EXPLORING PSYCHO-SOCIAL DILEMMAS EXPERIENCED BY LEARNERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH SCHOOLS: A NEED FOR SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK

Learners in many schools inopportunely encounter a wide range of psychosocial ills, many of which have a detrimental effect not only on their academic performance but also on the learners’ overall growth and development. This paper explores and describes dilemmas that the learners experience in schools that necessitate school social work practice, particularly in South African high schools. The study is explorative and descriptive in nature. As such, phenomenology is a specific design employed in the study. A qualitative research approach was employed to interview 12 learners through in-depth interviews. More so, the 5 School Governing Body (SGB) members formed part of a focus group discussion. These participants were purposefully selected with the assistance of a school gatekeeper. The collected empirical data was analysed thematically. The ecological perspective is an inherent theory that underpins the study. The findings suggest that learners are regrettably confronted with inter alia; substance abuse, financial problems, bullying, depression, sexual abuse, and incest. The researcher recommends that the Department of Education (DoE) prioritise employing social workers in schools to meet the psychosocial needs of learners at risk.