Thesis (D.Tech degree in Information Technology)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012. / In this study an interactive scenario analysis technique was developed and tested to forecast e-skills development in South Africa. The developed technique integrates qualitative and quantitative assumptions to improve the forecasting process. Improving the forecasting process is generally an open discourse, given that many organizations use techniques that were rejected from an academic perspective. The extant scenario analysis techniques that integrated quantitative and qualitative assumptions often will trade-off participation of decision makers and rely on experts. The conception of this work was based upon the preliminary analysis conducted on the strengths and weaknesses encountered in the previous forecasting studies. The goal was to evolve a new technique that demonstrates how scenario-based forecasting process can be practically improved by the inclusion of constructs that promote a comprehensive participatory model. The integration of constructs to support a team of decision makers and experts to engage in a participatory forecasting process has demonstrated considerable improvement and acceptance of results by decision makers. The cardinal contributions of this study are the merging of qualitative intuitive logic and quantitative cross-impact analysis to improve forecasting process, the quantification of scenarios to better convey meaningful information and the unique application of the developed technique to forecast demand-supply of e-skills development in South Africa.

This is a two-part study dealing with the curriculum, school leaving examinations and History as a school subject in England and South Africa. Part One is a developmental study. Developments in the curriculum of both countries since the Second World War are traced. In England this period is characterised by a shift from a somewhat laissez faire approach of the authorities at Whitehall to the curriculum of individual schools to the prescription that seems inherent in the National Curriculum. The outstanding development in South Africa during this period has been the introduction of a system of differentiated education. In contrast to minor developments in the South African school leaving examination system, England has witnessed the consolidation of the two-tier GCE and CSE system into a single examination at 16+, the GCSE. In discussing developments in History as a school subject, one is struck by the growth of the "new history" in England (this is described in some detail) against the relative lack of development (at "official" syllabus level) in South Africa where the subject remains rooted in the "traditional", chronological, content-based approach. Part Two of this study compares the current situation in England and South Africa at both the macro (ie. curriculum and school leaving examination systems) and micro (ie. History as a subject in the curriculum) levels. At the macro level the curriculum and school leaving examination systems in both England and South Africa are contrasted and one notes an increasing trend towards centralization in both countries. At the micro level use is made of "official" syllabuses and examination papers to contrast the "new history" approach in England with the "traditional" approach in South Africa. In the conclusion two broad possibilities for curriculum reform in South Africa are considered: Broad reform across the curriculum on the one hand and reforms in History on the other