The Impact of Counselling Services on the Academic Performance of Abused Learners at Two Secondary Schools in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the impact of counselling services on the academic performance of abused secondary school learners at two schools in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study operated under the premise that school counsellors played a vital role in improving learners' academic performance. The study adopted a pragmatic, anti-positivist, and positivist research paradigm and drew on Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological Systems Theory to understand how environmental systems such as family, school, and community shape learner development and behaviour. A mixed-methods research design was employed, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. For the quantitative component, academic records of 10 purposively sampled learners who were previously abused were analysed. These records were compared to evaluate academic performance before and after counselling. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics, including tables and graphs, to assess the academic performance of learners who were counselled after experiencing abuse. In addition, qualitative data were collected through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 6 educators who acted as counsellors on the impact of child abuse on academic performance. Findings of the study revealed that most abused learners were fearful, unconfident to open up and withdrawn, and that perpetrators of child abuse were close to the learners, even parents. The study also revealed the need for schools to have trained counsellors. It was, however, unclear that learners improved academically after counselling since the study was conducted in a short space of time. Based on these findings, recommendations were made to stakeholders, including the Department of Education, school governing bodies, and school management teams.