Africa-Press – Namibia. A RESEARCHER from the Namibia University of Science and Technology has developed a prototype mobile platform for counselling San primary school pupils.
Computer science lecturer Rosetha Kays focuses on curbing high school dropout rates in Donkerbos Village, in the Omaheke region.
She conducted research at the village last week, titled ‘Developing Technology to Strengthen Resilience in San Children to Reduce School Dropouts’. It explored current technologies being used to provide counselling services to San children who face social hardships.
“Online counselling on the web or on mobile platforms already exists, however many of the services are generic, thus this study is context specific,” Kays says.
The platform was developed based on information gathered from the stories of successful San youth who had previously dropped out of school, as well as current issues identified by the primary school pupils.
“An evaluation of the effectiveness of the application was done after the learners were involved in the project. This was done using psychological tools and resources to weigh their level of resilience,” Kays adds.
The assessment revealed a positive change in the pupil’s understanding of others’ feelings, awareness of self, self-esteem, coping with stress, demonstrating empathy with others, and knowing who to consult when in need of assistance.
Kays said ideally one would like to have data about the pupil’s level of resilience to compare with data about their resilience level while at high school and after having used the application.
“I now know where to go for help when I have a problem,” one student eagerly shares, while others explain that they try to resolve problems by talking about them openly.
Kays suggests a follow-up resilience evaluation test with the same pupils, in particular, a longitudinal study.
