Abstract:
Multiple factors have an impact on schools in rural areas. Most of these
factors relate back to either the conditions of the environment; behaviour of
children, structural challenges in schools and working conditions of
teachers. In combination these factors not only contribute to poor school
performance but also to high incidence of teacher social problems. This
article critically examines the potential of introducing an Employee
Assistance Programme (EAP) at rural schools as a resource in support of
developing rural school capacity. Utilising focus group methodology to
gather data from teaching personnel post an introductory workshop, the
feasibility of such programme is examined. Findings confirmed that although
the concept is feasible, its implementation would require skillful modeling to
accommodate the multi-factor nature of the system in which it is supposed to
function. Guidelines are provided to facilitate the introduction of such a
comprehensive EAP model.
