CHAPTER ONE: ORIENTATION AND OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
5.3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON EACH PARTICIPANT
This section serves to introduce the participants by providing summaries of their background information. Student background issues have been known to influence students’ performances within higher education in South Africa (Letseka & Malie, 2008). The presentation of the students’ background is to enable the findings of this study to be mapped against the backdrop of the contextual realities that have been known to impact on students’ throughput, and within which the student support programmes have been conceptualised, enacted and reflected upon.
Furthermore, the knowledge about each participant will assist in understanding what factors contributed to their failure and how the intervention programme offered by the School of Education, known as the Academic and Support Programme contributed towards the development of these students.
The biographical information of participants is divided into eight aspects. These include age, gender, place of home, language spoken, residence whilst studying, parental information, funding to support their studies and additional information that may be relevant for consideration in the analysis process. According to the conceptual framework developed by Ramrathan (2013), on exploring student throughput within higher education, the biographical factors indicated above have been identified as having some influence on student throughput. Hence, an understanding of the participants’ background needs to be explored within a framework that
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links the complex nature of student throughput as experienced and as expressed in the students’
own words. Some students receive funding from NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme).
The following section is an introduction to each participant.
5.3.1 Zodwa
Zodwa is a 21- year- old student from a rural area (which includes schools that are outside the cities and towns which are disadvantaged in terms of resources) who lives with her grandparents because both her parents passed away. She attended her primary and secondary school in a disadvantaged area (i.e. an area with low-socio economic background and poor infrastructure).
She was a Learner Representative Council (LRC) member and was performing very well as a high school learner. Teaching was her first career choice. She chose this career path because she
“just loves working with kids”. She was funded by NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) but lost the funding owing to her poor academic performance in her first year of study.
She now borrows books and other materials from friends. According to her, she realised in the second semester of her first year of study at the university that her performance was unsatisfactory. She has been given ‘at risk’ status. Having a very good record from her previous school experience, she felt shocked by this status.
5.3.2 Sabrina
Sabrina comes from a middle class family of four; her father passed away and her mother is employed as a chef. She is the eldest in the family; two siblings are still at school and her sister is doing her first year Bachelor’s degree in the same institution. Her home language is English and she attended her primary and secondary education in an urban area. She wanted to do nursing as her first career choice but “mom insisted that I take teaching”. She was awarded a scholarship due to her performance in grade twelve. This scholarship does not only assist her studies but also provides funds for her sister who does not have any scholarship funding.
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Sabrina realised that she was one of the students identified as student ‘at- risk’ on the university website for the release of results (which is also known as the Student Central System). She failed Physics and later realized that she had enrolled for the wrong subject specialisation. She subsequently changed her curriculum to specialize in another subject.
5.3.3 Zodumo
Zodumo is a 23-year-old female from a rural area who lives with her aunt, who supported her during her primary and secondary education since both her parents passed away. Her home language is IsiZulu. She received financial aid from (NSFAS) in her first year of study and stays on campus. She uses part of this funding to support her family. She completed both her primary and secondary schooling in a disadvantaged area.
5.3.4 Luke
Luke is a 22-year-old male who lives at home. He attended a secondary school in an urban area (i.e. a geographical area constituting a city or town). His home language is English. He has a stammer and was home-schooled for some of his Foundation Phase education. His university fees are funded by his parents, who are both working; he drives from home to university. He took a gap year (a period, typically an academic year, taken by a student as a break between school and university or college education) and registered at the university a year after his matric.
5.3.5. Nozizwe
Nozizwe is a 26-year-old single female from a rural area. She comes from a very big family with one sister and four brothers. She claimed that her performance was affected by a number of traumatic events that she had experienced. She lost her mother who was working as a domestic worker. In the same year she fell pregnant, but lost her child in 2008. She fell pregnant again soon after the child passed away. Her home language is IsiZulu. She completed her primary and
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secondary education in disadvantaged schools. She lives on campus and her studies are funded by NSFAS. She uses part of this funding to support her siblings and the child.
5.3.6 Musa
Musa is a 24-year-old male from a township (which is an urban living area situated on the periphery of towns and cities; some of these areas are underdeveloped). He is a first born child from a single parent home, with two younger brothers and two younger sisters. He was brought up by his mother because his father passed away. His home language is isiZulu and he completed his primary and secondary education in under-resourced schools in the township. He matriculated in 2005 and joined the army. During his army training, he registered to study medicine but dropped out of university because of challenges. He is now studying towards a teaching degree.
5.3.7 Mbali
Mbali is a 21–year-old female from a rural area. She attended both primary and secondary schools in a rural area. Her mother is a teacher and the only breadwinner in the family. She commutes by taxis from home to campus because she lives very far from campus. She did not get funding and her studies are sponsored by her mother. Her home language is IsiZulu. Her father is alive but he lives with someone else. Her siblings live at home with her and her mother.
5.3.8 Sizwe
Sizwe is a 22–year-old male from an urban area. Both his parents are alive and the father is a principal in one of the secondary schools near where they live. He stays at a campus residence and was awarded a scholarship in his first year of study because of his performance in Grade 12.
His primary school was a multi-racial school and he moved to a public school in a township for his secondary education. His home language is isiZulu.
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5.3.9 Khethiwe
Khethiwe is a 24-year-old female from a township. Her home language is IsiZulu. Her studies are funded by the National Skills Fund, which is a one- year, non-renewable funding scheme.
She has a very supportive mother who was paying her school fees. She stays at an off-campus residence and commutes by bus to campus. She completed both her primary and secondary education in a disadvantaged area.
5.3.10 Nevan
Nevan is a 24–year-old Indian male who lives with his mother and father. His home language is English. His father was a teacher but resigned after 20 years of teaching; now the father is self- employed and his mother is a housewife. He grew up in an urban area at his grandparents’ house and later relocated to stay with his family in a city. He completed both his primary and secondary education in an urban area. He moved to different schools because of the family business. He did not get funding for his studies and depends on part-time jobs to pay his university fees and living expenses.
5.3.11 Nokuthula
Nokuthula is a 22-year-old female student from a rural area. She is from a polygamous family, with one father and two mothers. Her biological mother is the first wife and has 11 children; she is the fourth child of her mother’s children. Nokuthula’s father is the only breadwinner and is employed as a security guard. She completed both her primary and secondary education in a disadvantaged area. She has a hearing disability which was not disclosed at the point of entry into university. Her disability was established through an interview held by the academic co- ordinator as part of the process to support students identified as ‘at risk’ by the university. She was awarded a disability bursary in her second year of study. She started using hearing aids a year after registering at the university. She stays in on off-campus residence and commutes by bus to campus.
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5.3.12 Busisiwe
Busisiwe is a 21-years-old female student from a township. She lives with her two sisters, her father and her two children. Her mother passed away when she was doing her first year of study at the university. After the death of her mother she moved from a campus residence to live with her siblings and her two children at home. She completed both her primary and secondary schooling in predominantly Indian schools. Her studies are funded by NSFAS.
Concluding comments on the participants’ biographies
From the biographies of these participants, it seems that no one biographical factor is common for these participants labelled as ‘at risk’. Some participants have both parents and live at home, yet they have been identified as ‘at risk’ while others do not have a parent and are also identified as ‘at risk’ students. Some come from rural communities and others come from an urban environment. Some are fluent in English (the medium of instruction at the case-study institution) while others speak more fluently in their mother tongue. This diversity of biographical factors, including that of the diverse school education backgrounds, suggests that correlations between biographical factors and students ‘at risk’ are not necessarily clear, however, it may well be that specific biographical factors do impact on students’ progress within higher education.
While these biographical factors are important to keep in mind when exploring issues of academic support, they should not be the main focus as these issues may confuse the emphasis of the study.