Care, caring and coping: attitudes of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and their caregivers towards schooling in a South African Township

Abstract

In many countries, the scale of poverty, and the alarming number of children now being orphaned by HIV and AIDS, has increased the roles and responsibilities of grandparents as caregivers in their grandchildren's lives. Not only do grandparents have to care for their grandchildren on a daily basis but they also carry the burden of seeing them through school, possibly with the fear that they might not be able to see them achieve all their dreams. This study examined the complex issues surrounding school attendance for orphaned children in Mbekweni, a township in the Western Province, in South Africa. The study explored the relationship between the attitudes of orphaned learners and their caregivers towards education and schooling itself, uncovering the struggles and the strengths of caregivers and orphaned children that directly relate to success or faiolure in school.