EDITORIAL
HOW DO CHILDREN’S CIRCUMSTANCES HAMPER MEANINGFUL ACCESS TO EDUCATION?
ARTICLE BY PENDLEBURY S, LAKE L & SMITH C (EDS) (2009) SOUTH AFRICAN CHILD GAUGE 2008/2009. CAPE TOWN: CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN. AVAILABLE:
WWW.CI.ORG.ZA.
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side of the law” or are considered “trouble-makers”, frequently have difficulty returning to school. Police in Sekhukune district in Limpopo believe that getting youth back into school could bring down the crime rate.
Children who are hungry, sick or afraid cannot learn. In many parts of South Africa, conditions inside and outside of schools undermine child well-being and impact negatively on meaning- ful access to education.
DIFFICULTIES IN HOMES AND COMMUNITIES
School communities participating in the Caring Schools Project identified a number of factors that put children at risk. High un- employment and seasonal work leave many families in poverty and a lack of food and basic services threatens children’s health and development.
The breakdown of family structures due to poverty, violence and HIV/AIDS further contributes to children’s vulnerabil- ity. There are growing numbers of orphans and single-parent households with grandmothers increasingly carrying the burden of child care. Adult support and supervision of children after school hours are rare, compounded by low levels of education in the family.
Children seeking a sense of purpose and belonging are easily influenced by peer pressure to engage in high risk and negative behaviour. Children report high levels of physical and sexual abuse and many are involved in gangs, or are victims of vio- lence. School fees, together with a number of hidden costs, including school uniforms, transport, books and stationery, fur- ther hamper access to schooling.
DIFFICULTIES IN COMMUNITIES SPILL INTO SCHOOLS
Problems in homes and neighbouring communities spill over into schools. Teachers often have to pay attention to learners’ physical and emotional needs before they can teach. A Free State teacher explains:
“The high rate of unemployment leaves many children in deep poverty. Unemployment fuels the abuse of alcohol. Many chil-
dren are therefore exposed to risks such as sexual abuse, drug addiction, hunger and neglect.”
Despite chemical dependence escalating in schools and com- munities, there is a chronic lack of affordable, good quality rehabilitation services. Children report “bullying” and “lack of discipline” at school and complain of rough, vulgar and disre- spectful teachers.
One principal refers to “bus-stop” teachers, who leave home very early, arrive at school tired and rush out of the class at the end of the school day to catch their transport home. These teachers choose to live in better serviced communities and frequently do not understand learners’ home environment, and cannot do home visits.
COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOLS IMPACT ON EACH OTHER
Donald, Lazarus and Lolwana (2000, Educational Psychology in social context: Challenges of development, social issues, and special need in southern Africa: A teacher’s resource. Ox- ford: Oxford University Press) suggest that the communities in which schools are located strongly influence their develop- ment, and vice versa.
According to Jansen (2007, Bodies Count. In: Aids Review 2006. Pretoria: Centre for the Study of Aids, University of Pretoria), this is particularly true in the context of the AIDS pandemic: “… as teenage pregnancies in schools soar, it is becoming more and more evident that sexual relationships between teachers and students further contribute to a very dangerous liaison in the schools. … HIV/AIDS is not only what infected adults and children bring into the school, it is a pandemic that recreates itself in the school as well.”
Children bring weapons, including guns, into school. Children in the Western Cape describe several incidents where gang violence spilled into the school, and one suspended learner was killed at home. Learners, who have been on the “wrong
Children often do not have a voice at home or in school and corporal punishment continues, particularly in schools where it is practiced and condoned in the neighbouring community. One learner describes an incident where a learner “who was slapped by a teacher, slapped the teacher back”. Learners sug- gest that this kind of behaviour seems to perpetuate the cycle of violence, and increase the sense of disorder and chaos in the school. Alcohol, drugs and gang violence fuel existing tensions within and between schools and communities.
HOW CAN PARTNERSHIP ENHANCE MEANINGFUL ACCESS?
Schools cannot solve all these problems, but schools do offer a useful starting point for identifying vulnerable children and addressing their needs. Even in very poorly-resourced commu- nities, schools are equipped with telephones, knowledge and contacts. For many children school is the only place where they have contact with adults they can talk to. There are also far more schools than social workers in South Africa.
Constructive involvement of parents and the broader commu- nity in the life of the school holds great benefits for the school, the students, the parents and their mutual relationship. The Caring Schools Project uses a rights-based approach to build partnership and encourages school communities to identify strengths and work toward a shared vision of a better future.
Project participants have identified many protective factors, such as: love and care; social grants and poverty alleviation programmes; schools, clinics, churches and school-feeding pro- grammes; transport to and from school; and soccer fields.
Dialogue between school and community role-players can generate innovative strategies to meet children’s needs, includ- ing: assisting families to access grants; education and advocacy campaigns addressing problems such as “tik” and HIV/AIDS; parents, youth and community volunteers assisting in different ways; and teachers asking assertively for greater support from Department of Education district officials.
86 CHAPTER 4 | SCHOOLS AT THE CENTRE OF THE COMMUNITY
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