Abstract
M.Ed.
This research essay is an endeavour to address the community problems faced by senior
phase students with regards to lack of guidance in the Etwatwa area. Guidance is offered
within the school to a certain extent, however, it does not accomplish what it is supposed
to. It is not regarded as an important subject as it is non-examinable subject. There is no
link of the subject between the formal guidance education received at school, and the
informal education taking place in the community.
By means of an intensive investigation conducted through observation and in depth
interviews, a conclusion was reached that there is a need for guidance intervention in this
area in order to address the breakdown of family and societal life which are community
problems. The study will focus on the role of guidance in addressing community issues
in the Etwatwa informal settlement. Findings from the study suggest that the community
and the school do not work together on addressing community problems such as teenage
pregnancy, rape, poverty and child abuse. Evidence also suggests that the school
provides no proper guidance given to students in order for them to face the outside world.
There is also a problem due to of some school managers not giving sufficient support to
the teaching of the subject. Evidence also showed that guidance within the school is
allocated to teachers who are faced with right sizing and redeployment.
Findings suggest that the identification of students with problems is left to the class
teacher, who is not thoroughly trained to do so.
The main implications of the findings are the following:
There is a need for proper guidance education in secondary schools in order to
address community issues.
There is a need for the community to be educated on how to support and guide their
children towards life in the outside world. The school must help the community in
this regard.