Exploring how student support services address economic, cultural and political injustices

Abstract

South Africa’s legacy of unequal access to learning opportunities and the need to create a conducive technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector for a diversified student population has exposed a need for comprehensive learner support. The introduction by the Department of Higher Education and Training in 2017 of the Open Learning Policy Framework, which has an explicit social justice ambition, has recognized the salience of student support systems (SSS) at TVET colleges. However, the extent to which the current TVET student support models are designed to encompass open learning practices and the extent to which they are indeed socially just is not yet known. This chapter examines how SSS (as a means of enacting open learning principles) endeavour to create a socially just environment for students to have access to (pre-entry), progress through (on-course), and success (at exit) in a TVET college. The chapter employs Nancy Fraser’s (2005) theory of social justice, understood as ‘parity of participation’, to interrogate the extent to which SSS address the economic, cultural, and political injustices faced by students at Elangeni TVET College in KwaZulu-Natal. This case study adopted a qualitative approach and data was generated via three virtual interviews with the SSS staff and telephonic and WhatsApp discussions with two students. Findings indicate that the institutional structures and activities in place to support students respond affirmatively to the economic inequalities, political injustices, cultural and social diversity at Elangeni College. While the economic, political, and economic issues are interlinked, this research has highlighted that the economic injustices faced by students cannot be settled at an institutional level, but can only be resolved at a national level. Furthermore, the SSS staff have revealed a willingness to address cultural inequities, but some of these affirmative responses are limited by economic resources (underfunding of TVET colleges). This study contributes to an under-researched topic that has potential to strengthen the further development of the OLPF in concert with annual strategic plans for SSS at TVET colleges. Despite the limited sample size, the insights from the chapter illuminates the need for further research in the areas of open learning,student support and social justice.