Educational support for orphans and vulnerable children in primary schools: Challenges and interventions

Educational status is an important indicator of children’s wellbeing and future life opportunities. It can predict growth potential and economic viability of a state. While this is an ideal situation for all children, the case may be different for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) due to the challenges they go through on a daily basis. This article aims to advance a debate on the findings of our study on the educational support provided for OVC through a critical engagement on the challenges experienced and the intervention measures to be taken in South African public primary schools context. The study involved one hundred and seven participants comprising sixty five OVC and forty two teachers. Questionnaires with structured and unstructured questions were utilised to collect descriptive and qualitative data. Findings suggest that, although the South African Government has put mechanisms in place to support OVC attain basic education, numerous challenges were found to be hindering some OVC from attaining quality education. Based on the findings, several intervention measures have been suggested.