Institute of Distance Education, University of Eswatini, Kwaluseni, Eswatini.
Teaching and Learning, Office of the Deputy Vice Chacellor, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa.
Afr J AIDS Res. 2023 Jul;22(2):102-112. doi: 10.2989/16085906.2023.2203128. Epub 2023 Jun 20.
In Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children due to HIV/AIDS has spurred demand for psychosocial support services. When the Ministry of Education and Training assumed responsibility for delivering psychosocial support, educators were burdened with the additional role of looking after orphans and vulnerable learners. This exploratory, sequential, mixed-methods study was employed to analyse factors that enhance the provision of psychosocial support services and the perceptions of educators towards psychosocial support delivery. The qualitative study phase entailed 16 in-depth interviews with multi-sectoral psychosocial support specialists and seven focus group discussions with orphans and vulnerable learners. In the quantitative study phase, 296 educators were surveyed. Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data, and the quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25 software. The findings reveal problems associated with psychosocial support service delivery at strategy, policy and operational levels. The results indicate that orphans and vulnerable children are offered material support (e.g. food and sanitary pads) and spiritual support, but were rarely referred for social and psychological needs. There were no proper counselling facilities and not all teachers received relevant training in children's psychosocial needs. Training of educators in specific psychosocial support areas was considered significant to enhance service delivery and the psychosocial well-being of the learners. Overall, accountability was difficult to establish because the administration of psychosocial support is split among the Ministry of Education and Training, the Deputy Prime Minister's office and Tinkhundla administration. There is unequal distribution of qualified early childhood development teachers to cater for early childhood educational needs.
在斯威士兰（前称斯威士兰），由于艾滋病毒/艾滋病导致孤儿和弱势儿童的数量不断增加，对心理社会支持服务的需求也随之增加。当教育部和培训部承担提供心理社会支持的责任时，教育工作者除了要照顾孤儿和弱势学习者之外，还增加了一项额外的角色。本探索性、顺序性、混合方法研究旨在分析增强心理社会支持服务提供的因素，以及教育工作者对心理社会支持提供的看法。定性研究阶段包括与多部门心理社会支持专家进行的 16 次深入访谈和与孤儿和弱势学习者进行的 7 次焦点小组讨论。在定量研究阶段，对 296 名教育工作者进行了调查。采用主题分析法对定性数据进行分析，使用社会科学统计软件包 25 版对定量数据进行分析。研究结果揭示了战略、政策和运营层面心理社会支持服务提供方面存在的问题。结果表明，为孤儿和弱势儿童提供了物质支持（如食物和卫生垫）和精神支持，但很少为其社会和心理需求提供支持。没有适当的咨询设施，并非所有教师都接受过儿童心理社会需求方面的相关培训。对教育工作者进行特定心理社会支持领域的培训被认为对于增强服务提供和学习者的心理社会福祉至关重要。总体而言，由于心理社会支持的管理由教育部和培训部、副总理办公室和 Tinkhundla 行政部门共同负责，因此很难建立问责制。合格的幼儿发展教师的分配不均，无法满足幼儿教育的需求。
