The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners
South African schools are becoming overwhelmed by the large numbers of learners who experience various vulnerabilities, including socio-economic issues and psychosocial factors. The policy for Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support (SIAS) serves as a guiding tool to teachers, in providin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Industry and Academic Research Incorporated
2024-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://iiari.org/journal_article/the-use-of-screening-identification-assessment-and-support-policy-to-support-vulnerable-learners/ |
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| _version_ | 1832583372781649920 |
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| author | Inneth Baby Makofane Simon Mfula Ndlovu Hunadi Mphahlele Mahlapahlapana Johannes Themane |
| author_facet | Inneth Baby Makofane Simon Mfula Ndlovu Hunadi Mphahlele Mahlapahlapana Johannes Themane |
| author_sort | Inneth Baby Makofane |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | South African schools are becoming overwhelmed by the large numbers of learners who experience various vulnerabilities, including socio-economic issues and psychosocial factors. The policy for Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support (SIAS) serves as a guiding tool to teachers, in providing necessary support to vulnerable learners. This study sought to explore the teachers' views on the implementation of the SIAS policy to support vulnerable learners. The qualitative research approach was employed. The study is interpretive and selected the case study research design. Purposive sampling was employed to sample five secondary schools for participation. Within the five sampled schools, ten teachers, five school-based support team members, and five principals were selected for participation. The sampling criteria was based on participants’ experiences in implementing the SIAS policy. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document review. The data were analysed thematically. The study revealed misconception of the SIAS policy, the incredibility of school-based support teams, inappropriate learner profiling, lack of comprehensive psychosocial support systems, poor parental involvement, the teachers’ preparedness in contributing towards enabling schooling environments. It is recommended that the Department of Basic Education develop comprehensive policy guidelines to address psychosocial support to vulnerable learners in rural schools, provide sufficient resources to enhance the support measures and devise strategies to continuously assess the efficacy of the support systems. Lastly, the Department of Education should make it a priority to actively engage parents or guardians in the learners’ academic activities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b3bb26fd0b27450eb01307d9912f94ab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2719-0633 2719-0641 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Industry and Academic Research Incorporated |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3bb26fd0b27450eb01307d9912f94ab2025-01-28T16:45:57ZengInstitute of Industry and Academic Research IncorporatedInternational Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies2719-06332719-06412024-12-015413615710.53378/ijemds.353121The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learnersInneth Baby Makofane0Simon Mfula Ndlovu1Hunadi Mphahlele2Mahlapahlapana Johannes Themane3University of Limpopo, South AfricaUniversity of Limpopo, South AfricaUniversity of Limpopo, South AfricaUniversity of Limpopo, South AfricaSouth African schools are becoming overwhelmed by the large numbers of learners who experience various vulnerabilities, including socio-economic issues and psychosocial factors. The policy for Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support (SIAS) serves as a guiding tool to teachers, in providing necessary support to vulnerable learners. This study sought to explore the teachers' views on the implementation of the SIAS policy to support vulnerable learners. The qualitative research approach was employed. The study is interpretive and selected the case study research design. Purposive sampling was employed to sample five secondary schools for participation. Within the five sampled schools, ten teachers, five school-based support team members, and five principals were selected for participation. The sampling criteria was based on participants’ experiences in implementing the SIAS policy. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document review. The data were analysed thematically. The study revealed misconception of the SIAS policy, the incredibility of school-based support teams, inappropriate learner profiling, lack of comprehensive psychosocial support systems, poor parental involvement, the teachers’ preparedness in contributing towards enabling schooling environments. It is recommended that the Department of Basic Education develop comprehensive policy guidelines to address psychosocial support to vulnerable learners in rural schools, provide sufficient resources to enhance the support measures and devise strategies to continuously assess the efficacy of the support systems. Lastly, the Department of Education should make it a priority to actively engage parents or guardians in the learners’ academic activities.https://iiari.org/journal_article/the-use-of-screening-identification-assessment-and-support-policy-to-support-vulnerable-learners/enabling environmentslearner profilingpsychosocial supportsias policyvulnerable learners |
| spellingShingle | Inneth Baby Makofane Simon Mfula Ndlovu Hunadi Mphahlele Mahlapahlapana Johannes Themane The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies enabling environments learner profiling psychosocial support sias policy vulnerable learners |
| title | The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners |
| title_full | The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners |
| title_fullStr | The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners |
| title_full_unstemmed | The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners |
| title_short | The use of screening, identification, assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners |
| title_sort | use of screening identification assessment and support policy to support vulnerable learners |
| topic | enabling environments learner profiling psychosocial support sias policy vulnerable learners |
| url | https://iiari.org/journal_article/the-use-of-screening-identification-assessment-and-support-policy-to-support-vulnerable-learners/ |
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