In this study, 12 social workers were chosen from the Department of Education, the Department of Social Development and one Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), all of whom are based across 26 primary schools within the Esikhaleni Senkosi Circuit in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. School social workers were chosen for their active and pivotal role in enhancing the social well-being, social justice and social security of school children. The Purposive sampling technique, rooted in non-probability sampling, was employed to select the school social workers to participate in the study. This technique was chosen as the researcher was dealing with one group of the population who share a common role of addressing social and psychological issues that may hinder learners’ academic progress. The data from interviews were analysed using thematic data analysis. Original interview audio was translated and coded into writings or texts. Direct quotes and paraphrasing were applied. The study also only targeted school social workers as the study’s participants, as they have experience and knowledge of the psychosocial problems school children are faced with and are responsible for the promotion of their psychosocial well-being. As a result, these findings cannot be generalised beyond this study context.

Ethical clearance to conduct this study was obtained from the University of Zululand Research Ethics Committee (No: UZREC 171110-030). Permission to carry out the study was obtained from the Department of Education in Umhlathuze as the employers of the school social workers in the province. Consent forms were developed for the participants in the interviews and were emailed and signed by the participants prior to the interviews. The researcher also put them at ease by first building rapport in order for them to fully express themselves on the subject matter. The participants were informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time, and were told that the results would be published as a thesis and in a research article. Anonymity was assured by not collecting any names and personal particulars of the participants. In the data analysis, the researcher coded the collected data by using pseudonyms.

Neglect was the most dominant problem experienced by vulnerable children in primary schools. Most participants also indicated that neglect not only affects orphans, but also children who are raised by single parents, grandmothers and teenage mothers. Participants of the study provided numerous causes of neglect, and their responses articulated verbatim are as follows:

From the above quotes, it is clear that child neglect was caused by numerous factors such as alcohol abuse in families, grandparents raising children, school-going teenage mothers and lack of parenting skills. Recent studies by Matshepete et al. (2025) and Ndoma and Siachiwena (2023) also found that vulnerable children were faced with challenges of neglect, deprivation and abuse. Findings of a similar nature are also evident in the study by the East African Community (2020), revealing neglect as one of the challenges of psychosocial well-being posing both short-term and long-term mental health impacts in most children. Similarly, Wilkinson and Bowyer (2017) note neglect as the form of maltreatment affecting most children. The study by Herruzo et al. (2020), which compares poverty and neglect, found that externalising and internalising problems, school problems and lack of adaptive skills were associated with children facing neglect rather than those who faced poverty. The impact of neglect is therefore shown in behaviour and in how they relate to their teachers and peers, and in lack of engagement in social interaction.

The study also ascertained that the problem of neglect is not only experienced by children who are vulnerable in terms of orphanhood, but even by children who are being raised by teenage mothers, single parents and grandmothers. Motsa and Morojele (2022:8) found that vulnerable children raised by grandparents often lacked adequate educational support because of the grandparents’ limited understanding of the importance of education. This can have a negative impact on their academic performance, limit their motivation to succeed in school, lead to emotional distress and lower self-esteem, thereby increasing the adverse effects of neglect. Similarly, Anakpo and Kollamparambil (2021:10) observed that children born to teenage mothers were more likely to repeat a grade than those born to older mothers. Neglect can be linked with the micro level of the ecological systems theory. The micro level entails the child’s immediate environment, including peers, teachers and parents, whose maltreatment can affect the forming of positive relations between learners and these support systems.

Another participant also noted emotional, physical, and sexual abuse as the forms of abuse experienced by vulnerable children. The abuse is mainly caused by the lack of information or knowledge on the part of caregivers about what constitutes abuse, which in turn contributes to a child under-performing in school. The verbatim response is as follows:

These findings concur with Pillay (2024), who indicates that more than a quarter of children in South Africa experience physical abuse. Several authors (Downey & Crummy 2022; Özbay, Asagidag & Eker 2024; World Health Organization [WHO] 2022) have noted emotional and physical abuse to be associated with negative effects which include developing mental health disorders, difficulties in forming relationships with their peers, teachers and parents, and behavioural and academic problems. On the other hand, the study by Chinyama, Rembe and Sibanda (2020) is of the view that vulnerable learners experience emotional and physical abuse because of invalidation, which makes it difficult for these children to feel a sense of belonging and to build positive relationships within the school environment. It can be deduced that emotional and physical abuse experienced by vulnerable children remains a concern with a negative impact on their overall well-being and development.

Low self-esteem was also mentioned by participants as being one of the psychosocial problems experienced by vulnerable school children, and it is attributed to several factors. Participants noted the following:

The above responses from participants reveal that low self-esteem experienced by vulnerable children in schools impacts their academic performance and exposes them to engage in risky behaviours. This could in turn lead to them further jeopardising their academic performance and psychosocial well-being. The findings of the study reveal that vulnerable school learners experienced psychological challenges in the form of low self-esteem and bullying. The study’s findings concur with the findings by Thapa (2020), which revealed that orphans had low self-esteem and experienced depression compared to children who lived with their parents. Correspondingly, Saraswat and Unisa (2017) also revealed psychosocial problems experienced by orphans and vulnerable children to be loneliness and helplessness, behavioural disorders, low self-esteem, depression and stress. It is also worth noting that there is a link between bullying and low self-esteem. This is supported by Lefta, Abdulrazaq and Shlash (2023) who assert that learners who experience bullying are most likely to develop low self-esteem.

Some participants noted that bullying is experienced by both children who come from middle-class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Selected responses from this study’s participants are presented here:

Another participant noted stigma as a psychosocial problem encountered by vulnerable children and articulated the following:

From the above responses, it can be deduced that vulnerable children not only face bullying by other learners but also stigmatisation by school teachers because of their social class and status. In this vein, this study revealed that bullying was linked to the learner’s socio-economic status as learners from lower socio-economic backgrounds were at high risk of being bullied. Pillay (2021) and Juan et al. (2018:3) also agree that socio-economic status is a risk factor that is associated with bullying, and learners with a low socio-economic status were more likely to be victims of bullying than learners who had a high socio-economic status. School is supposed to be a welcoming and safe place for learners, and it is therefore important that school social workers promote inclusive learning environments to ensure that all learners, including those who are vulnerable, feel safe and respected.

One participant noted that caregivers face financial problems as most of them are not from this country (South Africa) and lack documentation to apply for stable jobs and child support grants. Other causes of financial hardships that were noted by the participants were linked to orphans being raised by grandmothers who rely on social grants. One participant stated the following:

This concurs with the findings by Alem (2020) and Thida, De Gruiter and Kuppens (2020), who revealed that orphans in primary schools in Injibara were faced with psychosocial problems that included financial problems, poor nutrition and poor health. Similar findings were revealed in the studies by Eneji and Archibong (2021:188) and Mshengu (2014), who stated that orphans experienced financial constraints. Moreover, a study by Madlela (2024) revealed that learners from low-income households were more likely to be absent from school regularly without permission. It can therefore be deduced from these findings that financial constraints among vulnerable learners have an impact on their well-being, health and school attendance.

Participants also highlighted malnutrition as being one of the psychosocial problems experienced by vulnerable children. However, they stated that the schools played a big role in providing nutritional meals. Selected responses from the study’s participants are presented below:

The study also revealed that malnutrition often results from caregivers prioritising their own children’s needs and is further exacerbated in child-headed households. One participant responded by stating the following:

From the above responses, it can be seen that schools play an important role in providing nutrition to vulnerable children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The problem of malnutrition experienced by vulnerable learners in primary schools is also observed in some previous related studies by Lemeyu, Chikutuma and Zishiri (2022), Van der Berg, Patel and Bridgman (2022), and Sewnet et al. (2021). From these, one can recognise that the provision of nutrition programmes in schools is significant in assisting learners to be present and focused during teaching and learning in class. This is supported by Sanders et al. (2019) and Mwoma and Pillay (2016), who asserted that school nutrition promotes learning achievement, endurance and good health. Therefore, school nutrition plays an essential role for vulnerable children, supporting their physical well-being and increasing concentration in class, which in turn enhances their overall well-being.

Some participants identified the problem of school children not having birth certificates as the most dominant issue. The responses from two of the study participants are articulated below:

The issue of documentation is because of parents or caregivers neglecting their children, leaving them to be taken care of by the landlord, and sometimes a child is an orphan being raised by an elderly person. In some instances, the mother dies and leaves her children with the landlord. The issue of a lack of documentation is important as it affects the child in every aspect of their lives and may lead to a child being unable to receive social and health services (Mouravieff-Apostol 2001:1). Beko (2021:6) also notes that a lack of birth certificate affects a child’s development, how they receive welfare services, and educational opportunities. This relates to the stipulation by the Admission Policy for ordinary public schools (2021:8), as pointing out that it is mandatory for parents to produce a birth certificate of a learner when admitting them to a public school.

Considering the highlighted conclusions drawn in this study, the study recommends an increase in the employment of school-based social workers as a result of the high caseload social workers usually have to deal with. Furthermore, given that neglect is a dominant psychosocial problem experienced by vulnerable children, school social workers should conduct home visits regularly to monitor the well-being of these vulnerable children. There should be a collaboration between parents and school social workers to facilitate dealing with the psychosocial challenges of these vulnerable children and ensuring that their social and educational needs are met.