IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE GIRL CHILD EDUCATION IN THE EC

Walter Sisulu University is working on a multidisciplinary study that seeks to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the girl child Education in the Eastern Cape.

This is an engaged research project in collaboration with O.R Tambo District Municipality department of education. The research approach is a participatory-action research-where a community problem of leaner dropouts with reference to girl child is addressed with community stakeholders, academics as researchers with the service providers as the department of education unite efforts for a research based transformative intervention.

This study is hosted by WSU in partnership with the University of South Africa and Sol Plaatjie University and the entire project is funded by the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS).

WSU Associate Professor in the department of Information Technology, Professor Nobert Jere, said, “The study is currently done in the Eastern Cape but has potential to go nationally and internationally. For a start we are focusing in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality but with that information we plan to take the project to the national level.”

The project is aimed at being an assisting project in basic education provincially and nationally in reducing the leaner dropouts and has been categorised by the NIHSS as the Education Cluster Project led by WSU.

Principal investigator and WSU Senior lecturer in Sociology, Dr Nelly Sharpley, said, “This project has activities such as workshops, research, webinars, capacitating and graduating  students as well sharing of findings through reports, feedback engagements and publications. It is aligned with the institutional research niche area of Information Technology and Sustainable Development.”

At the beginning of August the research team held their first stakeholder engagement webinar to discuss issues affecting the girl child in different communities.

The engagement was attended by the O.R. Tambo Department of Education, , Social Development and different Non-Governmental Organisations in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality and the Province.

“The interaction is for us to give an overview to present to them a project that is worthwhile to assist in the challenges that they have, in terms of ensuring that we have relevant mitigation measures to address the girl child dropping out,” added Sharpley.

In November, The WSU research team with the partnering institutions hosted another O.R. Tambo stakeholder engagement workshop for the ORTDM department of Education.

Mthatha Campus Rector, Professor Mashudu Davhana-Maselesele, said, “It is exciting to witness that today the district with our researchers come together to address a matter of major concern in our country at large”.

Davhana-Maselesele added  that a country with its academics working together is indeed a guaranteed ingredient for realisable development and progress.

Faculty of Human Social Sciences and Law dean, Professor Sikhumbuzo Mfusi, said, “what is happening today is inline with the university strategy of being an African University in pursuit of excellent”.

One of the issues that arose from the discussion was the issue of focusing on learners when they are at matric level, than to give them support building up to matric. Also the distance they travel and time in which the school starts were counted as some of the issues that might impact the high rate of dropout.

“The project is also aligned with the vice-chancellors project on gender and gender based violence under the sub-group of women and children which I am heading and this is one of the listed themes under women and children,” added Sharpley.

The presentation that was mostly welcomed by the department of education was one made by the Sol Plaatjie University on IT solutions to the challenge as it had practical examples that could even be employed in rural areas.

By Anita Roji