The Impact Of Orphan-Hood In The Academic Performance Of Learners (With Special Reference to Junior Secondary School Students in Gaborone (original) (raw)

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of Orphan-hood in the Academic Performance of Learners (with special reference to junior secondary school students in Gaborone). A semi structured questionnaire was administered to form 2 students who are orphans. The results reveal that orphan-hood directly impacts the academic performance of learners mainly because of the psycho-social effects. Several challenges stemming from the loss of parents were identified as being instrumental in affecting the academic performance of orphans. The study also determined many programmes available for orphans at schools that help them cope and integrate them back into a stable psycho-social state. However, the greatest challenge is that these programmes are not targeting all orphans and as a result a few excluded orphans still have misconceptions concerning their status and thus this has an effect on their academic performance.