2.7 The challenges experienced by AIDS orphans and vulnerable children
2.7.1 Child labour
in South Africa therefore, honors the commitment to the children made in the UNGASS declaration (Smart, 2003).
The aim of the Policy Framework is to provide an empowering setting for more effective delivery on commitments to orphans and other young adults made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS at legislative, policy and programmatic levels. It also encourages flexibility, and effective harmonization and coordination between various legislation, policy and regulation within and between governments and between stakeholders at all levels (Department of Social Development, 2005). In other words, the plan to care for and support OVC is based primarily on the understanding that no single department, ministry or sector can be exclusively responsible for addressing issues of orphanhood and the vulnerability of children.
Therefore, the question that this study wants to pursue is how to explore the experiences of the primary school educators of teaching AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Pinetown area of KZN and how these educators can be equipped to respond effectively to the needs of these learners orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. The above ideas have provided guidelines for care and support of OVC. The guidelines ultimately depend on being aware and understanding the legislation, policies and initiatives, as well as the mobilization of resources, essentially building on the innovative programmes which already exist.
2.7 The challenges experienced by AIDS orphans and vulnerable children
school. In South Africa some of this orphaned boys or girls are employed in a valet or some young ones especially girls employed in escort agencies. While in Lesotho, orphaned boys work in the farm as herd boys at an early age (Mturi & Nzimande, 2006).
As a result of these experiences of orphaned and vulnerable children, their education is negatively affected, because they exchange days of schooling for other means of survival, as a result their daily attendance is very poor at school. In urban areas most of these children engage in various jobs such as domestic workers, car washers and vendors (Wood
& Hillman, 2008). The result is often that the children have to drop out of school to look after the family and seek for employment to care for the family to buy food and clothes (Robson and Sylvester, 2007). Due to lack of support, they end up dropping out of school and living on streets as beggars. Because they often run short of food, they are likely to suffer from malnutrition and many diseases (Robson and Sylvester, 2007).
AIDS orphans are less likely to have proper schooling. The death of a prime-age adult in a household will reduce a child’s attendance at school (Barnett and Whiteside, 2002). This household may be less able to pay for schooling. An orphaned child may have to take on household or income-earning work. When a child goes to another household, after his or her parent’s death, the obstacles become greater as the child is not their own.
Whiteside and Sunter as cited in (Moletsane, 2003) argue that the greater portion of the available money is being spent on medical and nutritional care of the sick and dying.
Therefore, the possibility of successfully educating children becomes remote, and that of keeping them in school almost impossible. The result is high failure rates and eventually high dropout rates from school. As increasing amounts of money is spent on medical care, this means there are less resources for the children and often one or more of the children drops out of school either to care for the sick parent or because there is no money for attending school. More often than not it is the female child who is asked to drop out of school first. Children may have to work to generate income for food, or look after other siblings to free up the mother’s time. With the loss of labour and money spent on treatment, the family can quickly slide from a relatively secure position into increasing poverty, vulnerability and ill health (Whiteside and Sunter, 2000).
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School fees are another critical factor that excludes children from education and schooling. Whilst the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, 108 of 1996, states that education is free, the reality in South Africa is that education has become a commodity. In order to improve the quality of education, schools are imposing school fees that parents/guardians have to pay. Most schools are struggling financially and depend to a large extent on the payment of school fees. Parents who are unable to pay school fees run the risk of their children being expelled from school, being held back in a grade, having report cards withheld, being threatened by teachers or being embarrassed or ridiculed (Badcock-Walters, 2002). They further argue that the inability to pay school fees may indeed prohibit the entry of the child to school. While there is clear national policy insisting that every child has the right to access, school principals are faced with issues of institutional viability and routinely turn away learners unable to pay fees. Even if a school was to permit entry, the fact is that the child would be hard pressed to pay for stationery and textbooks, as well as transport to school and food at school.
According to Williamson (2004), the additional expenses and loss of income from employment due to illness, force families to re-direct their financial resources. This problem is not peculiar to South Africa. In commenting on education in sub-Saharan Africa in general, Hepburn (2002), in a study conducted amongst teachers in Botswana observed that primary education is not universally free. Households, through locally levied fees, must pay a significant proportion of the costs of operating a school. In addition to school fees, households are often required to pay for teaching materials and supplies, recreational activities, maintenance, uniforms and levies for school development and construction. Smith (2003) argues that children become disaffected from schooling when they see that their teachers are a source of infection, that schools are not geared to counsel them in their grief and that nothing exists to help them through this most difficult period of their lives.
Malaney (2000) also concurs with Giese (2002), by stating that there are financial consequences from the loss of parents. She points out that as children in families affected by HIV/AIDS, the school attendance of children drops because their labor is required for subsistence activities. In the face of reduced income and increased educational
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expenditure, the money earmarked for school expenses is utilized for basic necessities, medication and health services. Furthermore, stigmatization may encourage affected children to stay away from school, rather than endure exclusion or ridicule by teachers and peers (Williamson, 2002). Children that are orphaned, lose their main source of financial support. Teenagers are frequently forced to find work to support themselves and their younger siblings, thereby making them to drop out of school. In many cases orphans are taken in by extended families who often cannot afford to keep all these children in school.
Again, they are exposed to abuse and sexual exploitation (van Dyk, 2008). Additionally, these children also experience emotional pain and feeling of insecurity. “The trauma of this situation impacts greatly on the life of the child” (Wood, 2008, p.180). Furthermore, these learners are not encouraged to deal with their feelings positively and express their emotions as there is no one who pays serious attention to them directly. The school teachers do not identify psychological and social problems; as a result, fail to offer either individual or group attention (Bhana, Morrell, Epstein and Moletsane, 2006). Sometimes they tend to abuse, alcohol and drugs in searching for love and comfort that should be provided by their parents (Wood and Daniels, 2008).
In addition, support is sometimes provided to children who are visibly demonstrating such disturbed behaviors requiring urgent attention and overlooked those who internalize their grieving. The evidence is in the school where teachers spent the whole day attending to the boy who tried to commit suicide (Bhana et al., 2006). Speaking openly and honestly about the death of parents when appropriate and giving the children the opportunity to speak out their feelings and emotions is an important activity.