PARENTAL CHALLENGES THAT PROHIBIT THE PERFORMANCE OF ORPHAN AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN (OVCS) IN EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF HIV/AIDS ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN THE AMATHOLE DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

South Africa has inherited many despicable socioeconomic challenges most of which have been inherited from the Apartheid regime. Although many efforts have been made towards ensuring the access to quality and basic education, the progress towards assisting the OVCs due to HIV/AIDS leaves a lot of serious questions to be answered. This paper sought to explore the parental challenges that prohibit the performance of Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in education in South Africa with a case of the Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province. A qualitative approach was utilized to collect data with an interview guide with semi structured questions guiding the administration of one-on-one in-depth interviews with the study participants. The following perceptions were raised by most of the study participants; lack of parental guidance reduced educational performance; more children to look after reduced the care given to the children from extended or foster parents; high costs of educational needs compromised the performance of children; stigma from neighbourhood parents was difficult to deal with. It is pertinent for the government of South Africa to consider reviving the principles of Ubuntu in the communities and families to strengthen cultural and social attitudes towards OVCs; collaborating with the NGOs and private bodies towards assisting families staying with OVCs in affording educational needs; and to contract effective social work educational officers to continuously investigate the circumstances of OVCs with a view to continuously improve them.