D.Ed. (Didactics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document Copyright / Thesis (PhD(Assessment and Quality Assurance))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Submitted in compliance with the requirement for Master’s Degree in Technology: Marketing, Retail, and Public Relations, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The South African Further Education and Training (FET) sector is facing the challenge of being rated and considered by many young school leavers and the community as a second choice institution, while universities are their first priority. This study aimed to investigate and explore student’s expectations and perceptions of Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with respect to their choice of college. The main objective of this research was to identify students’ expectations and perceptions, and the factors that encourage enrolment at FET colleges, as well as to identify the different expectations and perceptions, according to demographic factors. The SERVQUAL model was employed to establish students’ expectations against perceptions of FET colleges in KZN. The study design was quantitative in nature, using a descriptive technique, cross sectional, and collected data through the application of non-probability sampling with census, quota and convenience sampling methods being utilized to obtain data from a sample of 301 respondents. Data collected from the respondents were analysed with SPSS version 20.0 and interpreted with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The questionnaire measured students’ expectations and perceptions in five dimensions of service, namely tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. The findings demonstrate that students had higher expectations of service quality with lower perceptions of the actual service received. The negative gaps within the five SERVQUAL service quality dimensions, implies that the students were dissatisfied with the level of service in their FET colleges. The gaps, from largest to smallest, were Reliability, Assurance, Tangible, Responsiveness, and Empathy. FET College management is advised to attend to these above-mentioned gaps and to ensure that the necessary strategies are immediately implemented, as these would improve the FET brand and ultimately position FET Colleges as the institution of first choice in KZN. / M

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Education at Technikon Natal, 2000. / South Africa's apartheid policy under the previous Government entrenched a system of education that favoured the White minority at the expense of the other race groups, particularly Africans. African education was based on the ideology that Africans must be trained to serve their own community. Gross underfunding of African education resulted in underqualified educators, high leamer-educator ratios, low pass rates and lack of facilities / M

With English as the medium of academic exchange, Chinese students are the largest single overseas student group in the English speaking countries (2010). Relative to the outbound education market of other countries, the Chinese education market is large, and it is currently receiving much attention globally. Not only is South Africa one of countries where English is spoken, it has relatively speaking, low study fees and easily-accessed visas compared with countries in Europe and the United States. Therefore, South African universities have a virtually unlimited potential for receiving Chinese students. For South African education providers, particularly NMMU as the host university for the research in question, in order to render the expected education quality and to cater for the Chinese education market effectively, it is of utmost importance that the institutions have a clear understanding of Chinese students’ expectations as well as their actual academic experiences (in the broadest context) when studying at this university. The above is closely linked to the expected educational quality, the actual educational delivery as experienced by Chinese students, as well as the levels of satisfaction they experience as students at NMMU. The purpose of this research project is twofold. Firstly, it aims to construct a theoretical model showing the variables and relationships pertaining to expected and actual educational delivery as experienced by Chinese students. Having assessed the perceptions of the respondents based on the findings, another purpose is to design appropriate educational marketing strategies suitable to address the academic needs and expectations of Chinese students in the broadest context. By designing appropriate education strategies, the potential to develop the Chinese education market in South Africa will be enhanced. Given the purpose and nature of the research in question, methodological triangulation strategies were used. A Likert seven-point scale research instrument was developed and administered. Due to the limited number of respondents (n=61), the Likert scale instrument was further subjected to enrich the data by means of face-to-face interviews with 61 Chinese students (respondents), who shared their perceptions on the expectations and actual experiences of NMMU academic programme quality encounters. By following the methodological triangulation strategies, the validity of the findings is enhanced. The phenomenological dimension of the research was conducted according to guidelines as documented in secondary sources. The findings of the matched pair t-tests indicated that significant statistical differences do exist between the ‘expectations’ and ‘actual experiences’ of Chinese students’ perceived academic programme quality. Sufficient evidence is available at the 95 percent level of significance to support the hypothesis H1, namely: “There are differences between Chinese students’ ‘expected’ and ‘perceived’ academic programme quality (actual experience) of NMMU”. Besides the matched pair t-tests, further statistical analyses were performed by means of calculating Cohen’s ‘d’ values and relative percentage ratings to assess the magnitude of the “gap” between expectations and actual experiences of Chinese students studying at NMMU. The findings revealed that the Chinese students were not completely satisfied with their actual experiences when studying at NMMU. The above statistical findings were endorsed by the qualitative findings. Three sets of conclusions and recommendations were identified for this research. Firstly, conclusions emanating from secondary sources on service quality and students’ satisfaction literature were provided, such that students satisfaction is seen more as a psychological state which reveals an overall feeling of the students’ purchase and consumption experience. Secondly, the conclusions linked to the empirical findings revealed significant statistical differences between the expectations and perceptions (actual experiences) of Chinese students’ perceived academic programme quality. Finally, recommendations on relevant NMMU educational marketing objectives/ strategies can be grouped into four domains: - To build a customer-led education business which adheres to the principles of true marketing orientation with the focus on Chinese students. To achieve this objective a high level of understanding of Chinese students’ specific needs and wants when studying at NMMU is of utmost importance. The effective marketing positioning of NMMU can render leverage benefits to themselves and their clientele. - Findings from the biographic data analyses are significant to the positioning strategies and market segmentation strategies of NMMU. - The decision on a proper positioning strategy entails the choice of target market segments, which will determine where and how the education business competes and its choice of differential advantages. - The South African education providers should have appropriate educational brands to entice the Chinese students’ support.

Greater access to education for many South Africans is inextricably linked to the development of the country and its collective ability to deal with the many socio– economic challenges it presently faces. The availability of financial aid at Higher Education Institutions to support financially needy and academically deserving students as part of a comprehensive programme to address the need for skills development, socio–economic backlogs and imbalances that exist in the country is supported by various Government Departments, private donors and Higher Education Institutions. Financial Aid Offices responsible for the distribution of both public and private donor funding, face various challenges at South African universities in their endeavours to render quality service and prompt service delivery to their clients, the students who are the recipients of this funding. The present study attempts to identify the most important service quality dimensions relevant to effective and efficient service delivery in the Financial Aid Office at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Furthermore, this study aims to assess the performance of the Financial Aid Office to provide possible recommendations with a view to improving service delivery at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Against this background, the primary objective of this study is to measure financial aid students’ perceptions of service quality with a Financial Aid Office at a Higher Education Institution and estimate the effect these perceptions have on service delivery. All bursary and loan awardees from 2008, that is, only students who were successful in their financial aid applications for 2008, were invited to collect and complete a questionnaire at the Financial Aid Office at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. v The measuring instrument used was a self-administered, structured questionnaire divided into two sections. Section A measured service quality perceptions of the Financial Aid Office of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and Section B measured personal data of the respondents. A total of 500 questionnaires was distributed of which 228 were returned, yielding a final sample of 204 that could be statistically analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the empirical results. Overall, the results show that respondents were, by and large, satisfied with the service rendered by the Financial Aid Office at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Thus, perceptions of the five service quality dimensions measured in this study were favourable, implying that respondents did not have any major problems with the present service offering of the Financial Aid Office. It is important to note that while these results indicate favourable perceptions of service quality of the Financial Aid office at one point in time, they will not necessarily be permanent. The Financial Aid Office must therefore ensure that it continues to build on this valuable strength. Specifically, the Financial Aid Office should continue delivering this level of quality of service and concentrate on improving the service quality of the items in the questionnaire with the lowest mean scores. Service quality is an important construct and needs to be assessed in Financial Aid Offices to ensure the desired outcome of producing more graduates, especially from financially needy and academically deserving backgrounds. Students, as customers, deserve the best service, as they would expect from any other service provider such as a bank or a supermarket. The strengths of this Financial Aid Office can serve to assist other universities in providing a positive student experience through the delivery of a quality service.

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills shortage is of national and international concern. Modern business practices require the implementation of new technologies supported by a workforce with current and diversified ICT skill-sets. Acquiring suitable ICT skills has become a difficult task and employers are seeing government intervention at all levels. The school system in South Africa is under increased pressure and is faced with continuously declining matriculation pass rates, specifically in subjects such as science and mathematics. Schools are experiencing a decline in the number of scholars (learners) enrolling for the Information Technology (IT) school curriculum. The IT curriculum at school level is being criticised; under-prepared teachers are blamed and lack of suitable facilities highlighted. Surveys conducted amongst grade 9 and grade 12 scholars in the Eastern Cape have shown that scholars are not considering careers in ICT. Teachers, career/guidance counsellors and parents contribute to scholars' career decisions and are not encouraging scholars to pursue careers in ICT. Tertiary institutions in South Africa and internationally, are experiencing a decline in student enrolments and in pass and throughput rates. Industry is holding tertiary institutions responsible for not providing the “correct” ICT graduate skill-sets and passing an insufficient number of quality ICT graduates desperately required by industry. The accreditation of computing degree programs, such as Computer Science (CS), Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT), collectively referred to as CIT, offered by tertiary institutions is becoming an international requirement. The ICT industry is constantly changing and new job requirements and new career opportunities are frequently introduced. Graduates entering the ICT industry should have acquired knowledge about ICT career tracks in order to specialise and choose a suitable career path. Tertiary CIT degree programs should further be linked to specific career tracks and provide a multi-disciplined education to graduates. ii ICT graduates working in industry utilise skills obtained in under-graduate and post-graduate CIT degree programs. The ICT graduates have also obtained valuable skills working in industry, including business skills and soft skills. ICT skill surveys have identified the graduate skills gap, indicating ICT skills industry requires from graduates completing tertiary level qualifications. ICT graduates working in industry, for example indicated that programming in some cases is over-emphasised at school and tertiary level and that soft skills are ignored by tertiary institutions. An ICT Graduate Skills Classifications Framework is developed to address the graduate ICT skills gap and highlight important business skills, soft skills, technical skills and programming skills required by industry. In this thesis, an Industry ICT Value Chain Model is further developed that suggests a holistic approach to the problems experienced at all levels of ICT skills development, including government, industry, tertiary education institutions and at school level. Results from a number of research surveys conducted along the proposed Industry ICT Skills Value Chain Model indicated that problems exist at all stages in the value chain and that the problems can only be addressed involving government, industry and tertiary institutions collectively. A number of interventions is required and the support from industry is essential in achieving overall success in addressing the ICT skills shortage in South Africa. A proposed Industry ICT Skills Value Chain Model that can be utilised to address the ICT skills shortage in South Africa is presented.

The merger has consequently brought about a lot of challenges on Walter Sisulu University (WSU) employees. While the amalgamation of the three historically disadvantaged institutions remains a noble initiative, on the other hand, it has brought about inequalities, such as disproportionate salaries among employees of the three campuses, poor work performance, which can only be attributed to lack of motivation and reluctance amongst the staff members to accept new conditions of service under WSU. A substantial number of those employees, some of whom were employed before the amalgamation, have terminated their service long before the merger even took place. The aim of this study was to explore the implications of the merger on the morale of employees at WSU. The objective of this study aimed firstly, to provide an understanding of those inherent factors, which adversely affected the morale of staff at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and secondly, to reflect on the impact of the restructuring process on employees. This study employed a quantitative descriptive research design to analyse the data, using statistical procedures. Target population for this study was fifty academic and fifty non-academic staff members from the three sites of Walter Sisulu University, namely East London, Ibika and Umtata. There were, therefore, 100 questionnaires distributed electronically (e-mail), and also a few hand-delivered to the offices of the respondents, in order for them to complete at a time convenient to them. This study used purposive sampling because it is based entirely on the judgment of the researcher. The study established that indeed the merger had negative implications on WSU employees, even though these implications varied from category to category. Through the findings that emerged in this research, conclusions could be drawn that the merger brought about many challenges on WSU employees, namely staff development, human resource and management issues, job security and work environment. Suggestions and recommendations are espoused to eliminate the situation.

In the new dispensation, there are many challenges, especially concerning corruption. In this regard, the Eastern Cape is viewed as the most affected province, with the Department of Education identified as culprit number one engaging in corrupt activities. There are a number of contributing factors, as attributed in the study, but most prevalent among these is the vastness of the department, with fewer personnel and less capacity. Challenges of corruption in the Department of Education are perpetrated mainly by the civil servants. This study, researched the challenges of corruption in the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape, in particular by focusing on both the achievements and the limitations that have been experienced; and indeed, there are still numerous issues to be addressed and accomplished. The research, therefore, has been significant in that it touched on critical issues, such as, the public sector in general, which is corrupt. Misappropriation of public resources and corruption immersed the nation, as a whole, into a greater challenge rather than focusing on service delivery issues. There are situations, within the department, where the majority of senior officials, who may be in possession of valuable information, are always under suspension. In all the financial years the Department of Education existed, it always obtained disclaimer or adverse reports from the Office of Auditor-General (AG), despite numerous attempts and interventions by the AG‟s office and the Provincial Treasury to rectify the situation. There are also serious challenges of leadership crises in the Department of Education, both administratively and politically. During the research, that is, between the 2008 and 2010 financial years, there has been no permanent Head of Department; people were only acting in the capacity. vi Even those seconded from national education, could not finish the designated term, because of pressure mainly from the unions.

M.Ed. / The literature study cleary revealed that the continuous interaction of human beings with their environment is beneficial both to the environment and to human beings, but with a price attached which has to be paid by the environment. The price paid is evident in the environmental problems with which the world is currently faced. The environmental crisis is characterised by an increase in the human population which is threatening the earth at an alarming rate and which leads in turn to soil erosion, air and water pollution and the application of destructive pressure on resources. The habitats of natural life forms are currently in the process of disappearing and certain species have already become extinct (Smith, Carlson, Masters & Donaldson, s.a.:3). UNESCO-UNEP (1988:25/30/31) corroborated the above by indicating that the primary problem involved in respect of all environmental problems is the population explosion, which places more pressure on resources (plants, animals, energy, water, soil and air). The interaction of human beings with nature has, in fact, entailed certain advantages for nature, but at the same time has also created new problems which have plunged the environment into a crisis. There is ample proof to be found in literature that an environmental crisis has been identified and that possible solutions to the problem have been found. The call to action culminated in 1972 in the Stockholm Conference, which was attended by world government structures. The outcome of this was the Belgrade Charter of 1975. Subsequently, the awakening of environmental awareness reached a catalytic phase in 1977 with the Tbilisie Conference which laid the foundation for the establishment fo principles, objectives and aims for Environmental Education. The central role which should be played by the educationist in this connection, is clearly outlined: Agenda 21 (Chapter 36): "...education is critical for the promotion of sustained development" (EEP1, 1995b:12). In every respect, South Africa forms part of this international environmental issue. The fact that this is, in fact, generally realised is evident in the White Paper on Environmental Education of 1989, which was a result of the meeting on Environmental Education at Treverton College, Mooi River. The term Environmental Education is now recognised as a full-fledged concept in its own right in formal education (White Paper on Education and Training (1995:20); the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) document (1994); the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) document (1994:6); and the Committee on teacher eduction policy [norms and standards for teacher education] (Cotep) document (1995:41)), as quoted by Joubert & S teen kamp (1995:26/27). In this way, the problem of the community has also become the problem of the school curricula. It should therefore be accepted that schools should accord a high priority to environmentally-related problems in the community. The central role played by the teacher in environmental awareness is corroborated by various documents and writers. Two quotations will suffice in this connection: The Brutland report of 1987 states the problem as follows: '... the world's teachers ... have a crucial role to play in helping to bring about the extensive social changes needed for sustainable development" (EEPI, 1995b:12). Knapp (1975:209), as quoted by Raath (1994:4) states in this connection: Teachers and students alike can teach a lot about care and respect for the environment. They can also teach disregard and destruction of the earth": In this study, the status of the knowledge of aspirant teachers was revealed in respect of six environmental issues, namely, overpopulation, air pollution, water, soil, and plant and animal species. The relationship between factors such as external responsibility, restriction on individuals and responsibility for environmental education were also investigated. The respondents were comprised of aspirant teachers (final-year student teachers) of three South African Universities, namely the Rand Afrikaans University, the University of the Orange Free State and Vista (Free State) in the following study fields: Languages, Mathematics, Humanities, Economics and Physical Sciences, as well as other fields.