The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of teenage pregnancy on educators in the rural high schools at Thabo Mofutsanyane district in Eastern Free State. This study aimed to achieve four objectives which were to identify the impact of teenage pregnancy on educators; to identify the challenges that educators face when dealing with pregnant learners; to identify the form of training educators receive in preparing them to deal with teenage pregnancy; and lastly to identify the kind of support educators feel they are being given to help them deal with teenage pregnancy. Participants were eight Life Orientation educators from two high schools and two principals in the respective schools. Participants were identified using a purposive sampling method. Interviews and one focus group were conducted with educators and principals from the two schools. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and translated into English where necessary. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results of the study showed, firstly, that educators face a number of challenges including a lack of training and resources, poverty, lack of parental involvement, as well as a lack of policies and clear guidelines to be used when dealing with pregnant learners. Secondly, it showed that teenage pregnancy tends to have a negative impact on educators because they receive little support in dealing with pregnant learners. Thirdly, it showed that teenage pregnancy tends to have negative impact on educational performance because pregnant learners are distracting to the class and they are distracted themselves. This tends to affect the school’s overall performance which reflects negatively on educators. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Women of child-bearing age sometimes fail to plan for pregnancies. Often they discover that they are pregnant and are not prepared or cannot afford to raise the child. Before 1996 there was no choice for women as regards pregnancies, all pregnancies must be carried to term and delivered except on health grounds and with stringent conditions. However after the TOP act was enacted in 1996, women were allowed a choice of TOP up to and including 20 weeks of pregnancy.<br /> <br /> Regardless of the availability of choice of TOP, some pregnant women still present late (after 12 weeks) for TOP when the risks of complications and costs are higher. Women who present late for TOP usually have to be admitted to a district or regional hospital and managed. The costs at such institutions are high. TOPs before 12 weeks (early TOP) are done in a primary health care (PHC) facility (TOP center) and no admission is required hence less cost. Complications of early TOP are also very mild and rare. In Lejweleputswa district there is only one TOP Center (Kopano TOP Clinic) and this serves both Lejweleputswa and the Northern Free State districts. Early TOPs (less than 12 weeks) are done and completed at this center. Late TOPs (above 12 weeks but not more than 20 weeks) are initiated at this TOP center and referred to district or regional hospitals nearest to the patient&rsquo / s home, in both districts for completion.<br /> <br /> Problems - An increasing number of women are seeking TOP service at late stages of pregnancies and the incidence of severe complications like severe bleeding, retained placenta, infection, amniotic fluid embolism, death etc, are increasing. The hospital&rsquo / s bed space and budget are stretched to the limit due to the influx of late term TOP to the hospitals. Lack of manpower, especially doctors, in these hospitals also create some problems, as the few doctors available have to attend to other ill patients as well. Sometimes bleeding TOP patients are transfused with blood and placed on a waiting list for theatre and this often increases the risk of complications. The emotional effect of late TOP on hospital staff (doctors and nurses) are enormous as the expelled fetus are much more developed than in early TOP where no fetus is seen at evacuation with simple Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA).<br />

<p>This study aimed to identify barriers to the availability of essential drugs at health facilities, to identify implementable solutions to those barriers, to develop a monitoring system for tracking implementation of solutions and for tracking drug supply.</p>

M.Tech. (Construction Management) / This research was conducted to investigate the causes of construction company failure in the Free State Province, for the reason that there are many risks involved in running a construction company due to the nature of the construction industry. The study focused on four major factors involved in common business failures which are Managerial, Financial, Expansion and Economic environmental factors. The objectives of this research were achieved by means of a questionnaire that was distributed to 120 small and medium contractors in the Free State Province. These contractors were identified in the CIDB website and were listed as expired, suspended or deregistered then randomly selected. 102 questionnaires were received and 6 questionnaires were spoilt which meant that the total workable questionnaires were 96 which was at a return rate of 80%. The data analysis that was used was done by quantitative method. The data gathered include the main four factors (managerial, financial, expansion and economic environment) of the study. Financial factors were found to be amongst the leading causes of company failures, whereby most respondents said that their companies did not have adequate cost and accounting practices and systems in place. Delay in payment from clients was also a amongst the major causes for failure because the respondents said their companies always had cash flow problems and had heavy debts to their suppliers.

M.Sc. (Aquatic Health) / Previous studies showed that the upper reaches of the Taaibosspruit catchment in the north eastern region of the Free State, contains elevated concentrations of mercury in the sediment. Additional laboratory-based bioaccumulation studies with sediment-dwelling Chironomidae larvae revealed that the mercury was in a bioavailable form, but it was uncertain to what extent this mercury was in the methylated organic form. Therefore, a study to assess the extent of inorganic- and methylmercury contamination in the water and sediment, as well as the uptake of this pollutant by aquatic and aquatic associated biota was undertaken. This study tested the hypothesis that bioaccumulation of mercury occurs in the different trophic levels of the upper reaches of the Taaibosspruit ecosystem. The objectives of this study were to determine the spatial and temporal physico-chemical characteristics of the water and sediment of the Taaibosspruit system; to determine the extent of mercury distribution within the water and sediment of the Taaibosspruit system; to determine the degree of bioaccumulation and possible biomagnification of mercury by the biota from the different trophic levels of the ecosystem in the Taaibosspruit system; to determine the distribution of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese and uranium within the water and sediment of this system, as well as the degree of bioaccumulation of these metals by invertebrates and fish; and to determine whether the aquatic macroinvertebrate community structures change along the mercury pollution gradient in the Taaibosspruit system. Sampling was done bi-annually at five sites during late high- and late low flow periods. The reference site is situated on a tributary of the Taaibosspruit, which is not directly influenced by discharges from the industrial complex. In situ water quality parameters were determined at each site and the following samples were collected: water, sediment, aquatic rnacroinvertebrates, vertebrates (fish and amphibian species), as well as noninvasive tissue from birds (feathers). The physico-chemical characteristics of the water were determined by measuring the chlorophyll-a concentrations, nutrient levels and suspended solid content. The sediment was analysed for organic content, water content, as well as sediment particle size distribution. The methylmercury concentrations in the water, sediment and biotic components were determined through cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry, whilst inorganic mercury, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese and uranium concentrations in these samples were determined through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. All analyses were subjected to appropriate quality analysis and quality control procedures. The relationship between environmental mercury exposure and biological effects was determined using changes in the macroinvertebrate community assemblage structure as the biological endpoint. The invertebrate samples were retained for enumeration and lower taxonomic identification in the laboratory. Data were subjected to the appropriate univariate statistical analysis (oneway ANOVA and regression), as well as multivariate statistical analyses (redundancy and principal component) to study spatial and temporal trends in mercury distribution and associated biological responses. This study showed that elevated concentrations of some nutrients and other dissolved solids were present in the system and that the water quality from the upper catchment of the Taaibosspruit (near the industries) had an impact on the downstream sites. The highest mercury concentrations were found at the sites closer to the industrial complex. These concentrations were higher than the concentrations from the reference site and when compared to international mercury guidelines, it was found to be too high. Comparison of the mercury concentrations in the water and sediment with environmental parameters also revealed that some of these parameters significantly influenced the environmental mercury concentrations. It was found that the biota has bioaccumulated mercury, which has resulted in the biomagnification of methylmercury by the biota from the different trophic levels of the ecosystem from this system. The results of the other six metals showed that the highest concentrations were found at the sites closer to the industries, with very high cadmium and copper concentrations in the water at the site where wastewater from the industries enters the system. These high concentrations in the water, suspended particles and sediment resulted in the accumulation of the metals by the biota present in this system. The sediment-dwelling Chironomidae-larvae bioaccumulated these metals to higher levels than the other biota from this system. The response of aquatic macroinvertebrates to high mercury exposure was dearly visible, as the sites where the environmental mercury concentrations were the highest, had low species richness. The environmental variables also influenced the community structure of the macroinvertebrates by reducing the number of different families at the more impacted sites. The results have shown that some of the fauna in the Taaibosspruit system were reduced in favour of the more tolerant families, namely Chironomidae and Oligochaeta. Thus, it was found that Taaibosspruit system is impacted upon by the surrounding industries, namely by enhancing the bioaccumulation of mercury, and influencing the macroinvertebrate community structure.

M.Sc. / Water quality management is the effort of the community to control the physical, chemical and biological qualities of water. Water quality is mainly controlled by the activities of the community and the hydrological cycle. Usually an effort is made to control only one of the two causes, namely the activities of the community. The Sasolburg industrial complex is the largest of its kind in the Free State and consists mainly of chemical industries. A large proportion of the effluent is returned to the Vaal River via the Sasol sewerage works while some industries have permission to send their effluent to the Taaibosspruit, east of Sasolburg. The most industries let their storm water flow into the Taaibosspruit The option of the location of a monitoring point should determine whether the collected data is representative of the water quality and whether it is useful to observe trends in the water quality. The reliability of the data on water quality is strongly dependent on inter alia, the frequency of monitoring, which is determined by the availibility of staff and funding. By investigating the present monitoring sytem by Rand Water, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and the industries through this study it had to be determined whether the functioning of the monitoring network was optimal.Deficiencies like: unmonitored and unauthorised streams; badly contaminated areas which pollute the storm water and; the absence of retention facilities for contamninated storm water were found. Recommendations like: extra monitoring points; retention facilities for storm water and; biomonitoring for combined streams were made. Of great importance is the recommendation for the establishment of a local water quality management body to control the water quality of the water sources in the region.

The research study focused on assessing the usage of accounting systems by Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The location of the study was SMMEs in Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality (MAP LM) in the Eastern part of the Free State province. The objective of the study was to investigate the usage of accounting systems by SMMEs around MAP ML. The research approach that premised the study was a quantitative methodology, which involved distribution of questionnaires as part of field work to SMMEs in MAP LM area. The questionnaires were analysed through a statistical approach, and further linked back to the problem statement posed to the research study. The area of focus in the SMMEs was the usage of Computerised Accounting Systems which was selected because of its huge impact in the operation of most businesses. Computerised Accounting System forms the core of the business sustainability; it ensures that management is always abreast with information. Various literatures were reviewed regarding the usage of Accounting Systems and computerised accounting systems for SMMEs. The results provided an interesting outcome to conclude that the accounting systems being used by the SMEs around the MAP area poses less challenges to the operation of the businesses. It can also be concluded from the study that SMMEs around the MAP LM area are using accounting systems that collect and process data accurately and communicate information to the decision makers with no challenges. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The research study focused on assessing the usage of accounting systems by Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The location of the study was SMMEs in Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality (MAP LM) in the Eastern part of the Free State province. The objective of the study was to investigate the usage of accounting systems by SMMEs around MAP ML. The research approach that premised the study was a quantitative methodology, which involved distribution of questionnaires as part of field work to SMMEs in MAP LM area. The questionnaires were analysed through a statistical approach, and further linked back to the problem statement posed to the research study. The area of focus in the SMMEs was the usage of Computerised Accounting Systems which was selected because of its huge impact in the operation of most businesses. Computerised Accounting System forms the core of the business sustainability; it ensures that management is always abreast with information. Various literatures were reviewed regarding the usage of Accounting Systems and computerised accounting systems for SMMEs. The results provided an interesting outcome to conclude that the accounting systems being used by the SMEs around the MAP area poses less challenges to the operation of the businesses. It can also be concluded from the study that SMMEs around the MAP LM area are using accounting systems that collect and process data accurately and communicate information to the decision makers with no challenges. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (M. Ed.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2007

No abstract available / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Didactics)