Research reveals that the level as well as the quality of education plays a role in the determination of an individual's intellectual capacity. Substantial differences in quality of education for black and white individuals were experienced in South Africa due to Apartheid. Compared to the traditionally white Private and Model C schools, Township/ DET schools had limited resources, as well as a separate syllabus and examination system, a situation that has not improved substantially since democratisation in 1994. Research on black South African adults with the WAIS-III has confirmed significant influences on IQ in association with exposure to either such advantaged (Private/Model C) schooling, or disadvantaged (Township/DET) schooling. However to date there has been no published research on the use of the Wechsler intelligence tests on a black South African child population similarly stratified for quality of education. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, the latest Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) was administered to a sample of 36 Grade 7 learners between the ages of 12-13 (mean 13.01 years), stratified for quality of education to form three comparative groups. Data analyses revealed significant differences on the WISC-IV Factor Indices and Full Scale IQ with the English speaking Private/Model C school group performing the best, followed by the Xhosa speaking Private/ Model C school group, and the Xhosa speaking Township/ DET school group performing the worst. This continuum of lowering is understood to occur abreast of a continuum of decreased exposure to relatively advantaged education. These normative indications are considered to have vital implications for the use of the WISC-IV in the South African cross-cultural situation where vastly differential educational opportunities continue to exist.

Foundation provisioning has a long history in South Africa, and is central to the transformation agenda, particularly the broadening of successful participation in higher education (HE). As access initiatives underpinned by various conceptualisations, foundation programmes evolved from peripheral, to semi-integrated and finally fully integrated curricular models in the form of current Extended Studies Programmes (ESPs). Underpinning the provision of Extended Studies is the acknowledgment that students who enter institutions are essentially ill equipped to cope with the demands of higher education studies, “leaving institutions themselves free of the responsibility of student failure” (Akoojee & Nkomo, 2007:391). This under-preparedness has been attributed to the ‘articulation gap’ between secondary and higher education, which in turn contributes to low retention and graduation rates (CHE, 2013:17). Situated within an overarching commitment to access and success, the Extended Studies Programme attempts to systematically address the ‘articulation gap’. This study evaluated the extent to which the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme is achieving its objectives from a transformation perspective, specifically the broadening of successful participation in higher education. The majority of previous works on the evaluation of foundation programmes focused on measurable dimensions of student access and success – that is retention and graduation rates. This thesis considered both the measurable outcomes of the programme as well as the actual teaching and learning process. Given the shifts that have taken place in foundation provisioning, the evaluation of the current model of foundation provisioning necessitated their location in history. Therefore, the evaluation of the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme was undertaken in view of the shifts, achievements, challenges and critics of its predecessor programmes. Specifically, the following dimensions were considered in the evaluation of the programme: i) assumptions underpinning the design and purpose of the programme, ii) teaching and learning practices in the programme, iii) student and staff perceptions of the programme, iv) students’ experiences of the programme, v) the validity of the programme in the broader institution, and vi) the measurable outcomes of the programme − that is retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the programme. The triangulation of qualitative data collection techniques provided access into the different layers of institutional relations, processes and structures, which not only affect teaching and learning in the programme, but also determine students’ engagement with different academic and social aspects of the broader university. The theoretical insights of Pierre Bourdieu and Amartya Sen were integrated in order to provide analytical tools for both understanding the causes of inequalities in higher education, and evaluating institutional processes and structures that perpetuate or transform inequalities. Whilst Bourdieu’s social reproduction thesis exposed the ways in which social structures shape educational processes and outcomes, Sen’s capability approach provided tools for evaluating both institutional arrangements and individual capabilities – that is, the freedom to achieve desired educational outcomes (Sen, 1992:48).

This study is influenced by the objectives of the Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities Partnership which aims to enhance the quality and relevance of university education through implementation of Environmental Education and sustainability across university functions and operations. It contributes to Education for Sustainable Development through the development of tools to assess sustainability in higher education, investigating sustainability practices in universities and proposing strategies for improving mainstreaming of sustainability. It also contributes to systems approaches in mainstreaming contextual sustainability challenges in university functions and operations. The aim of the study was to investigate how universities can mainstream sustainability in their functions and operations in response to contextual sustainability challenges in a changing environment using a systems approach. The research was a case study of Rhodes University in South Africa, which is situated in the impoverished Eastern Cape Province. The study involved 12 teaching departments (representing all faculties at the university), four research units and institutes, five managements units, the Estates Division and the Student Representative Council. The theoretical framework of the study draws from a critical realist ontology and systems thinking epistemology. Systems thinking emphasises the interdependencies of phenomena, thus providing the methodology and tools for a systems view of relationships between education and the environmental context in which it is embedded. Critical realism was employed as an underlabourer to systems thinking as it provides for some of the dimensions absent in systems thinking including its depth ontology which facilitates isolating causal factors influencing empirical reality. It recognises that explanation of phenomena can be embedded in history and acknowledges the fallibility of knowledge. The data collection methods employed in the study include a sustainability assessment using a Unit-based Sustainability Assessment Tool developed as part of the study, interviews, content analyses and observations. Data analyses were performed through employing morphogenetic analysis, and inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference. The morphogenetic analysis of social transformation/reproduction was employed to trace the historical emergence of sustainability initiatives at Rhodes University. Induction facilitated reorganisation of the data into themes which particularly represent the main sustainability activities at Rhodes University. Abduction, through recontextualising data in a systems thinking framework, enabled further insights into the phenomena. In the study, it enabled use of systems lenses as a framework and led to identification of systemic issues affecting mainstreaming and later, the development of systems thinking approaches in mainstreaming sustainability. Retroduction enabled identification of causal mechanisms which influenced the emergence of sustainability initiatives at the university. The study established that the emergence of sustainability initiatives at Rhodes University followed the 1990 Talloires Declaration and paralleled international institutional developments in relation to environmental and sustainability challenges. Since then, sustainability initiatives have continuously been emerging in various operational dimensions of the university in line with emerging sustainability challenges which resulted in a morphogenetic cycle. The study revealed that Rhodes University has mainstreamed sustainability across the functions and operations of most of the departments/divisions/units forming part of the study, especially in functions like teaching, research, community engagement and operations. There were a few exceptions like the Human Resources Division and to an extent the Research Office/Management Division which are not yet considering sustainability in their operations. While most of the teaching departments had sustainability initiatives in teaching, research and community engagement, there was diversity in the dimension(s) of sustainable development that the departments addressed and this seemed to relate to the disciplinary content of their subjects. In the Estates Division sustainability initiatives included sustainable landscaping, campus environmental management, water and energy conservation initiatives, waste recycling, use of biodiesel, to mention a few. Students were also involved in various sustainability activities especially through voluntary community engagement initiatives. Sustainability initiatives at the university were also discovered to be embedded within and responding to sustainability challenges of the immediate university environment of Makana District. The study unearthed the causal mechanisms enabling and constraining mainstreaming activities at the university. These were found to be embedded in the history and context within which the university is operating, and other factors related to university structures and agency of lecturers, other employees and students. Examples of these factors are unsustainable patterns in society, policies and the need to redress past inequalities. The study noted the existence of systemic issues at the university which need to be addressed to enable and enhance the promotion of a systems approach to mainstreaming: notably, complexity owing to diversity of approaches employed in mainstreaming, the absence of clearly defined university sustainability goals, problems of institutional support and in some cases, disciplinary governing rules which do not leave room for mainstreaming sustainability. The study established the possibility of improving mainstreaming of sustainability through the adoption of more explicit systems approaches. It suggests use of systems models including the systems-environment model, the functions/structure model and the motion picture model in the process. It recommends making the goal of mainstreaming more upfront, developing a shared understanding of sustainability and mapping out/defining contextual sustainable development issues to grapple with. The study also recommends adopting a holistic approach in mainstreaming, making it a campus-wide initiative, involving all students and developing interdisciplinary curricula. It suggests setting up of supporting mechanisms to strengthen, extend and spearhead mainstreaming and enhancement of collaborative work in sustainable development issues.

My stories are set in the townships, and move with the vigorous rhythms and jagged structures of township life. Some of them are written in English and others in isiXhosa. Some of the dialogue is township slang, a mixture of languages; and pure isiXhosa. The stories follow no particular pattern and are arranged according to any form of chronology, and different voices, at times as a man/boy and in others as a girl. The characters are not related each story perfectly stands for itself. Some of the stories hark back to the days of apartheid and are seen through the eyes of a child confused by the humiliations of his elders. / Amabali am asekelwe ezilokishini yaye ahambelana neemeko ezimaxongo zokuphila zasezilokishini apho yaye amanye asukela kwixesha lengcinezelo yesizwe esimnyama. Imiba echatshazelwa kula mabali iquka intlupheko, intiyo kwakunye nokuphilisana koluntu ezilokishini, phantsi kwezo meko. Amabali la ndizame ukuwenza alandele indlela yokubalisa yhenkwenkwana enguSkhumba, ethi ibone iqwalasele iimeko zokuphila zabantu bohlanga lwayo. Ingqokelela esisiqendu sokuqala yona ibhalwe ze yangeniswa ngesiNgesi. / This thesis is presented in two parts: English and isiXhosa.

Lurching from day-today in the months before South Africa becomes a republic, booze-befuddled Indian private investigator Rohit Biswas does not ponder how he can secure his daughter's future after he became a widower and lost his job as police detective when he killed a man who fatally stabbed his wife. Salvation appears when a rich client hires the PI to find evidence proving his son did not rape and murder a white socialite. Fighting against seeming impossible odds in colonial-apartheid Durban and a sanctions-busting conspiracy, Biswas secures his client's acquittal. In the process he defies karma and redeems himself.

These stories are about people’s experiences in relationships and how they overcome and resolve problems with their partners. Some explore myths and unexplained occurrences that raise many questions.

The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of how Grahamstown teenagers are affected by the label ʹdyslexiaʹ; by providing a space in which their feelings about being labelled dyslexic and their experiences can be voiced. Historically much international and local research has focussed on causation and remediation of dyslexia and has neglected the social aspects of the diagnosis. Causation and remediation are categories which form part of the medical or educational models. A social model of dyslexia needs to be applied. Due to the paucity of South African literature on the social experiences of dyslexic teenagers, this research thesis aims to add to the body of knowledge and hopefully provide an avenue for more research within the context of Sociology. This is a micro study, situated in Grahamstown Eastern Cape, South Africa, and the author recognizes that responses cannot be generalized to the greater dyslexic population. All human environments consist of objects which are given meaning through social interaction. Meaning is central to human behaviour and therefor explains the ways in which humans conduct their lives based on these meanings. For this reason George Herbert Mead’s (1934) and Herbert Blumers (1969) symbolic interactionist positions have framed the theoretical approach to this research. Qualitative methods of interviewing provide an opportunity for dyslexic individuals to discuss the meaning dyslexia gives to them, from their perspective and in their own words. The following conclusions have been arrived at: Educational psychologists in Grahamstown are reticent to diagnose individuals as dyslexic. This lack of identification hinders early intervention which can be very detrimental to individuals struggling with reading, writing and spelling as well as the associated co-morbid conditions of dyslexia. Teenagers who have had early diagnosis and intervention with support structures in place identify with their dyslexic identity more positively as they are able to make sense of their struggles of a dyslexic nature.

his study builds on South African cross-cultural research which demonstrated the importance of careful stratification of multicultural/multilingual normative samples for quality of education in respect of English and African language (predominantly Xhosa) speaking adults and children tested with the WAIS-III and WISC-IV, respectively. The aim of the present study was to produce an expanded set of preliminary comparative norms on the WISC-IV for white and coloured Afrikaans, white English and black Xhosa speaking Grade 7 children, aged 12 to 13 years, stratified for advantaged versus disadvantaged education. The results of this study replicate the findings of the prior South African cross-cultural studies in respect of quality of education, as groups with advantaged private/former Model C schooling outperformed those with disadvantaged former DET or HOR township schooling. Furthermore, a downward continuum of WISC-IV IQ test performance emerged as follows: 1) white English advantaged (high average), 2) white Afrikaans advantaged and black Xhosa advantaged (average), 3) coloured Afrikaans advantaged (below average), 4) black Xhosa disadvantaged (borderline), and 5) coloured Afrikaans disadvantaged (extremely low). The present study has demonstrated that while language and ethnic variables reveal subtle effects on IQ test performance, quality of education has the most significant effect – impacting significantly on verbal performance with this effect replicated in respect of the FSIQ. Therefore caution should be exercised in interpreting test results of individuals from different language/ethnic groups, and in particular those with disadvantaged schooling, as preliminary data suggest that these individuals achieve scores which are 20 – 35 points lower than the UK standardisation.

This thesis has identified and analysed the role of an NGO called Gadra Education in advancing education rights to the less advantaged people of Grahamstown in South Africa. Gadra Education’s role has been identified as twofold. Firstly as an educational NGO, Gadra Education’s initiatives directly impact on the lives of the less economically and socially privileged learners who, due to their previous learning environment in state schools, do not achieve academic results that ensure entry into tertiary level. Secondly its role is identified in its nature as an organisation that emerged due to the deficiencies in the state schooling system. It therefore stands de facto as a critical institution for critique of the state’s education system. The thesis concludes that without confronting the Department of Education or collaborating with it, Gadra Education offers a significant alternative approach which can potentially influence the state to improve the state schooling system. Its strategy of non-confrontation to the state, informal and non-corporatist is advantageous as an NGO that focuses on the actual provision of education. It focuses on instilling Ubuntu values of sharing and giving that are of critical significance in teaching and learning. The context of the thesis is located broadly within socio-economic rights and specifically on education rights. In South Africa where the state has not adequately met the educational obligations for the economically and socially less privileged citizens, the emergence of educational NGOs that focus on providing education to the poor is of vital importance. Although other NGOs that confront the state are important in pushing the state to deliver especially on school infrastructure, teacher deployment and other educational challenges, Gadra Education model ensures academic success for the learner. Lessons can be drawn from Gadra Education which can be potentially useful to state schools and other NGOs that seek to advance education rights to disadvantaged communities.

Higher Education in the late 1990’s experienced significant problems with capacity due to many black students applying to enter previously white institutions (Jansen, 2002:159). The main concern of the new ANC government was the status of historically black institutions. They were unstable due to the migration away from black to white universities and technikons. This reduced their financial status and viability. In addition, the anticipated huge increase in black enrolments in higher education had not materialised (Finweek Survey, February 2009). In order to overcome both of these problems, the then Minister of Education decided to press ahead with a merger programme aimed at reducing the number of higher education institutions from 36 to 21 (Jansen, 2002:6). The primary objective of this research is to investigate the factors that influence employee perceptions of a post-merger Working Environment and Organisational Commitment: a case study of the administration staff in the Finance Department at Walter Sisulu University. There seems to be a lack of efficiently and effectiveness in the he operations of the Finance Department of Walter Sisulu University which this research will investigate through finding solutions to factors of improving the relationship between employee perceptions of their post-merger Working Environment and their Organisational Commitment. This exploratory study collected primary data through the distribution of questionnaires to 59 employees from the Finance Department at the Walter Susulu University, with a 69.12% response rate. The survey included closed questions that were analysed using statistical techniques. The findings revealed overall low scores of 31% for employee perception of their post – merger Working Environment and 50.21% for Organisational Commitment, together with its sub-dimension Affective, Continuance and normative. These scores are disturbing and need to be urgently addressed by the management of the Institution. The implication of the Finance staff’s low perception of their post – merger Working Environment and organisation Commitment is that the institution’s goals will be difficult to be fulfilled due to the low morale of the staff and the non-conducive working conditions. The Institution’s Management should be more transparent, more trustworthy, and more supportive towards staff members and have a good overall communication strategy.