This dissertation studies the role of education and training in job creation and poverty alleviation in the Sicelo Township. The study focuses on three areas, namely, unemployment, poverty and education and training. The actual state of unemployment and poverty in Sicelo is determined and the role of education and training in solving the problems of unemployment and poverty is discussed. Unemployment is identified, amongst others, as a major determinant of poverty. The main component of any policy aimed at eradicating poverty should therefore focus on employment creation. Education and training is found to be important in labour force participation, finding employment and, therefore, in alleviating poverty. Across both genders, individuals with a low level of education have less chance of finding employment than those with a higher level. Both unemployment and poverty is measured and a profile of the poor in Sicelo is given in terms of several household-level indicators. To measure poverty, the following tools are used: the household subsistence level (HSL) as poverty line, the headcount index, the poverty gap and the dependency ratio. The dissertation shows that Sicelo, compared to Bophelong, experiences lower unemployment rates as well as lower levels of poverty. Most of the indicators show that households in Sicelo are better off than Bophelong. From the analysis it is clear that a high percentage of the poor population have only a primary or incomplete secondary education, which could therefore imply that the lack of education (especially higher education) is a contributing factor to unemployment and poverty in Sicelo. Hence this study shows that access to education is clearly a key component, not only for human resource development, but also of an individual's ability to cope with modern living and to benefit from available opportunities. The unemployment rate amongst the poor was determined at 61.7 percent for Sicelo and the number of poor unemployed persons estimated at 908. If the poor unemployed with skills could be assisted in acquiring further training in the same field in which they already have skills, job opportunities could possibly be found in catering, retail trade, building construction, sewing and welding. Assuming that jobs for all 908 unemployed poor persons in Sicelo could be created at an average monthly income of R600 per month, the impact on the Sicelo community would be that the headcount index would be reduced from 0.50 to 0.23 and the poverty gap index from 0.37 to 0.22. This implies that the percentage of households below their poverty lines would be reduced from the present 50 percent to only 23 percent, and the average shortfall in income of the poor households would be reduced from 37 percent to 22 percent. More training and/or higher qualifications may lead to an increase in the average income, which will result in the reduction of the headcount index. Finally, the dissertation concludes that investing in education and training indeed can create job opportunities and reduce unemployment. This conclusion was drawn from the contention that uneducated individuals have fewer employment opportunities than their educated counterparts. Educated people have also a higher income earning potential, and are better able to improve the quality of their lives. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

This dissertation studies the social cost of pollution in Leitrirn, which is a township in the Vaal Triangle area. Policies and technologies that may be implemented to reduce pollution inc poor communities are also discussed. The study focuses on three areas namely pollution unemployment and poverty. Leitrim experiences a high rate of both unemployment and poverty. Residents in this area also experience high levels of pollution. Compared to Rathanda township which is more rural. Leitrim is worse off in terms of unemployment poverty and pollution. Unemployment is a major determinant of povert in Leitrim. The main component of a policy aimed at alleviating poverty in Leitrim should therefore focus on employment creation. Unemployment and poverty are defined and measured in this dissertation and the poor in Leitrim are profiled in terms of their gender qualification employment, unemployment and their spending methods. For measuring poverty the Household Subsistence Level (HSL) is used as poverty line to determine the headcount index and the poverty gap. Pollution is identified as one the factors which affect the wellbeing of the poor negatively. Reducing the k\el pollution will therefore also reduce the depth of poverty in poor communities. This dissertation focuses on the following types of pollution: land-based pollution (littering), dust pollution, noise pollution and air (indoor smoke pollution & air pollution from coal fire) pollution. Alternative technologies such as BM implemented in full scale can reduce the level of air pollution by more that 50 percent. It will also reduce the monthly household expenditure of poor households on coal by at least J.5 percent. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

South Africa, like international countries, has been experiencing an increase in the levels of poverty over the years. Poverty affects vulnerable groups of society more intensely and these groups include children, the old, disabled people and women, especially those who are single parents. This dissertation studies the role social grants have on the level of poverty in households of Sharpeville. This study focuses on two areas namely the theoretical background of poverty and social grants; and what the impact is of income from social grants. The South African government provides its citizens with eight different social grants to help those in need and/or vulnerable. From these social grants only six are investigated for the purpose of this study. These grants include the old age grant, child dependency grant, foster care grant, child support grant, disability grant and the war veteran grant. Poverty is defined as the inability to attain a minimal material standard of living by the World Bank. The different indicators used in this study to profile poor households in Sharpeville include the Household Subsistence Level (HSL) as the poverty line, the poverty gap ratio, the headcount index and the dependency ratio. This dissertation shows that poverty within the township has increased over the five years. And to do this the results from the data survey conducted in 2009 are compared to the results from Sekatane‘s 2004 data. The poverty gap ratio and the headcount index for the township in 2009 were estimated at 0.86 and 0.654 respectively. In the year 2004 the headcount index was estimated at 0.431 indicating a 22.3 percent increase in the number of people living in poverty. This means that an estimated 5 477 households in Sharpeville, in 2009, were regarded to be poor When government grants are excluded from the household‘s income within the township both the poverty gap ratio and the headcount index decrease to 0.93 and 0.705 respectively. This means that when government grants are excluded from households‘ income within Sharpeville, the depth of poverty within household‘s increases. The income from government grants might be regarded as minimal, however it assists in moving households further from the poverty line. This study recommends that activities within the informal sector should be encouraged as this will increase employment opportunities for those unemployed in the township. As the vast majority of the unemployed people have skills from trading/retail sector; employment creation should be focused in this sector. Lastly, the income threshold used in the means test equation to check affordability of social grant applicant should be decreased as people meeting the current criteria are already living in dire poverty. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

This Master's Thesis deals with high-speed rail in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part describes the history, the evolution and the present of high-speed rail and presents the successful foreign high-speed rail systems. Furthermore this part presents the high-speed railway tracks which are planned in the Czech Republic. The practical part researches the perception of high-speed rail by passengers. Based on the result of the survey, which was realized via the questionnaire, it analyses the criteria that passengers consider important in the choice of means of transport and it looks into passenger willingness to accept higher fare for shorten of travel time. With using the result of the survey it also deals with competitiveness of high-speed rail compared with other modes of transport. The aim of the Thesis is determine whether high-speed rail is attractive from the perspective of passengers and whether it is able to compete with other modes of transport.

All over the world, the level of poverty is increasing. In South Africa it is mainly concentrated in rural areas and differs significantly from whether considering race, sex, provinces or community areas. This dissertation studies the relationship between poverty and inflation in Sharpeville by determining the impact of rising prices on the poor households in Sharpeville. The study focuses on three areas, namely the theoretical background of poverty and inflation, the impact of rising prices in expenditure patterns and the relationship to poverty. There are different approaches in defining poverty. Poverty can either be absolute or relative. For the purpose of this study, poverty is defined as absolute. Thus the study defines individuals as poor due to their inability to attain a minimum material standard of living. This minimal standard of living is normally referred to as the poverty line. Inflation may be defined in different ways. For the purpose of this dissertation, inflation is defined as the rise in the general price levels over a specific period of time. Changes in expenditure patterns are caused by an increase in inflation. This study uses the regression model to determine the impact of inflation on poverty in Sharpeville. According to the macroeconomic theory’s implication, the same level of inflation on the same basket of commodities has a different level of effect on each household. Accordingly, in this study, all households are assumed to be faced with the same inflation rate. Household size is positively related to poverty gap squared. This means that the more members there were in a household in Sharpeville the poorer they were. Households with the highest number of members were poorer than those with few members. Statistically, the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between household size and poverty gap is rejected, even at the 1% level of significance. EXPINFL is negatively related to poverty gap. The correlation matrix confirms the results in the regression analysis. The correlation coefficient between The relationship between poverty and inflation in Sharpeville Page EXPINFL and PGAP is -0.34467. Although it is relatively weak, the fact that there is a negative correlation confirms that inflation negatively affects poverty. Finally, the study recommends that government provides more job opportunities for the individuals without any source of income in Sharpeville. The government could also provide business funding to the unemployed individuals to enable them to start their own businesses. This would enable those individuals to create additional employment. In addition, measures should be introduced to determine the effect of inflation on those households who are not employed (that is, not receiving any form of income, not even through any form of grant), but do benefit from some form of feeding scheme administered by either government or non-profit organisations. / MCom, Economics, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

All over the world, the level of poverty is increasing. In South Africa it is mainly concentrated in rural areas and differs significantly from whether considering race, sex, provinces or community areas. This dissertation studies the relationship between poverty and inflation in Sharpeville by determining the impact of rising prices on the poor households in Sharpeville. The study focuses on three areas, namely the theoretical background of poverty and inflation, the impact of rising prices in expenditure patterns and the relationship to poverty. There are different approaches in defining poverty. Poverty can either be absolute or relative. For the purpose of this study, poverty is defined as absolute. Thus the study defines individuals as poor due to their inability to attain a minimum material standard of living. This minimal standard of living is normally referred to as the poverty line. Inflation may be defined in different ways. For the purpose of this dissertation, inflation is defined as the rise in the general price levels over a specific period of time. Changes in expenditure patterns are caused by an increase in inflation. This study uses the regression model to determine the impact of inflation on poverty in Sharpeville. According to the macroeconomic theory’s implication, the same level of inflation on the same basket of commodities has a different level of effect on each household. Accordingly, in this study, all households are assumed to be faced with the same inflation rate. Household size is positively related to poverty gap squared. This means that the more members there were in a household in Sharpeville the poorer they were. Households with the highest number of members were poorer than those with few members. Statistically, the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between household size and poverty gap is rejected, even at the 1% level of significance. EXPINFL is negatively related to poverty gap. The correlation matrix confirms the results in the regression analysis. The correlation coefficient between The relationship between poverty and inflation in Sharpeville Page EXPINFL and PGAP is -0.34467. Although it is relatively weak, the fact that there is a negative correlation confirms that inflation negatively affects poverty. Finally, the study recommends that government provides more job opportunities for the individuals without any source of income in Sharpeville. The government could also provide business funding to the unemployed individuals to enable them to start their own businesses. This would enable those individuals to create additional employment. In addition, measures should be introduced to determine the effect of inflation on those households who are not employed (that is, not receiving any form of income, not even through any form of grant), but do benefit from some form of feeding scheme administered by either government or non-profit organisations. / MCom, Economics, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The development of shape in multicellular organisms has intrigued human minds for millenia. Empowered by modern genetic techniques, molecular biologists are now striving to not only dissect developmental processes, but to exploit their modularity for the design of custom living systems used in bioproduction, remediation, and regenerative medicine. Currently, our capacity to harness this potential is fundamentally limited by a lack of spatiotemporal control over gene expression in multicellular systems. While several synthetic genetic circuits for control of multicellular patterning have been reported, hierarchical induction of gene expression domains has received little attention from synthetic biologists, despite its fundamental role in biological self-organization. In this thesis, I introduce the first synthetic genetic system implementing population-based AND logic for programmed hierarchical patterning of bacterial populations of Escherichia coli, and address fundamental prerequisites for implementation of an analogous genetic circuit into the emergent multicellular plant model Marchantia polymorpha. In both model systems, I explore the use of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase as a gene expression engine to control synthetic patterning across populations of cells. In E. coli, I developed a ratiometric assay of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase activity, which I used to systematically characterize different intact and split enzyme variants. I utilized the best-performing variant to build a three-color patterning system responsive to two different homoserine lactones. I validated the AND gate-like behavior of this system both in cell suspension and in surface culture. Then, I used the synthetic circuit in a membrane-based spatial assay to demonstrate programmed hierarchical patterning of gene expression across bacterial populations. To prepare the adaption of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase-driven synthetic patterning from the prokaryote E. coli to the eukaryote M. polymorpha, I developed a toolbox of genetic elements for spatial gene expression control in the liverwort: I analyzed codon usage across the transcriptome of M. polymorpha, and used insights gained to design codon-optimized fluorescent reporters successfully expressed from its nuclear and chloroplast genomes. For targeting of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase to these cellular compartments, I functionally validated nuclear localization signals and chloroplast transit peptides. For spatiotemporal control of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase in M. polymorpha, I characterized spatially restricted and inducible promoters. For facilitated posttranscriptional processing of target transcripts, I functionally validated viral enhancer sequences in M. polymorpha. Taking advantage of this genetic toolbox, I introduced inducible nuclear-targeted bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase into M. polymorpha. I showed implementation of the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase/PT7 expression system accompanied by hypermethylation of its target nuclear transgene. My observations suggest operation of efficient epigenetic gene silencing in M. polymorpha, and guide future efforts in chassis engineering of this multicellular plant model. Furthermore, my results encourage utilization of spatiotemporally controlled bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase as a targeted silencing system for functional genomic studies and morphogenetic engineering in the liverwort. Taken together, the work presented enhances our capacity for spatiotemporal gene expression control in bacterial populations and plants, facilitating future efforts in synthetic morphogenesis for applications in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.