCs. Findings of this study indicated that there were enabling factors at the FSSs to promote their role to deliver psycho-social and educational support for OVCs. Firstly, at all three schools there was a culture of care and support for orphans and vulnerable children. Secondly, all participants were confident about the FSS programme objectives and were positive about its Role of FSS in Promoting educational and psychological wellbeing of OVCs vi role to be a care and support resource for OVCs. Thirdly, FSSs received additional care and support provisioning from the KZN Department of Education, to facilitate their role as a support resource for OVCs. However, all three schools reported numerous challenges to implementing psycho-social and educational support interventions for orphans and vulnerable children that threatened the sustainability, quality and range of the support interventions provided. These included factors such as challenges with selection criteria of FSSs, issues with care and support budget allocations, implementation concerns related to the FSS support model, inadequacies in the training and development programme, the functionality of support structures, shortage and role confusion of support staff and inadequate collaborations. Based on the findings, suggestions were made as to what the KwaZulu Department of Education could do (if necessary) to further strengthen, refine and design new roles or programmes to promote educational and psycho-social support for OVCs at FSSs in the Pinetown District of KwaZulu Natal.
D.Ed. (Educational Psychology)