Ondersteuningsdienste aan leerders in openbare skole in die onderwysstelsels van die BRICS-lidlande : ʼn vergelykende studie

Abstract

An education system is a framework that meets the educational needs of a particular target group. Education systems consist of different components and elements to provide effective education to the target group with specific educational needs. These components include the education system policy, education system administration, educational structure and support services. For the effective functioning of an education system, it is necessary that all components collaborate. New challenges are constantly being posed to education systems, and changes in technology, the community, the target group and the curriculum are constantly occurring. To ensure that effective teaching takes place in the education situation, education is dependent on additional help from outside the education system. These support services (additional assistance) are essential for the effective functioning of education and contribute to the effectiveness of teaching. The need for specific types of educational support services will differ with respect to different education systems, as the needs of the particular target groups may differ from one another. This study investigates educational support services for learners as a component of the education system in the BRICS member countries and identifies the best practices in the educational support services of these countries. The aim of the study lies in the fact that in the past, there have been concerns among various education authorities regarding support services that do not function optimally and thus do not meet the educational needs of teachers and learners, as well as teaching activities and structures. It seems that there is a lack of research on specifically the nature of the component “support services to learners in the BRICS countries”. Therefore, it was essential to address the problem by using a comparative view of the education component of support services to learners in the BRICS countries in order to identify challenges and best practices and make recommendations to improve these support services to learners. The research was conducted from a qualitative research approach within the framework of the interpretivist research paradigm using a document analysis as the method of data generation. A variety of types of documents were used, which had mainly been found through the use of the search engines Google Scholar and SAePublications, as well as other books, journals and academic journals. Having carefully studied the documents, all relevant data related to the study were screened and categorised so that themes could be identified. For the purpose of the study, the following themes were identified: inclusive education; assistance to learners through medical and dental services; assistance to learners through social services; and assistance to learners through nutrition services. The BRICS member countries have been selected as participating countries for the study, as all five member countries are involved in identifying their needs and establishing action plans to ultimately meet the educational needs of the target group.

In the study, findings are obtained, expanded and discussed. First, the focus is on the similarities and differences in the BRICS member countries with regard to the four relevant themes. Second, the best practices of possible support services for learners in the BRICS member countries are identified. Last, recommendations are made regarding the findings to serve as a framework for further possible studies regarding the nature of support services to learners in the BRICS member countries.