This study explores perceptions and attitudes of boys and girls towards schoolgirl pregnancy at 'Mampota high School in Lesotho. No policy exists in Lesotho concerning school girl pregnancy. While Lesotho espouses democratic rights to all, pregnant schoolgirls continue to be excluded from the school system. In this era this does not only discriminate but also impinges on one of the fundamental rights of girls, the right to education. Pregnant girls continue to drop out of school because of the negative perceptions and attitudes of teachers and other students even in countries where expulsion is outlawed. Although these attitudes reflect myths and stereotypes, they are not illusions. They remain powerful and are a major driving force behind pregnant girls dropouts. They reinforce the stereotypical construction of gender and work to marginalise and disempower young girls. These perceptions and attitudes sentence girls to a life of subservience and reduce their life chances both economically and socially. Focus group interviews and questionnaires were used examine the attitudes of boys and girls towards schoolgirl pregnancy at MHS. The findings suggest that both boys and girls construct gender in ways that discriminate against pregnant schoolgirls, but girls as more prejudiced than boys towards pregnant schoolgirls. A good sign emerging from the study is that not all boys and girls take this position and this points to the possibility of making the school a safer place for pregnant school girls. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

his study discusses the benefits of Popular Participatory Theatre (PPT) as a research method with which to investigate the culture of silence around HIV/AIDS issues in Malealea Valley, Lesotho. Popular Participatory Theatre provided the means by which the community named, reflected on and initiated action with regard to their problems. This research will contribute to the growing body of research which aims to uncover effective modes of communication which could lead to behaviour change. This study employed the qualitative research methodology. This was in recognition that qualitative research involves in-depth understanding of human behaviours and the reasons that govern that behaviour, and looks at the reasons behind various aspects of behaviour, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. Qualitative research seeks meaning rather than generality and contributes to theory development (Miller et al, 2003:192-3). In-depth interviews and focus groups were also used as instruments for data collection. The findings of the study indicate that socio-economic issues such as language, cultural practices, the way that Basotho are brought up and power dynamics around patriarchy contribute to the culture of silence. The Malealea Theatre Project helped the Malealea community to re-examine some of their beliefs and cultural practices. The findings also indicate that popular participatory theatre is an effective research method that can be used to collect data while also leading to community action. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

Colonialism in Africa had an impact on the indigenous peoples of Africa and this is shown in some of their games. The purpose of this study is to gain deeper insight into Basotho children's games and to demonstrate that the Western ideas of music and games are not necessarily the same as Basotho folk children's conceptions. The literature on Basotho children's games is reviewed though not much has been contributed by early and present Basotho writers who have generally approached it from the angle of literature without transcribing the songs. The Sesotho word for games (lipapali) embraces entertainment but a further investigation of it shows that aspects of learning of which the children were aware in some cases and in others they were not aware, are present. These are supported by musical examples and texts. The definition of play versus games is treated (with regard to infants and children) and these two concepts are still receiving constant attention and investigation by scholars and researchers as the words are synonymous and can be misleading. Infants' play is unorganised and spontaneous while games are organised structures. Furthermore, play and games are important in child development education. In this study, they are given attention in order to lay the foundation for the understanding and interpretation of games used in both cultures. It is a misconception that African children's games are accompanied with music in the Western sense. Hence, the word `music' in Sesotho children's games takes on a different connotation from those in the West. Music' in Sesotho children's games embraces not only tunes that are sung, but game verses chanted in a rhythmic manner as opposed to spoken verse. Yet, mino (music) exists in Sesotho and is equivalent to the Western idea. These chanted rhythms and games are analysed against the backdrop of specific cultural dimensions for children depending on the function of the game played. The results of this study indicated that though the idea of music in children's games is not the same, games are an educational in character building and learning. Recommendations are made for educationists and music educators. / ART HIST, VIS ARTS and MUSIC / DLITT ET PHIL (MUSICOLOGY)

The government of Lesotho and the parent expect all learners to attend school daily to receive the best education so that they can have a bright future. Education prepares the learner for life; if the learner drops out, he/she will struggle to succeed in life. The ever increasing rate of primary school dropouts in Lesotho is of great concern as it has negatively impacted on education in the area. The education system as well as the Basotho community has over the years been affected in various ways. For example, school dropouts become liabilities to the community as they are not able to contribute maximally to nation building. In most cases the dropouts engage in anti-social criminal activities. They also cause educational wastage in the form of resources. For these reasons, it was of paramount importance to determine the reasons for dropouts and establish the possible solutions to this national problem. This study has examined factors influencing learners to dropout. It employed a qualitative research design, using focus group interviews and field notes to succeed in investigating the causal factors of learner dropouts. Purposive sampling was used for the research because it was convenient for the research in terms of time. By using purposive sampling, the researcher was able to include participants according to the relevant criteria based on the emerging research question: What are the factors influencing learner dropout? The main objective was to identify the factors influencing primary school learner dropouts in Teyateyaneng, Lesotho. The focus group interviews were made up of one principal and five educators from each of the three primary schools which are located in Teyateyaneng in the Berea district of Lesotho. This type of sampling was used because the researcher wanted rich information from participants regarding the reasons for learners dropping out of school. It has emerged from the empirical findings of the study that learner dropout is inter alia caused by school and home related factors. The study revealed that some learners dropped out of school because they were orphans, while others dropped out of school after being absent for a number of weeks. Mainstream classrooms were also found to encourage dropping out because educators are not fully trained to address problems that learners with disabilities bring to the classrooms. Lack of parental involvement was found to drive learners away from schools and into the streets. Due to poor financial situations learners leave school and are forced into child labour to better their families‟living conditions. Student educators were found to be a factor because they lack the necessary skills in developing learners. Other learners decided to stop schooling totally after repeating a grade.Due to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS many learners are taken out of school to take care of their ill relatives. Some learners drop out of school after being abused and neglected. Due to the high unemployment rate and poverty in Lesotho, many learners quit school to support their families. All the above causes for learners dropping out of school have been discussed in detail in chapter four. These factors are complex issues, which should be handled by trained people. As learners spend a great ideal of time in their school environments, the educators play an integral part in alleviating the learners' social problems. It is essential that learners with social problems seek professional help at an early stage. Educators are obliged to help these learners although they are not necessarily equipped to give the required assistance. Suggestions and recommendations are mentioned to alleviate the situation. The study recommends that primary school learners should be encouraged to complete their primary level education. The Ministry of Education and Training should develop policy guidelines on inclusive education, facilitate legislation on compulsory basic education, improve teaching and learning conditions in all schools, abolish child labour, create employment opportunities for parents to prevent child labour, regulate traditional circumcision and solicit parental support. All the above suggestions hoped to be solutions to the problems of learner dropouts as discussed in detail in chapter two. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Medical male circumcision prevalence in Lesotho remains at 23% even though efforts are made to encourage men to be circumcised. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe perceptions of men regarding male circumcision in a hospital in Morija, Lesotho and make recommendations on how to promote uptake of medical male circumcision. A descriptive, explorative and contextual qualitative design was used. In-depth, unstructured individual interviews were conducted on ten (10) uncircumcised men who were selected via purposive sampling. The findings revealed that men’s perceptions on circumcision can be classified under the following themes: perceived health beliefs of men about circumcision, perceived community-held beliefs about circumcision, men’s knowledge regarding circumcision, and perceived misconceptions about circumcision. It is recommended that knowledge on circumcision be reinforced and negative perceptions be corrected with the multi-sectoral approach to promote uptake of circumcision services. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public health)

Background: The nursing process is a widely accepted method and has been suggested as a scientific method to guide procedures and qualify nursing care. More recently, the process has been defined as a systematic and dynamic way to deliver nursing care. This process is performed through five interrelated steps, namely: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation, with subsequent modifications used as feedback mechanisms that promote the resolution of the nursing diagnoses. The Lesotho Nursing Council (LNC) adopted the nursing process over a decade ago and the LNC mandated nurse training institutions and clinical settings to utilise this methodology. However, there is a reluctance to implement the nursing process despite its importance in nursing care (LNC, 2009:7). Purpose: The primary purpose of this research was to explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of nurses in implementing the nursing process in a district public hospital in Lesotho. On the grounds of these findings, the researcher ultimately makes recommendations for nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research. Methodology: To explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of nurses implementing the nursing process in a district public hospital in Lesotho, the researcher chose a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design. The researcher used voluntary purposive sampling to identify participants who complied with the set selection criteria. The sample comprised of professional nurses with varying years of working experience and qualifications. The data was collected by means of narratives and two focus group interviews; n=10 and n=6. The data was captured on a digital audio recorder and was transcribed verbatim. The researcher took field notes during each focus group. Both the researcher and independent co-coder analysed the narratives and transcribed data together, using narrative analysis and open coding (Creswell, 2009:185). Three main themes and nine subthemes emerged from the data collected from the narratives and focus groups. The researcher illustrated these themes through direct quotes by the participants. Each of these themes was discussed accompanied by relevant data obtained from literature, and reduced to conclusive statements, which serve as a basis for the derived recommendations to nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research. Trustworthiness was ensured in accordance with the principles of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Conclusions: The researcher reached a number of conclusions. The participants perceived several factors and experienced them as interfering with the efficient implementation of the nursing process. Operational difficulties experienced in the systematisation of nursing care in practice, are amongst others a lack of knowledge of the steps involved in the process, an excessive number of tasks assigned to the nursing team, the poor quality of professional education, insufficient reports on the physical examination related to the disease and difficulty to formulate the nursing diagnosis. The research report concluded with the researcher’s evaluation of the research and recommendations for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research with the purpose of improving the implementation of the nursing process. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Background: The study described the perspectives and experiences of women and health care providers with regard to use of postnatal care and reasons why some women do not attend postnatal care in order to identify strategies for improving postnatal care services. Methods: An explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design was used. In step one data was collected with semi-structured interviews with seventeen (17) women who attended postnatal care. The second sample consisted of ten (10) women who did not attend postnatal care but brought their babies for well-baby clinic. Focus groups were conducted with midwives who offered postnatal care to women. The midwives of the first focus group worked in the hospital while the second focus group worked at a filter clinic. Results: In step one, some women indicated positive experiences but most women had negative experiences about postnatal care. The positive experiences were related to the satisfaction of the women with good services received and not encountering problems with staff's care. Common concerns mentioned in step one and two about postnatal care were shortage of skilled midwives, need for staff to be trained on postnatal care services, lack of confidentiality, poor infrastructure and non-integration of maternal and child services. Reasons for not attending postnatal care that were mentioned by women in step three were inaccessibility of the health care facilities, poor roads infrastructure, lack of knowledge about postnatal services and socio-cultural factors. Conclusion: Based on the findings, strategies to improve postnatal care were developed: Firstly, the midwives need to be trained on postnatal care and highlighted on current postnatal policies and guidelines. Secondly, woman and baby should attend the postnatal care at the health facility. Thirdly, community health nurses and trained community health workers should visit the women at home soon after birth of the babies. Fourthly, postnatal care should be provided at the family and community level by a trained and skilled midwife during the early postnatal period. Fifthly, combination of care facility and home visit - when the woman and baby are discharged from the hospital, follow- up need to be done at home by the midwife. Lastly, a comprehensive integration of postnatal services with other programmes needs to be enforced and supported by the programme management and policy makers. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Background: The nursing process is a widely accepted method and has been suggested as a scientific method to guide procedures and qualify nursing care. More recently, the process has been defined as a systematic and dynamic way to deliver nursing care. This process is performed through five interrelated steps, namely: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation, with subsequent modifications used as feedback mechanisms that promote the resolution of the nursing diagnoses. The Lesotho Nursing Council (LNC) adopted the nursing process over a decade ago and the LNC mandated nurse training institutions and clinical settings to utilise this methodology. However, there is a reluctance to implement the nursing process despite its importance in nursing care (LNC, 2009:7). Purpose: The primary purpose of this research was to explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of nurses in implementing the nursing process in a district public hospital in Lesotho. On the grounds of these findings, the researcher ultimately makes recommendations for nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research. Methodology: To explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of nurses implementing the nursing process in a district public hospital in Lesotho, the researcher chose a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design. The researcher used voluntary purposive sampling to identify participants who complied with the set selection criteria. The sample comprised of professional nurses with varying years of working experience and qualifications. The data was collected by means of narratives and two focus group interviews; n=10 and n=6. The data was captured on a digital audio recorder and was transcribed verbatim. The researcher took field notes during each focus group. Both the researcher and independent co-coder analysed the narratives and transcribed data together, using narrative analysis and open coding (Creswell, 2009:185). Three main themes and nine subthemes emerged from the data collected from the narratives and focus groups. The researcher illustrated these themes through direct quotes by the participants. Each of these themes was discussed accompanied by relevant data obtained from literature, and reduced to conclusive statements, which serve as a basis for the derived recommendations to nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research. Trustworthiness was ensured in accordance with the principles of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Conclusions: The researcher reached a number of conclusions. The participants perceived several factors and experienced them as interfering with the efficient implementation of the nursing process. Operational difficulties experienced in the systematisation of nursing care in practice, are amongst others a lack of knowledge of the steps involved in the process, an excessive number of tasks assigned to the nursing team, the poor quality of professional education, insufficient reports on the physical examination related to the disease and difficulty to formulate the nursing diagnosis. The research report concluded with the researcher’s evaluation of the research and recommendations for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research with the purpose of improving the implementation of the nursing process. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Background: The study described the perspectives and experiences of women and health care providers with regard to use of postnatal care and reasons why some women do not attend postnatal care in order to identify strategies for improving postnatal care services. Methods: An explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design was used. In step one data was collected with semi-structured interviews with seventeen (17) women who attended postnatal care. The second sample consisted of ten (10) women who did not attend postnatal care but brought their babies for well-baby clinic. Focus groups were conducted with midwives who offered postnatal care to women. The midwives of the first focus group worked in the hospital while the second focus group worked at a filter clinic. Results: In step one, some women indicated positive experiences but most women had negative experiences about postnatal care. The positive experiences were related to the satisfaction of the women with good services received and not encountering problems with staff's care. Common concerns mentioned in step one and two about postnatal care were shortage of skilled midwives, need for staff to be trained on postnatal care services, lack of confidentiality, poor infrastructure and non-integration of maternal and child services. Reasons for not attending postnatal care that were mentioned by women in step three were inaccessibility of the health care facilities, poor roads infrastructure, lack of knowledge about postnatal services and socio-cultural factors. Conclusion: Based on the findings, strategies to improve postnatal care were developed: Firstly, the midwives need to be trained on postnatal care and highlighted on current postnatal policies and guidelines. Secondly, woman and baby should attend the postnatal care at the health facility. Thirdly, community health nurses and trained community health workers should visit the women at home soon after birth of the babies. Fourthly, postnatal care should be provided at the family and community level by a trained and skilled midwife during the early postnatal period. Fifthly, combination of care facility and home visit - when the woman and baby are discharged from the hospital, follow- up need to be done at home by the midwife. Lastly, a comprehensive integration of postnatal services with other programmes needs to be enforced and supported by the programme management and policy makers. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015