Implications of financial poverty on schooling and management in the Centane Unit

• Main Author: Mvenene Nongcwalisa
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Walter Sisulu University 2012
• Subjects: Poverty > Economical aspects > Schooling and management
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/d1009454

This study sought to find out the implications of poverty on schooling and management in the Centane Educational Unit. Centane Educational Unit is part of the Mnquma Local Municipality. The other Educational units that constitute the Mnquma are Butterworth and Ngqamakhwe. The Mnquma is one of the 7 local municipalities that form Amathole District Municipality. The other areMbhashe, Amahlathi, Great Kei, Ngqushwa, Nkonkobe and Nxuba. Quantitative and qualitative and research designs were used. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from the principals, the school governing bodies parent members, educators and learners of 5 selected section 20 junior secondary schools. Participants were selected using a random sampling technique. The sample was made up of 5 principals, 20 SGB parent members (4 from each school), 10 educators (2 from each school) and 10 learners (2 from each school). Learners were selected from the senior phase. The total number of the sample was 45. The researcher analysed the data collected by means of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings were that poverty- whether absolute or relative- had an adverse impact on schooling and management in the Centane Educational Unit. Its impact relates to parents’ inability to meet financial school requirements. This impact ranges from learners’ poor attendance to school, learners’ lack of concentration on studies, poor participation on extra-mural activities and parents’ failure to pay for school needs. On the basis of the negative effects of poverty on schooling and management recommendations were made in order to conscientise stakeholders on how best they could push back the frontiers of poverty and obviate its detrimental effects on our education system. The researcher encountered such limitations as the geographical location of schools which are scattered and far apart, working responsibilities and pressures, bad and impassable roads, financial commitments, negative attitudes of certain educators, principals and parent components of the School Governing Bodies (SGB) and officials of the Department of Education towards the researcher’s aims of undertaking this study. However, the researcher managed to work with the interviewees as she tried to address these challenges through interactions with her informants.