Perspectives Of University Students On The Impediments To Fathers' Capabilities To Actively Participate In Children's Early Social Development

There is an array of literature on South African fathers' inability to be involved in the early educational development of their children. Several research efforts have been made to unravel the causes of fathers' non-participation in early childhood education, but little is known about the impediments to fathers' engagement in the child's early development both socially and educationally. Thus, this study sought the factors that impede fathers' participation in their children's early social development. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design of a quantitative research approach. The study participants comprised 300 University Students. Data were gathered using a 19-item questionnaire. To analyze the data collected, mean and analysis of variance statistics were adopted. It was revealed that lack of necessary fatherly skills, unemployment, having multiple partners, are the factors that inhibit fathers' participation in their children's early social development. It was thus, recommended that efforts should be made by both the South African government and non-governmental organizations to ameliorate the identified impediments to fathers' participation.