The impacts of Covid-19 on education and child headed households

1. CHILD-HEADED HOUSEHOLD
PRESENTED BY GROUP 5

2. DEFINITI
ON OF
CHH
• A CHILD-HEADED HOUSEHOLD IS A HOUSEHOLD THAT IS
UNDER THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A CHILD THAT IS UNDER
THE AGE OF 18 YEARS OLD.
• ACCORDING TO HELEN MEINTJES, KATHARINE HALL,
DOUBLE-HUGH MARERA AND ANDREW BOULLE THESE ARE
HOUSEHOLDS “THAT ARE UNDER THE CARE OF A PERSON
UNDER THAT AGE OF 18 YEARS OLD WHERE THERE IS NO
CONSENTING ADULT TO ASSIST” (2010).
• CHH FAMILIES ARE OFTEN COMPOSED OF ABANDONED
NEGLECTED OR ORPHANED CHILDREN. THEY FACE AN
INCREASED RISK OF STARVATION AND MALNUTRITION.
MANY OFTEN HAVE A POOR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE; THEY
WITHDRAW FROM THEIR SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS AND ARE
LIKELY TO DROP OUT OF SCHOOL.

3. HOW HAS LOCKDOWN AFFECTED
CHH

4. • COVID-19 ALSO KNOWN AS
CORONAVIRUS IS A SEVERE
ACUTE RESPIRATORY
SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2.
• OFTEN SPREAD THROUGH
RESPIRATORY DROPLETS
PRODUCED WHEN AN
INFECTED PERSON COUGHS
OR SNEEZES.
WHAT IS
COVID-19 &
HOW HAS IT
AFFECTED CHH

5. WHAT IS
COVID-19
& HOW
HAS IT
AFFECTED
CHH
• ON THE 23RD OF MARCH 2020, PRESIDENT CYRIL
RAMAPHOSA ANNOUNCED A THREE-WEEK
NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN TO COMBAT THE
SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN SOUTH AFRICA,
WITH STRICT REGULATIONS WHICH COMMENCED
ON THE 26TH OF MARCH 2020.
• THE IMPACT THAT THE VIRUS HAS HAD ON
SCHOOLS IS OVERWHELMING BECAUSE THERE IS
NO SIMPLE STRATEGY THAT CAN REDUCE THE
SPREAD WITHIN THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
• THE WAYS OF IMPLEMENTING SOCIAL DISTANCING
IS A REAL TASK ESPECIALLY IN SCHOOLS WHERE
CLASSES HOLD UP TO 60 LEARNERS PER SUBJECT

6. WHAT IS
COVID-19
& HOW
HAS IT
AFFECTED
CHH
• THIS MEANT THAT CHILDREN WHO OFTEN
RECEIVE SUPPORT FROM SCHOOL AND THE
COMMUNITY MAY NOT RECEIVE MUCH
• CHILDREN USUALLY RECEIVE BREAKFAST AND
LUNCH AT SCHOOL THROUGH THE FEEDING
SCHEMES THOSE ARE LIMITED OR NOT RECEIVED
AT ALL
• IF THESE CHILDREN RECEIVED REGULAR CHECK-
UPS AND FOOD PARCELS FROM THE COMMUNITY,
THEY MIGHT NOT BE RECEIVING THOSE BENEFITS
INSTEAD THEY ARE TO BE AT HOME AND ENSURE
THE SAFETY OF THOSE YOUNGER THAN THEM.

7. WHAT ABOUT THE ONE HEADING THE HOME?
Emotional strain Financial strain
Educational pressure-
leading to feeling
stressed and worn out
Family stress- if there
are younger siblings,
they might tend to be
worried about their well
being
Social life no longer
exists as schools are
opened and cannot visit
friends as they used to

8. • OFFER LEARNERS WITH
INFORMATION OF HOW THEY CAN
RECEIVE THE FOOD PARCELS
OFFERED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR
EVEN ARRANGE SOCIAL WORKERS
TO GO VISIT THESE CHH.
• OFFER INFORMATION ABOUT
ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE PICK
N PAY FEED-THE-NATION-SCHEME.
• OTHER ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS
ACTIVATE SA OFFERS TUTORS WHO
COULD ASSIST IN LESSENING THE
BURDEN OF TEACHERS SINCE
LEARNERS ARE AT HOME.
ROLE OF AN
EDUCATOR:

9. ROLE OF AN EDUCATOR:
• EDUCATOR’S COULD ALSO ARRANGE STUDENT TEACHERS TO OFFER EDUCATIONAL
SUPPORT TO THESE LEARNERS, PERHAPS THROUGH TUTORIAL SESSIONS WITH
CAUTION OF PRACTICING SOCIAL-DISTANCING AND OTHER SAFETY MEASURES.
• OTHER MEANS OF SUPPORT FROM EDUCATOR’S IS THAT OF ENSURING LEARNERS
ARE UP TO DATE WITH THEIR SCHOOL-WORK BY ORGANIZING WHATSAPP
PLATFORMS OR OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO CHH
SHOULD THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCE THAT SCHOOLS ARE REOPENED.
• EDUCATORS WOULD THEN HAVE TO OFFER EXTRA CLASSES PERHAPS DURING
WEEKENDS TO FIND COVER CURRICULUM WORK THAT WAS NOT COVERED DURING
THE CLOSURE OF SCHOOLS.

10. REFERENCE LIST
• BEQUELE, A. (2007). THE EMERGING CHALLENGES OF CHILD HEADED
HOUSEHOLDS: SOME REFLECTIONS. JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN CHILD FORUM.
45(1)11-20.
• MEINTJES H, HALL K, MARERA D & BOULLE A. (2010). ‘ORPHANS OF THE AIDS
EPIDEMIC? THE EXTENT, NATURE AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF CHILD-HEADED
HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA.’ AIDS CARE (IN PRESS).