COVID-19: Understanding and responding to the educational implications for the vulnerable children of Eswatini

In a bid to contain the spread and infection rate of COVID-19, Eswatini closed all its schools on 17 March 2020, and for a year they remained closed. Despite education being the only viable means towards a better future, the closing of schools set-off to heighten prevailing educational disparities towards academic access, experience and achievement for the vulnerable children of the country. Adopting intersectionality as a theoretical framework, the paper seeks to analyse the educational effects of COVID-19 on the vulnerable children of Eswatini. The aim is to identify and discuss how educational systems and processes amidst the COVID-19 era sought to amplify the already compounded, complex and dominant educational disparities for children affected by vulnerability. A systematic literature review was conducted to understand child poverty and vulnerability in Eswatini schools and the implications of the COVID-19 school restrictions on the vulnerable children. Strategies to minimise the adverse effects of the pandemic on inclusive and equitable schooling for the vulnerable children have been suggested.

Narratives of Resilience among Learners in a Rural Primary School in Swaziland

Drawing from the concepts of social constructionism, the article provides insights on how six purposively sampled Grade 6 vulnerable children, aged between 11‒15, from poverty-stricken families, child-headed households and those allegedly orphaned by AIDS, resiliently navigated their schooling spaces and places in one rural, primary school in Swaziland. The article uses qualitative data from semi-structured individual and focus group interviews and a participatory research method, photovoice, to foreground narrative accounts of the vulnerable children’s creative coping mechanisms aimed at overcoming the unfavourable circumstances of their schooling experiences. Despite facing some home- and school-based challenges, the vulnerable children were found to display deep-rooted resilience, with or without social support and aspiration for educational attainment, seen as a viable alternative for a better future. Creative coping mechanisms that vulnerable children adopted included calculated rebellion against abusive teachers and consignment to solitude or isolation when feeling overwhelmed by unpleasant experiences. It is recommended that support strategies should involve affirming vulnerable children’s voice and resilience, drawing on how these children already creatively navigate their challenges. </p

Vulnerable children speak out: voices from one rural school in Swaziland

This paper explores the experiences of six grade six vulnerable children (aged between 11 -15 years) in one rural school, in Swaziland. Guided by Multiple Worlds theory, the paper elicited narratives of spaces and places depicting these children’s schooling experiences. The study adopted a qualitative narrative approach as its methodology, and utilised semi-structured individual and focus group interviews and participatory photovoice technique, as its methods of data generation. The findings indicate that vulnerable children faced challenges of stigmatization and discrimination in their communities and schooling contexts. Vulnerable children had propensity to feature in cases of school reprimand due to obstacles they faced which prevented them from completing some school tasks or complying with certain school requirements. The study recommends some strategies by which the Swaziland Ministry of Education and Training, the community, and the school can make collaborative and coordinated efforts aimed at enhancing vulnerable children’s quality of schooling experiences.Keywords: Children; Schooling; Rural; Vulnerability; Education; Swazilan