In this study the learning challenges faced by Black orphaned girl learners in the Xhariep District who head households, were explored. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the causes, magnitude and effects of child-headed households and to establish the learning challenges in general experienced by learners who head households. Important prerequisites for effective learning such as parental expectations, self-esteem, goal orientation, school attendance, positive attributions, motivation, need fulfilment, self-regulation, self-efficacy, cognitive development, parental involvement and socio-economic factors were explored. The literature review informed the conceptual framework of the study, and provided the framework for designing interview questions that were used to gain a deeper understanding of the learning challenges experienced by black girl learners who head households. By means of qualitative, phenomenological research, one-on-one interviews were conducted with a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of 10 Black girl learners at Secondary School Level who head households in the Xhariep District of the Free State Department of Education. The interpretation of the data revealed various learning challenges which are experienced by these learners due to their unfavourable circumstances as heads of households. The interview data revealed that the girls who take part in the study experience a lack of basic needs such as food and money and love and belonging. Furthermore, they experience emotional problems due to the death of their parents and the stressful situation of having the cope with numerous responsibilities at home and school. Due to the mentioned problems, the participants experience learning challenges related to irregular school attendance, difficulty in coping with and concentrating on their schoolwork, poor achievement and low self-esteem. According to the responses of the learners, it is difficult to be a child and a parent at the same time, having to account for all the responsibilities of being a learner and accomplishing the parental role. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers on how to assist Black girl learners who head households in the Xhariep District. / MEd, Learning and Teaching, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

At the bottom tip of the African continent lies South Africa – the economic powerhouse of the continent complimented by its rainbow nation with a myriad of cultures and even more opportunities, but an equal number of pressing challenges: Poverty, inequality, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, a shortage of skilled people (or rather a surplus of unskilled people), poor quality of basic education, unemployment, and of particular importance for this study, youth unemployment. In September 2011 more than 1.3 million young South Africans aged 15 to 24 years were unemployed, and 1.85 million aged 25 to 34 years were without jobs. Combined these figures represented 71 percent of total unemployment in the third quarter of 2011. As a result, the problem statement central to this study is the expectation that the poor quality of general (basic) education and the lack of purposive entrepreneurship education and training in South African schools will continue to contribute towards high levels of youth unemployment and poverty, as well as the proliferation of dysfunctional communities and increased levels of state dependency among a large part of the country’s population. This study set out in search of answers – answers to questions regarding the impact of entrepreneurship training on the youth in South Africa as the primary objective and the potential for entrepreneurship to serve as the panacea for many of the country’s ills. The end result is a rendering of more than three years of intensive research culminating in valid conclusions and practical, attainable recommendations to promote entrepreneurial activity in the country. The study examines the theories and definitions of entrepreneurship and concludes that entrepreneurship is a combination of opportunity and risk in the presence of extraordinary levels of ‘want’ (desire) to promote self-interest, whether it being monetary reward or the attainment of personal fulfilment, as the main motivational factor driving entrepreneurial behaviour (Schumpeterian theory). The contemporary challenges facing South Africa are expounded to create a platform for the presentment of entrepreneurship as the ‘magical genie’, captured in the ‘bottle’ that is mainly the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector in the country, and capable of redressing many of the country’s ills by empowering the youth to take both charge of and responsibility for their own future. The concomitant discussion shows that the ‘genie’ is held firmly in the confines of its ‘bottle’ by barriers obstructing the free flow of an enterprising spirit, confirming that the release of an enterprising spirit among South Africans faces many obstacles to be overcome before the ‘genie’ can be released successfully to work its ‘magic’. The concept of entrepreneurship education is examined to determine whether it is a reality or a myth. The discussion concludes that entrepreneurship is indeed a learnt phenomenon – it can be taught successfully. It is put forward that it can only be deemed a reality to the extent in which measurable evidence of its positive impact on learners exists. This conclusion sets the tone for the empirical research in later chapters by questioning the capacity for effective entrepreneurship education in South Africa. The empirical research conducted for this study includes a pilot study and a national main study focused on examining the impact of entrepreneurship training on young learners in South African secondary schools. It is based upon the attitudinal and intentional approaches to entrepreneurship research and employs six validated entrepreneurship surveys suitable for use with young individuals to respectively measure entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial intentions, general enterprising tendencies, subjective personal wellbeing, adaptive cognition and innovation skills. A total of 342 learners from secondary schools in the Harrismith region (Free State province) participated in the pilot study, followed by 898 respondents in the pre-testing phase and 751 in the post test phase of the AEG-3 main study and 910 respondents in the pre-testing phase and 749 in the post test phase of the PMY-3 main study. Participants in the main study originated from seven of the nine provinces of South Africa and were mainly female black Africans aged 15 to 17 years attending grades 10 and 11 at secondary schools. The datasets gathered from both the AEG-3 and PMY-3 studies were subjected to extensive statistical analyses by Statistical Consultation Services of the North-West University (Potchefstroom campus). The results lead to the conclusion that the Mini-Enterprise Programme (MEP) of Junior Achievement South Africa (JASA) did not have any visible or practically significant impact on the entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial intentions, subjective personal wellbeing, adaptive cognition and innovation skills of learners in either of the two samples examined in the empirical research project. This conclusion reaffirms the challenges and barriers associated with releasing the spirit of enterprise among the South African youth. Although entrepreneurship can be taught effectively, it is dependent on long-term strategies providing adequate support to learners with the attitude and aptitude to become competent entrepreneurs, as well as suitable methods for continuous assessment and improvement. It further demands entrepreneurial learning enhanced by an extended period of deliberate practice (the ‘Eureka’-factor proposed in this study) flowing from ‘want’ (desire) on the part of the learner to have any chance of being truly effective. The study concludes that content and methodology borrowed from other countries may not be suited for the South African context. This conclusion exclaims the need for purposive South African entrepreneurship education and training programmes assessed with purposive South African entrepreneurship measuring scales. These conclusions are subsequently used to formulate practical and attainable recommendations for the promotion of effective youth entrepreneurship education and training in the country, including the need to get rid of high expectations, to never give up, stricter selection of learners for enrolment in entrepreneurship education and training programmes (other than those included in basic education), the need for continuous research, embracing the ‘power of one’, and finally, adopting an entrepreneurial solution for what is evidently an entrepreneurial problem. The outcome of this study brings forward the message that the challenge in South Africa is to create entrepreneurs, not young people with the capacity to perform entrepreneurial tricks. True entrepreneurs are not ordinary people, regardless of whether they are born or ‘made’. Although entrepreneurship can be learnt by any person, it takes a very special kind of ‘want’ (desire), determination and practise to become a successful entrepreneur, and even more ‘want’, determination and practise to become an expert entrepreneur. / Thesis (PhD (Business Administration))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Low-literate consumers display distinctive behaviour in the marketplace, and in the first phase of a mixed method study, the aim was to explore the challenges and coping strategies of low-literate clothing consumers. Due to fairly high levels of low-literacy in South Africa and limited research, this research was undertaken to better understand the behaviour of low-literate clothing consumers in the marketplace. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data, and through inductive, interpretative data analysis three broad themes were identified, namely personal (cognitive, social, financial and affective), product (types and format of product information, evaluative criteria) and store-related (store assistants’ behaviour, store selection and in-store information) challenges and associated coping strategies. The results of this study can be used to advise marketers regarding the needs of these consumers, and were also used to develop a quantitative measuring instrument to investigate low-literate consumers’ use of clothing labels in the retail setting. In the second quantitative phase of the study, the use of clothing label information amidst low-literate respondents’ personal- (reading and numeracy skills, concrete and pictographic thinking) and product-related challenges (the format of labels, care-label knowledge and evaluating clothing products’ quality) were investigated. The study sample consisted of 450 black female consumers with literacy levels between Grades 5 and 8, residing in the Emfuleni Local Municipality area, in the southern part of Gauteng, South Africa. Interviewer administered questionnaires were filled out, and it was examined for validity and reliability. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and correlations were drawn between reliable factors, and practical significant correlations were reported. ANOVA’s indicated statistically significant differences with mostly medium effect sizes between the occupation of respondents and selected factors. Respondents indicated that they do read and understand clothing labels, but results revealed that they did experience problems when using information on labels. Their numeracy skills were average, and abstract thinking related to numeracy, were fair. Pictographic thinking was evident in their preference for symbolic and graphic presentation of size format, but not when they were presented altered store logos. Care label knowledge was poor, and clothing products were evaluated concretely. Some of the respondents, especially the older respondents were inclined to follow the peripheral route of elaboration when reading clothing label information. / Thesis (PhD (Consumer Sciences))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Mångfalden av enheter för webbanvändning ökar, men det finns fortfarande webbplatser som utvecklas med PC:s som enda prioritet. Responsiv webbdesign erbjuder nya möjligheter till webbutveckling eftersom en responsiv webbplats är anpassad till samtliga enheter på marknaden. Området har förvisso fått stort genomslag, men det är fortfarande nytt och relativt outforskat. Det finns också endel utmaningar med responsiv webbdesign som kan vara svåra att bemöta. Uppsatsen kartlägger utmaningar som lyfts fram i vetenskaplig litteratur, och bekräftar eller dementerar samt kompletterar kartlagda utmaningar genom enempirisk studie. I uppsatsens slutsats introduceras ett ramverk med utmaningar inom responsiv webbdesign. / The variety of devices for web use increases, but some web sites are still being developed with PC:s as their only priority. Responsive web design is a way of developing web sites for all devices on the market, and therefore creating new opportunities for web development. The area is still new and relatively unexplored, and there are challenges that can be difficult to address. The thesis maps out challenges found in scientific literature, and confirmes or denies and supplements identified challenges through an empirical study. The thesis concludes with an introduction to a framework with challenges in responsive webdesign.

The mining industry has been the bedrock of South African economy for more than a century, making an important contribution to employment opportunities, the gross domestic product and export earnings in the South African economy. Globally the mining industry is faced with a shortage of qualified talent to meet its production needs. Every year there are more people leaving than entering the mining industry to pursue job and career opportunities. The mining industry has to focus a lot on safety and health, training and development programmes, team building initiatives, and the recruitment and retention of affirmative action candidates in order to retain their valued staff. The mining industry also has to achieve production targets while at the same time assure that its employees are safe and happy workers. Therefore happy, productive and motivated employees are an important contributor to the stability and development within the mining industry. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between job demands, job resources, burnout and engagement of employees in the mining industry. The research method consisted of a literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. An availability sample (JV=199) from employees in the mining industry was taken. The Job Demands and Resources Scale (JDRS) (was used to measure job demands and job resources), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (was used to measure engagement) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (was used to measure burnout). Descriptive statistics, product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. The statistical analysis was carried out with the help of the SPSS programme. The results of this study indicated that job resources, namely organisational support (including the relationship with superiors, role clarity, information, communication, and participation) are positively related to growth opportunities (including variety, opportunities to learn, and autonomy), advancement and social support. Multiple regression analysis showed that the best predictors of engagement were organisational support, growth opportunities and work-life balance. The best predictors of disengagement were lack of resources, including growth opportunities and social support, and demands of overload and a lack of work-life balance. The predictors of burnout were overload and a lack of advancement opportunities Recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is increasing with immense influence and pressure on the grandparents as primary caregivers and the main supporters of orphans in families. The grandparents are faced with biophysical, socio–economic and psychosocially challenges and lack of support from the community of Koster in the North–West Province of South Africa. Caring for AIDS orphans who have lost their parents due to AIDS and of whom some are infected is an enormous challenge. There should be a partnership between the grandparents, the community, public sector and private sector to assist the grandparents who care for AIDS orphans. Therefore, there are recommendations made by the researcher as tools for health–care workers in order to support the grandparents as they care for AIDS orphans. The objectives of this research were to explore and describe challenges faced by the grandparents in caring for AIDS orphans in Koster, and how their needs could be met by making recommendations for effective support of the grandparents. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive design was used which enabled the research to understand the challenges faced by grandparents in caring for AIDS orphans and how their needs could be met. Semi–structured interviews were conducted to obtain the data. The population studied in this research consisted of the grandparents caring for AIDS orphans in Koster in the North–West Province, South Africa. Voluntary purposive sampling was used to select participants with the assistance of mediators who are working for the Non– Government Organizations dealing with HIV and AIDS in Koster. The sample size was determined by data saturation, which was reached after 15 interviews. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with data collection. In consensus discussions, the researcher and the co–coder reached consensus on the main, sub and further sub–categories. From the research findings, four main categories were identified namely; the challenges faced by the grandparents, perceptions of the grandparents on how their need could be met, the impact of the challenge and coping mechanisms. It could be concluded that the grandparents are faced with diverse challenges in caring for AIDS orphans. In order to address these challenges the community and government must be fully involved. The basic, psychosocial, socio–economic and biophysical needs can be addressed through support system. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The intention with this research was to investigate the challenges facing School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in historically disadvantaged schools with regard to their roles and responsibilities. The investigation departed from the premise of prescriptions of the South African Schools Act and other relevant legislation. From the literature review, it became clear that school governance would not be an easy task for schools, based on the precedence set by the apartheid school governance system. Indeed, it was found that SGBs in previously disadvantaged schools experienced numerous challenges. Decentralisation, stakeholder participation in school governance, SGB membership, determination of school policies requiring specialised knowledge and expertise, and policy-making and implementation were found to encapsulate most of the challenges facing SGBs in their roles and responsibilities. This research, being qualitative and phenomenological, used interviews to focus on some definitive school governance roles and responsibilities. Findings largely confirmed earlier research findings and included challenges such as a poor understanding of the school governance role of promoting the best interests of the school by school governors, the execution of roles and responsibilities being inhibited by poor training and poor capacity building, parent governors lacking knowledge and school governance skills, school governance functions requiring specialised knowledge and skills, a lack of trust, and the influence of suspicion and poor teamwork among school governors. The main recommendation relates to the review of the Schools Act in terms of specialised functions and who should perform them, and increasing the terms of office of school governors to derive maximum benefit from continuity before new members are elected and another cycle of capacity-building is needed. It is further recommended that the roles and responsibilities of school governors be well explained to stakeholders, even before nominations and elections are conducted, so that potential governors know exactly what is expected, and that continuous capacity-building becomes a regular feature at school level, including a school cluster-based programme addressing local school governance challenges. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The intention with this research was to investigate the challenges facing School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in historically disadvantaged schools with regard to their roles and responsibilities. The investigation departed from the premise of prescriptions of the South African Schools Act and other relevant legislation. From the literature review, it became clear that school governance would not be an easy task for schools, based on the precedence set by the apartheid school governance system. Indeed, it was found that SGBs in previously disadvantaged schools experienced numerous challenges. Decentralisation, stakeholder participation in school governance, SGB membership, determination of school policies requiring specialised knowledge and expertise, and policy-making and implementation were found to encapsulate most of the challenges facing SGBs in their roles and responsibilities. This research, being qualitative and phenomenological, used interviews to focus on some definitive school governance roles and responsibilities. Findings largely confirmed earlier research findings and included challenges such as a poor understanding of the school governance role of promoting the best interests of the school by school governors, the execution of roles and responsibilities being inhibited by poor training and poor capacity building, parent governors lacking knowledge and school governance skills, school governance functions requiring specialised knowledge and skills, a lack of trust, and the influence of suspicion and poor teamwork among school governors. The main recommendation relates to the review of the Schools Act in terms of specialised functions and who should perform them, and increasing the terms of office of school governors to derive maximum benefit from continuity before new members are elected and another cycle of capacity-building is needed. It is further recommended that the roles and responsibilities of school governors be well explained to stakeholders, even before nominations and elections are conducted, so that potential governors know exactly what is expected, and that continuous capacity-building becomes a regular feature at school level, including a school cluster-based programme addressing local school governance challenges. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Foreign graduates have been part of the success stories of many developed countries. This is as a result of their immeasurable deposit of ideas, knowledge, and innovation in the host country. Though the process of these foreign graduates penetrating and integrating into the labour market of the host country could be slow and rough as they encounter some obstacles on the way; they still strive to break through and be part of the country’s workforce because they foresee some opportunities therein. This research study is about the obstacles and opportunities foreign graduates meet in Dalarna labour market. The study investigated and identified the obstacles and opportunities foreign graduates meet in Dalarna labour market. For a thorough execution of this research, we collected primary data by handing questionnaires to 65 foreign graduates searching for jobs in Dalarna region and interviewed eight people, among which seven were foreign graduates and one of them was a staff at Arbestförmedlingen (Employment Agency) to give us a general view of the Dalarna labour market. We read previous research works and related articles to understand the topic in order to get an overview of the terminologies and concept to apply. This study concluded that language is a major obstacle foreign graduates meet in the Dalarna labour market. Other possible obstacles include culture, poor integration policies, lack of a placement bureau, lack of trust, limited opportunities, favoritism, lack of jobs, lack of references and experience. On the other hand factors like job availability, outgoing labour force and unskilled labour are possible opportunities foreign graduates meet in the Dalarna labour market. Furthermore flexible work time, good working atmosphere, experience, social security/welfare, good standard of living, family friendly region, higher wages, job security and cheap cost of living are also possible benefits that foreign graduates get in Dalarna.

The mining industry has been the bedrock of South African economy for more than a century, making an important contribution to employment opportunities, the gross domestic product and export earnings in the South African economy. Globally the mining industry is faced with a shortage of qualified talent to meet its production needs. Every year there are more people leaving than entering the mining industry to pursue job and career opportunities. The mining industry has to focus a lot on safety and health, training and development programmes, team building initiatives, and the recruitment and retention of affirmative action candidates in order to retain their valued staff. The mining industry also has to achieve production targets while at the same time assure that its employees are safe and happy workers. Therefore happy, productive and motivated employees are an important contributor to the stability and development within the mining industry. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between job demands, job resources, burnout and engagement of employees in the mining industry. The research method consisted of a literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. An availability sample (JV=199) from employees in the mining industry was taken. The Job Demands and Resources Scale (JDRS) (was used to measure job demands and job resources), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (was used to measure engagement) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (was used to measure burnout). Descriptive statistics, product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. The statistical analysis was carried out with the help of the SPSS programme. The results of this study indicated that job resources, namely organisational support (including the relationship with superiors, role clarity, information, communication, and participation) are positively related to growth opportunities (including variety, opportunities to learn, and autonomy), advancement and social support. Multiple regression analysis showed that the best predictors of engagement were organisational support, growth opportunities and work-life balance. The best predictors of disengagement were lack of resources, including growth opportunities and social support, and demands of overload and a lack of work-life balance. The predictors of burnout were overload and a lack of advancement opportunities Recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.