Abstract:

Child-headed households (CHH) phenomenon is evident in South Africa and stretches beyond our borders and across the globe. Among the contributory factors are; socio-economic conditions, AIDS/HIV pandemic, migration and abandonment to mention a few. These factors cause a growing number of orphans leaving children to fend for themselves as street children or CCH (Oghuvbu, 2010, ILO,2012 & Phillips, 2015). Therefore, this study sought explore the lived experiences of learners from CCH. The researcher used Bronfenbrenner’s theory as the lens to interrogate the interaction between learners from CCH, the teachers and the community around them.

This was a qualitative study is underpinned by interpretivism paradigm to gain a deep understanding of the schooling experiences of learners from CHH. A case study was used to identify and construct appropriate daily experiences of CHH in Duncan Village, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The three Duncan Village schools were purposely selected and 7 learners and 6 teachers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The collected data was categorised and thematically analysed.

This study has found that the learners from CHH experienced persistent deprivation of basic care, food, resources such as books, school uniform and parental support and guidance by adults. The schooling experiences manifested themselves in poor academic performance and high failure due to late coming and absence from school. Deprivation led to these learners to lack concentration and feeling sleepy in class. Based on these findings, this study recommends a collaborative engagement of the governmental structures in assisting the learners from CHH and also calls for the establishment of care centres take care of and provide psychological care.

Keywords:

Child headed-households, vulnerable children, schooling experiences, deprivation, stigma.