A (Bio) Socio-Ecosystemic Response to the Problem of Learner Attrition: A Case for Ubuntu

Abstract

Learner attrition is one of the major problems working against democratic South Africa in its attempt to redress the legacy of apartheid in the educational front in its different forms, namely: poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and disease. Recent studies have been conducted on the phenomenon pertaining to the problem of learner attrition. The purpose of this article is to explore through a socio-ecological approach an effective and sustainable response to the problem of learner attrition. Structured interviews were used to collect data. Only four themes of those that emerged from the findings are used: teenage pregnancy; looking after siblings; lack of motivation; and poverty. The strength of this study lies in its recommendations, which we feel are not only academic ideas, but through the theory of Ubuntu talk directly to and with the realities and peculiarities of the South African education system and its society.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1636