Written by Marissa Jordaan with contributions from Mollie Kemp, Rochshana Kemp, Marelize Vergottini and Edmarie Pretorius on behalf of South Africa's National Committee on School Social Work Education and Practice (NACOSSWEP)
Once upon a time…
Researchers identified the need to include school social workers in the South African education system more than 40 years ago and Professor H. Rocher was a pioneer of laying the foundation for school social work. Since the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, many policies implemented by the Department of Basic Education have acknowledged the role of the social worker within the multidisciplinary team in the education system.
Wish upon a star…
In South Africa, there are a significant number of learners who are unable to attend school regularly and perform optimally due to the impact of poverty, child abuse, violence, loss and other societal barriers. They are in dire need of care and support and schools often serve as the only place where that can be realized for them. Social workers who render services at schools play a key role in these learners’ access to holistic support, which may include arranging a daily meal, accessing grants, providing therapy, and supporting the family through parental guidance and assistance in accessing services and resources. This multidisciplinary intervention is in line with the Southern African Development Community’s Framework for Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) in education.
From dreams to reality…
As a result of this growing need for care and support in schools, social workers are increasingly being employed by the Department of Basic Education in some provinces in their school programmes. Each social worker then serves a cluster of schools, while some are placed in special schools. Some school governing bodies are also taking it upon themselves to employ social workers directly, to serve their school community.
The day-to-day reality…
The focus of social work interventions in schools includes prevention, crisis intervention, networking for resources, restorative justice in disciplinary action with the overall aim of providing care and support to school communities within a multidisciplinary team. Social workers are actively involved in removing learning barriers so that children can live, learn and develop to their full potential. With COVID-19 fresh in our minds and in our lives, the psycho-social needs of learners in our schools have increased and some resources have decreased.
A beacon of hope…
The number of social workers who are being employed by the Departments of Basic Education and of Social Development, as well as by school governing bodies, is increasing exponentially. School social work is in the process of being acknowledged as an area of specialization in South Africa. In June 2015, the National Association of Social Work established a National Committee on School Social Work Education and Practice (NACOSSWEP) to focus on school social work specialization, education and knowledge development, as well as on development of practice models, practice standards and programmes. This committee has already done the necessary work for the specialization to become a reality. Draft regulations pertaining to the specialization were published for comments and we are currently eagerly awaiting the outcome of this process. One of our Universities, the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) in Johannesburg, has offered a Master’s in Social Work in the field of School Social Work since 2021, and a short course in School Social Work since 2017, with two other Universities in the development phase of similar courses. It is our hope that, as this specialization is formalized, it would lead to a greater impact in terms of individual lives, as well as broader developmental goals!
