Constructions of orphanhood and schooling in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Abstract

The thesis comprises five manuscripts whose objectives are to explore the real-life schooling experiences of orphaned children (both boys and girls) in rural schools of Eswatini, interrogate the effects of orphanhood on the children’s emotions, find out how the children navigate their complex environment as well as establish how their schooling has been enabled. The first manuscript focuses on the real-life schooling experiences of orphaned children in three rural schools of Eswatini; the second on the emotional geographies of orphaned children in the same context; the third on how orphaned children navigate their schooling environment; the fourth on how orphaned boys experience schooling in the same context; and finally, how the schooling of orphaned children in Eswatini schools has been enhanced. The main purpose was to draw conclusions on how best orphaned children in rural schools of Eswatini can be helped to experience schooling positively. The study utilised social constructionism, attachment trauma theory, new sociology of childhood, gender schema theory and the rights-based theory for understanding the constructions of orphanhood in schooling contexts. A qualitative narrative enquiry approach was used as its methodology. Twenty-four orphaned children from three rural high schools in Eswatini were purposively sampled. The children comprised 12 double-orphans (boys and girls) and 12 single orphans (boys and girls) in Grade 9 (Form 2) and Grade 11 (Form 4) aged between 13-17 years. A participatory research method called photovoice was used together with individual and focus group interviews. The findings show that orphaned children’s schooling experiences were rooted in sorrow and despair due to their educational environment being hostile. This has made it difficult for the children to experience schooling in a positive way. The study discovered that the children have developed emotional stress. The findings also show that the schooling experiences of orphaned children are gendered, with boys being subjected to more neglect owing to Eswatini cultural norms that regard them as resistant to every difficulty thus able to absorb any pressure. It was revealed that government and other stakeholders have tried to alleviate the plight faced by orphaned children in Eswatini schools by paying for their tuition and providing food; but all these efforts have so far failed to yield maximum results to adequately address the schooling challenges.