M.A. / Even before the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, many Non-Governmental Organisations carried the torch of literacy for those South Africans who were not given the opportunity to learn to read and write, due to the inequalities of the apartheid education policies. Subsequent to the 1994 elections, the government took steps to formalise literacy initiatives and, in so doing, create national standards. Hence the birth of Adult Basic Education and Training. With the emergence of the South African Qualifications Authority, the ABET route was integrated into the National Qualifications Framework as part of the overall vision for standardised education in South Africa. Presently, the ABET route is mainly sponsored by the private sector who have shouldered the costs of these adult literacy initiatives. The formal ABET route is assessed by the Independent Examinations Board. This study illustrates how the formal ABET route does not adequately meet the goals of the department of Education in terms of its goals for reconstruction and development, nor does it guarantee the learner an improved future life, nor does it provide the private sector with the competencies they had hoped for in the workplace. Two of the most significant shortcomings of the formal ABET route were found to be the assessment process and the difficulty of the facilitation between the ABET route and qualification on the NQF. Based on the findings of this research, recommendations have been made. These aim to improve the flexibility of the ABET route and provide a number of options which may be more suitable for the needs of the learners, the corporate sector and the economy of South Africa as a whole.

Information literacy is universally considered one of effective means through which one’s information skills are developed, more especially at higher education Institutions. It has been part of the WSU library’s tradition to promote and offer units of Information Literacy instruction to all students at WSU, although it was initially on ad-hoc bases until 2010 when the Faculty of Education introduced it as a module or a program as a credit-bearing subject to all first year level Bachelor of Education students. The study is intended to understand the perceptions of students that are currently enrolled in Bachelor of Education Degree level one regarding the Information Literacy Program at Walter Sisulu University. The Information Literacy Program is offered in two campuses of WSU, that is Mthatha and Butterworth campuses. This study was conducted using first year level B. Ed students in Butterworth campus only. This may be regarded as a limitation of the study. The study is largely informed by a literature review of scholarly journal articles, books, internet sources and academic libraries in South Africa. The study applied quantitative method using semi-structured questionnaires as the main data gathering instrument. The sample was drawn from 80 first year B Ed students. A total of 80 questionnaires were distributed and 65 were received back. In the study the significant changes in the higher education in the post-apartheid South Africa are discussed. The historical evolution of information literacy as a course in South Africa and internationally is also discussed. The study reveals that information literacy has contributed positively to students’ study approaches. It has helped the students to learn how to apply computing and internet skills to improve on their studies. More importantly, the study reveals that information literacy has helped the students to learn different ways to search for and use information for the purpose of working on their assignments and enhancing their knowledge generally. Furthermore, the study reveals that it has helped the students to know how to tailor their search for information using specific databases such as OPAC, PROQUEST, EBSCOHOST, and SABINET etc.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research assignment measures the relative odds of certain savings and debt related outcomes based on various domains of financial literacy, I.E. financial control, financial product choice and financial knowledge/understanding? It also measures the relative odds of certain savings and debt related outcomes based on individual elements of each of these domains. Finally it measures the significance in which overall financial literacy, as a product of the various domains, affect the odds of certain financial outcomes relative to other more conventional demographic determinants, such as income, education and age? The data that informs this research was obtained from the Financial Services Board (FSB) of South Africa, who commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct the original data collection process by means of a national survey, in 2011. The salient findings of this research include that the relative odds of savings outcomes are by and large more significantly affected by both the individual elements of– and the various domains of financial literacy, than debt related outcomes. Financial control as a domain of financial literacy has the greatest impact on the relative odds of both savings and debt related outcomes, while financial knowledge/understanding has a comparatively weak influence on the relative odds of savings and debt related outcomes. Financial control also has a significant influence on financial outcomes relative to conventionally significant determinants of financial outcomes, namely income and education, especially among lower income and or non-tertiary educated segments of the population. The individual elements of financial control that appear to be most significant in its influence on the relative odds of savings and debt related outcomes, include the use of a budget and an individual‟s reliability in paying his or her bills. The individual elements of the financial product choice domain that have the largest and or most consistent influence on the relative odds of savings outcomes are the extent of research before obtaining financial products and the level of general awareness of financial products. On the other hand, for debt related outcomes, the most influential independent variables (part of the financial product choice domain) are recent regret regarding financial product choice, recent wasteful expenditure on financial products as well as the extent to which an individual is able to identify suitable products. In terms of the individual elements of financial knowledge and understanding, the ability of individuals to understand compound interest affects the relative odds of debt related outcomes most consistently. Forevery savings outcome of interest, the predictor variable (part of the financial knowledge/understanding domain) with the most significant influence is the ability to understand interest on deposits. The research furthermore uncovered that overall financial literacy has a consistently significant influence on savings outcomes relative to conventional determinants of financial outcomes such as income, age and education if the highest categories of income and education are omitted from analysis. Financial literacy is therefore a very good predictor of saving related outcomes when considering the lower income and or non-tertiary educated segments of the population.

In this study a group of adults who have participated in ABE programmes as learners for two to three years is compared with a group matched for employment position and scores on literacy screening tests who have had no involvement with ABE programmes. The study inquires into peoples' work situation, including their perceptions of future prospects at their place of employment, and the degree and nature of their job satisfaction, peoples' community involvement, including awareness of current issues, the extent to which they feel they can influence what happens to them, and the extent of their engagement with community issues, and peoples' personal situations, including how they use the reading and writing skills they have developed, their involvement with their children's schooling, the sources of information they rely on, their money management, their record keeping and their degree of confidence in using technical means of communication. The study also investigates people's attitudes towards adult basic education classes, and for those who have participated in them, their own perception of changes effected, gains and sacrifices made, and whether the effort has been, for them personally, worthwhile. Differences and similarities between the groups in the areas of their work situation, their educational experience and attitudes towards education and in literacy-related practices are analysed statistically and discussed. All comparisons between the groups are explored and discussed in the contexts of the learners' own lives and experiences as described by them. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

This thesis investigates the suitability and applicability of a health literacy test from the U.S. in a black, Xhosa-speaking, South African population. The concept of literacy is a controversial one which has been much debated, as it is not easy to classifY people as simply either literate or illiterate. As a result there are a number of definitions of literacy that vary with purpose and culture, but the most common one is that a person is literate if he/she can read and write. Estimating literacy from years of schooling is an inexpensive method but is also unreliable, since people generally read 3 to 5 grades below their stated educational level. This method affords little insight into the ability of patients to adequately function in a health care enviromnent, an ability which is referred to as functional health literacy. A number of health literacy tests such as the REALM (Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine) test have been developed to assess this skill. The REALM test is a word recognition test which places people into a relevant grade range estimate according to the number of words pronounced correctly. It appears to assume understanding of the word if the person is able to read that word correctly. In this project 125 black Xhosa-speaking respondents of varying educational levels who were literate in English were interviewed with the aid of an interpreter. Comprehensive demographic data were collected. Respondents were first asked to read all 66 words aloud during which time pronunciation was checked, and thereafter they were asked to explain each word. It was found that the ability to automatically decode and read the words did not necessarily guarantee comprehension of these words. Many of the words proved to be unfamiliar to the majority of the Xhosa respondents who were able to pronounce them correctly, but could not explain them. These tended to be phonetically transparent words which were therefore more accessible to the unfamiliar reader. This research has proven to be of great value in helping identify such words which should be substituted with simpler words for use in health information materials. A number of words could neither be pronounced nor understood by the population majority and, interestingly, a small group of words could not be pronounced but were satisfactorily explained by some respondents. The results showed an extremely poor correlation between the stated educational level and the REALM grade range estimate. This emphasizes the inappropriateness of years of formal schooling as an indicator of functional health literacy. The criteria were established for deciding cases in which the REALM test could be applied (or succeeds) and when it is inapplicable (or fails). It was found to be inapplicable in 41% of cases which clearly indicates that, in its current form, it is not a valid, reliable test to use in determining health literacy in this English second language population. It can, however, be used as a basis fur the development of a more appropriate test. Recommendations for future research direction are presented and an alternative structure for a health literacy test is suggested. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in

M.A. (Language Teaching) / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Information & Communication Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Community Development service practitioners in South Africa have been increasingly burdened with a broader range of responsibilities. Using ICT proficiently could enhance their productivity. The use of ICT is prevalent in almost every organization, therefore, it can also serve as a major factor in providing flexibility of service to communities, but only if the practitioners possess adequate skills in retrieving, presenting and disseminating valuable and adequate information within the workplace to the parties involved. Training interventions are however not always successful and their impact need to be measured. This study focussed on developing a Multi-Stage assessment model to measure the impact of an ICT training intervention, to provide evidence of the effectivity of the training. A syllabus was developed, based on the European e-Competence Framework for ICT Users - Part 1 (CEN, 2013) and contextualized to suit the work environment of Community Development Workers (CDWs) from KwaZulu-Natal, training material was created and a Learning Management System was used to deliver the training. A self-assessment questionnaire was used to determine the pre-training skills level of the CDWs, 189 CDWs from KwaZulu-Natal were trained and a second questionnaire was used to measure the impact of the training. Results were analysed using Item Response Theory, which provided a way to measure not only overall competency but responses to specific items. Classical Test Theory measuring frequencies and averages were also use and the two sets of responses were compared. The training was found to be effective. Recommendations towards the development of a Multi-Stage assessment model are made. / M

D.Phil. (Engineering Management) / Women play a major role in the society as caregivers, communicators and providers. Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) help to co-ordinate some aspects of rural women’s life, and their future rural economy will be information and knowledge-driven one. Rural women’s participation in decision-making and contribution to the male-dominated ICT environment are of growing importance. This research will guide us to rethink how rural women’s use of ICTs can provide them more opportunities and improve their quality of life. In this research we analyze what constitutes rural women empowerment through the use of ICTs, and provide an overview of empowerment indicators. This research will focus on the provisioning of ICT in rural areas in South Africa and women’s inherent abilities to contribute to the socio-economic status of households using ICTs. The aim of this research is to address the gendered digital divide and empower rural women in South Africa through the use of ICT. If rural women are given the opportunity for capacity building, ICT training and development they will be ready to take the ICT leap in the coming years. The research highlights gender-sensitive issues such as feminisms and women’s development through ICTs. The qualities of the empowered women and the elements of rural women empowerment through the use of ICTs are elaborated. The discussions on various data collection methods suited for feminist research and specifically for ICT for women’s development (ICT4WD) research is presented. The theories, paradigms and African belief systems underpinning women empowerment are carefully analyzed. The research reveals ICT projects used to empower women in many developing countries and throws light on shortcomings of the South African legal frameworks that have implications on rural women empowerment. A theoretical framework is developed for rural women empowerment though the use of ICTs. The framework serves as a guiding principle to revisit the SA B-BBEE legal framework and BEE ICT score-card. Some light will be thrown on the plight of rural women in South Africa and various challenges they face to use and access ICT. We believe this research paves the way to critically think about women’s issues and how to empower the disempowered rural women living in South Africa through ICTs. The research focuses on the effective strategies, through the framework that would contribute to empower the disempowered rural women in South Africa through ICTs.

1 online resource (xii, 184 leaves : ill.) / A high level of literacy is essential if a child is to be employable and determines the role a person will play in the globalised information age. In South Africa the literacy levels, including reading levels, of school children is extremely low. The study forms part of a longitudinal reading and literacy intervention project undertaken over a five year period in two disadvantaged primary schools in an urban township. The project focused on capacity building and resource building of the school community including the teachers, learners, school librarians and parents. This dissertation describes an action research study that focused specifically on setting up school libraries in each of these schools and the professional development of the teachers in order to contribute to the teaching and learning practices in the schools. It offers critical reflections on the process and findings and contributes to research on school libraries in South Africa. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

1 online resource (xii, 184 leaves) : illustrations / A high level of literacy is essential if a child is to be employable and determines the role a person will play in the globalised information age. In South Africa the literacy levels, including reading levels, of school children is extremely low. The study forms part of a longitudinal reading and literacy intervention project undertaken over a five year period in two disadvantaged primary schools in an urban township. The project focused on capacity building and resource building of the school community including the teachers, learners, school librarians and parents. This dissertation describes an action research study that focused specifically on setting up school libraries in each of these schools and the professional development of the teachers in order to contribute to the teaching and learning practices in the schools. It offers critical reflections on the process and findings and contributes to research on school libraries in South Africa. / Information Science / M. Inf. (Information Science)