A missiological approach to the involvement of the church in handling school dropouts in South Africa

Kasebwe T Kabongo

doi:10.4102/ve.v40i1.2036

Abstract

School dropout negatively affects many children living in poor communities of South Africa. Those who drop out of school are usually blamed by people around them for leaving school. However, this article stresses that school dropout can be caused by many factors that are beyond the control of an individual who dropped out. The article is written from the perspective of a person who longs to see the church as a tangible Good News agent in society. He dropped out of school twice in his life, and he is using that painful experience as an experiential learning to connect with school dropouts. He uses the transdisciplinary research method, which deals with the missional and tangible involvement of the church in real issues such as school dropouts to help minimise the scenario of school dropouts. The article stresses that the church can play a prophetic role by educating ordinary people about the causes of school dropouts and proactively help in minimising the same. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is located in the field of missiology. It uses the transdisciplinary approach that brings together the disciplines of theology, social work, psychology, public health, education and practitioners, with the aim of finding concrete pathways to minimise school dropouts.

Highlights

The involvement of the church in societal matters is critical and prophetic. Van Niekerk (2015:1) points out that the ‘body of Christ should be involved with those who live’ on the margins of our society
A comprehensive and holistic solutionseeking need to involve ‘other sciences’ (De Beer & Van Niekerk 2017:237). This transdisciplinary approach was used in an asset-based community development framework by bringing together people of one community to share what they have as skills and time, to bless the marginalised such as school dropouts
This article demonstrated a role the church could play in improving the quality of life of people and catalyse the healing of a community by itself

Summary

Introduction

The involvement of the church in societal matters is critical and prophetic. Van Niekerk (2015:1) points out that the ‘body of Christ should be involved with those who live’ on the margins of our society. A comprehensive and holistic solutionseeking need to involve ‘other sciences’ (De Beer & Van Niekerk 2017:237) This transdisciplinary approach was used in an asset-based community development framework by bringing together people of one community to share what they have as skills and time, to bless the marginalised such as school dropouts. This article is a case study that a missional team, InnerCHANGE, engaged in as an active way to minimise school dropout and promote a good quality of life This missional team is used as an example of what the church could do to participate in helping a community to flourish. This understanding of early school leaving led to an exploration of literature to learn about the causes of school dropout from the perspectives of social work, psychology, public health and education.

Literature review

Conclusion

Findings

Data availability statement