At-risk students in selected schools in Zimbabwe: An ecological perspective

Lloyd Chaurika Mabhoyi,Johannes Seroto

doi:10.15700/saje.v39ns2a1571

Lloyd Chaurika Mabhoyi, Johannes Seroto

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v39ns2a1571

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Abstract

This study investigates the impact of socio-economic conditions on at-risk students in 2 selected Chitungwiza secondary schools in Zimbabwe. At-risk students are characterised by irregular school attendance, high dropout rates, poor grade retention or sustained diminished academic achievement. At-riskness has increased in Zimbabwe’s school population since the adoption and subsequent failure of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP), which has contributed to concomitant poor social conditions. A qualitative narrative enquiry on the impact of socio-economic factors on at-risk students explored the life stories of 3 male and 3 female students from each of the 2 selected Chitungwiza secondary schools. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory, where the individual is viewed as developing within a complex system of relationships, informed the study. Semi-structured interviews with participants, based on the Dan McAdams Framework were used for rich data gathering. The findings confirm the notion that poor socio-economic conditions experienced by families in Zimbabwe make a major contribution to at-riskness in secondary schools. Based on the empirical inquiry, the study recommends family support to enhance the functioning of socio-economically stressed families for the improvement of parent-child relationships/intra-familial relationships towards regular school attendance (The Children’s Society, 2013). Further recommendations are presented for a more inclusive educational model to reduce school at-riskness in Zimbabwe.Keywords: at-riskness; Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory; life story research; secondary schools; Zimbabwe

Highlights

Educational at-riskness is defined as a condition in which students are likely to experience adverse educational outcomes, such as low academic achievement, poor school attendance, grade retention and dropout due to various individual and social factors (Considine & Zappalà, 2002)
This study investigates the impact of socio-economic conditions on at-risk students in 2 selected Chitungwiza secondary schools in Zimbabwe
When Dad comes, he says he will sort it out by the weekend, sometimes he goes for a long time leaving us without money, and Mother says she is waiting for Dad to buy my exercise books. (Portia) How can Mum get the money with Grandmother to look after? She is not on any income but struggling buying and selling

Summary

Introduction

Educational at-riskness is defined as a condition in which students are likely to experience adverse educational outcomes, such as low academic achievement, poor school attendance, grade retention and dropout due to various individual and social factors (Considine & Zappalà, 2002). At-riskness connotes a permanent psychoeducational condition (Edwards, Danridge & Pleasants, 2014), which Aronson (2001) suggests can be a result of disadvantaged family circumstances such as poverty, poorly educated parents, living in a ghetto, being raised in the care of mothers only, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) affected families, poor socio-economic circumstances, the orphaned, the adopted, and the segregated children (Valencia, 2011). At-risk students have the potential of school dropout due to their perceived overwhelming disinterest in education and their inclination towards certain failure, together with the lack of an apparent capacity to cope with educationally discouraging unique circumstances (Fairbrother, 2008). Ormrod (2010) depicts at-risk students in terms of universally confirmed socio-economic attributes, such as belonging to a poor family. This, and many other circumstances, place students at a higher risk of dropping out before graduation unless special support is provided (Porton, 2014)

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