**Education Challenges for Vulnerable Children: Solutions and Support**

Question: Scenario A. Tommy is 10 years old. He attends a school 8 km from home. He lives in a two-room house that he shares with his mother, his 85-year-old sick grandfather and eight other children. His mother is blind and cannot find a job. Because no one in the house earns an income Tommy is often hungry. He and the other older children in the household take turns to stay home from school and care for the grandfather. His schoolwork suffers because he is not able to attend school every day. He must also fetch water from a river that is 1km from home every morning before school and is often late for school. When he is at school, he often finds it difficult to concentrate because he is usually hungry and he worries about his grandfather a lot. He is also sad because his father left home to look for work and never returned. When he gets home after a long day at school, he works in the neighbours’ garden and then sells the vegetables to earn some money to buy food for the family. The teacher does not know why Tommy comes to school late and why he is absent so often. She shouts at him for not doing his homework and for his poor performance at school. Tommy gets nervous when the teacher shouts at him, so he sits at the back of the class so that she won’t notice him. But Tommy is partially sighted and can’t see the board from the back of the class. No one knows about Tommy’s eyesight as his eyes have never been tested. His academic performance gets worse and worse. 1.1Discuss 5 challenges that Tommy encountered in accessing quality education that prevent him from achieving his potential. Provide specific reasons mentioned in the passage to support your answer. [4x5=20] INC3701/103/2024 8 1.2 Explain the impact of Tommy's family situation on his academic performance. How does his responsibility for household tasks and caring for his grandfather affect his ability to focus on schoolwork? [4] 1.3 Highlight three (3) potential solutions or support mechanisms that could improve Tommy's academic situation. What actions could the school, teacher, or community take to address Tommy's challenges and create a more conducive learning environment for him? [6] [Sub-total=30] Question 2 Read scenario B and answer the questions that follow: Ntando set to slam dunk his way to top: Eastern Cape player only 13 but gets nod for SA U23 basketball team. By Mfundo Piliso - 19 August 2018 He is only 13, but Ntando Nokama sees his inclusion in the national U23 basketball men’s wheelchair squad as a chance to travel the world. Nokama, the youngest wheelchair Springbok in the province, represents the Eastern Cape wheelchair basketball men’s U23 side and is set to make it into the main team—Buffalo City Suns— who are campaigning in the Supersport Wheelchair Basketball National League. “I think young people should stop abusing drugs and alcohol and rather focus on playing INC3701/103/2024 9 sport and on their books because that’s how I managed to get selected to the team,” said Nokama. The “guard man” on the court said being born in Stutterheim in Mgwali, where opportunities for the disabled are few and far between, prompted his relocation to Mdantsane’s Vukuhambe Special School. “It all began here when I met the people who inspired me to play this sport,” he said. 2.1 Examine five (5) factors that contribute to Ntando Nokama's success in wheelchair basketball. In what manner has his personal attitude, choices and the support he received, played a role in his inclusion in the national U23 basketball men’s wheelchair squad? [5] 2.2 Evaluate the impact of Ntando Nokama's involvement in wheelchair basketball on his personal development and perspective. In what way has the sport influenced his life, especially considering the challenges faced by disabled individuals in Stutterheim? [5] 2.3 Analyse the significance of Ntando Nokama's inclusion in the Buffalo City Suns, the main team in the Supersport Wheelchair Basketball National League. Exactly how does this achievement contribute to the visibility and representation of disabled athletes in the sports arena? [5] 2.4 Examine the potential impact of Ntando Nokama's representation in the national U23 basketball men’s wheelchair squad on the broader community. In what ways can his success influence societal perceptions of disability and contribute to fostering a more inclusive society? [5] Sub-Total= [20] Question 3 Exercise for children appears to stimulate brain growth and boost cognitive performance. It helps them to focus. It may make it easier for them to learn and achieve. Studies suggest that physical exercise yields short- and long-term benefits for achievement in the classroom, especially when combined with an element of fun (Dewar, 2019). INC3701/103/2024 10 3.1 When speaking about rugby explain how they can support the above statement. For a well-structured answer, please provide headings and examples. [20] Name and picture of that sport [2] Definition [2] Discussion with headings (Any 4 of the following) • Physical exercise • Cognitive engagement • Focus and concentration. • Learning and achievement • Element of fun. [4 marks for each 16] Question 4 Click on :https://mietafrica.org/phumalanis-journey-hope-cstl-training-video/ to watch the video that portrays Phumlani’s journey of hope (CSTL training video). Then answer the following questions: Video transcripts are provided hereunder in case you experience challenges accessing the video on the internet or Announcements. Phumlani’s journey of hope Phumlani is an 11-year-old boy from Southern Africa. He was born with HIV. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence in the world. Living with HIV presents serious challenges for children such as Phumlani, at home and at school. At home he was deprived of the love and support of a caring family. His father had abandoned him when he was a baby and his mother had died from an AIDS-related illness. His aunt took him in and he lives with her and his cousins in a small house in a rural area, but poverty makes life difficult for the family and Phumlani’s needs went unnoticed. Phumlani did not participate in school life and had no friends. As each day passed, INC3701/103/2024 11 he was less and less able to keep up with the work and his interest in school dwindled. Phumlani was often absent from school due to poor health and when he did attend, he was always tired and somewhat dozed off. Centers of Learning schools focused on education only often assuming that children’s health and overall well-being was taken care of at home, but conventional care and support systems have been heavily strained by burdens such as HIV and AIDS, orphaning, deepening poverty, drought and food insecurities. However, through the care and support for teaching and learning or CSTL Programme driven by education ministries in the respective member states, schools in the Southern Africa development community are being transformed into inclusive centres of care and support. They have become hubs for integrated-service delivery that includes supporting learning materials, nutritional, psychosocial, protection, safety and health needs. CSTL was formally adopted by all 15 members states in 2008 as a comprehensive coordinated multisectoral response to address the multiple challenges that make children vulnerable to education marginalisation that threatens their rights to quality education. After participating in CSTL training on identifying and supporting vulnerable children, Phumlani’s class teacher was motivated to act. She took his case to her school support team. The team discussed Phumlani's needs with his aunt referred him for HIV counselling and testing, assisted him to access antiretroviral treatment and provides ongoing psychological support for him at school, with improved health and support to live positively with HIV, his absenteeism has decreased and his academic performance has improved. He participates in extra mural activities such as school’s sexual reproductive health and rights club, where he is a loud voice reminding his peers to know their status and take care of their health. INC3701/103/2024 12 Phumlani hopes to become a social worker one day. The CSTL Programme has been made possible with the generous support and funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. 4.1 Explain five (5) components of the Centres of Learning schools transformed by the CSTL Programme. How did these components contribute to Phumlani's positive transformation, both academically and personally? [10] 4.2 Describe the role of Phumlani's class teacher and the school support team in his positive transformation. Show how did their actions align with the objectives of the CSTL Programme. [10] Read about the Care and Support for Teaching and learning (CSTL) below and answer the questions that follow. Care and Support for Teaching and learning (CSTL) is a dynamic and flexible framework that responds to the needs of children and youth to ensure their full access, participation and achievement by creating an enabling environment to improve their learning experiences and outcomes. The CSTL framework grew from the recognition by Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states of the large numbers of children in the region made vulnerable by a host of interrelated factors such as poverty, HIV, disability and exposure to violence and abuse. Based on the strong regional and international mandate to ensure that all children, in particular vulnerable children, realise their right to education, the Ministries of Education in all of the SADC member states adopted the CSTL framework in 2008. The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action, providing the most ambitious and transformative framework to date for ending poverty, reducing inequalities, improving the lives of all global citizens and preserving and protecting the environment. They came into effect in January 2016, building on the Millennium Development Goals and will continue to guide the United Nations and its member states until 2030. INC3701/103/2024 13 4.3 Examine the dynamic and flexible nature of the CSTL framework. What contributions does this flexibility make in responding effectively to the evolving needs of children and youth? Provide specific examples. [5] 4.4 Connect the goals of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the objectives of the CSTL framework. In addressing global challenges related to education, poverty and inequality, how do these frameworks complement each other?