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Exploring school underperformance in the context of rurality : an ethnographic study.Langa, Purity Phumzile Nokuthula. January 2013 (has links)
After decades of democracy, South Africa (SA) is still a country that is characterised by huge inequalities and socio-economic challenges which are intense in most rural areas. As microcosms of a larger context, rural schools tend to bear the brunt of numerous challenges as they have to cope with poor infrastructure, scarce resources and under-qualified teachers. In spite of the many challenges rural schools experience, the country has adopted an accountability systems approach that uses examination results in measuring school performance, thereby ignoring the contextual factors that rural schools face. This study sought to explore and understand the notion underperformance in a secondary school in the rural Ilembe District in KwaZulu-Natal from the perspectives of learners, parents and teachers. Guided by the propositions derived from theories of underperformance and of rurality, the study was located within an interpretive paradigm and utilised the qualitative approach to research. An ethnographic design involving observations, interviews and document analysis was utilised as it was important to capture the experiences, interpretations and meanings that participants gave to school underperformance in their particular contexts. The findings suggest that there is a disjuncture between educational policy, schooling and contextual factors afflicting particularly rural schools. In essence, participants’ perspectives on school underperformance were influenced by a number of contextual factors; however, existing national education policy tends to ignore not only what happens within the rural school, but also the context in which the school is located
(i.e., its rurality). The factors that informed the perspectives of the participants can be categorised into: 1) factors within the school such as the school context or location (rurality), learning prospects, the values and standards that rural people attribute to schooling, and curriculum relevance; 2) perspectives on the relationship among the rural household, the community and the school; and 3) perspectives on the role and value of schooling in a rural setting. The study therefore argues that approaches used to measure performance or underperformance must take into consideration the context/place in which such schools are located. Moreover, educational policy and decision making should place rural inhabitants at the forefront of educational planning. In order to address school underperformance in rural areas, the study advocates an improved theoretical lens in the form of a place sensitive approach which will engender understanding of this phenomenon. Such an approach would put context/place at the centre of educational analyses and allow for conciliation between policy, schooling and contextual factors. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.
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Aligning vision and action of a landcare ethos through systematic intervention : the case of the Farmer Support Group.Rudd, Meghan O'Neal. January 2004 (has links)
The present context of community based natural resource management is characterized
by multiple stakeholder involvement, a situation that presents challenges in aligning
vision for common action. A 'systemic intervention' involved the staff and
stakeholders of the Farmer Support Group, a non-profit rural development organization
based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The 'creative design of methods' guided
inquiry in aligning vision of a Landcare ethos amongst the organization and their
stakeholders, and in directing action toward the vision. Critical Systems Thinking is
outlined as the framework in which the intervention methodology is encompassed. The
importance of applying a broad range of environmental education methods to Landcare
is established through drawing from present debates and contexts in environmental
education and community based natural resource management. The 'organization as
community' approach to organizational learning and development is highlighted as a
means of creating synergy of purpose across staff and stakeholder boundaries. The
intervention's methodology consisted of three phases: drawing out perspectives,
forming a common vision in a mission statement, and developing action plans based on
the mission statement. Outcomes included: identification of three schools of thought
that drove perspectives on the role of environmental education in natural resource
management strategies, formation of the FSG Landcare Ethos Mission Statement,
which was inclusive of all stakeholder perspectives, and integration of the mission
statement into FSG projects through action plans. The intervention found that
aligning staff members and stakeholders in common vision and action towards
developing a Landcare ethos could be accomplished through a blend of environmental
education approaches that facilitate sustainable decision making by building capacity in
individuals and communities in a participatory and locally relevant manner that is
attentive to predominant perspectives and adaptive to change. / Thesis (M.Agric.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.
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An economic analysis of the institutions related to the land rental market of rural KwaZulu-Natal.January 2005 (has links)
Previous studies by Thomson (1996) and Crookes (2002) in land rental markets of rural KwaZulu-Natal were based on the premise that rental markets brought about efficiency and equity gains. Indeed these gains were proven by econometric analyses in both studies. Poor households that lacked the labour, time and other resources to farm land prior to the introduction of the rental market, tended to leave their arable land idle. In participating in rental transactions, land transferred from these poor households to households with the resources and the willingness to farm; and rental income was earned by the poor households. The current 2003/4 survey sought to evaluate the gains in two new areas, Mhlungwini in the Estcourt District and Duduza in the Bergville District, not covered in previous studies. Institutional interventions, related to the land rental market, in Mhlungwini and Duduza, had started in 2000 and 1993 respectively. Equity and efficiency gains were again proven as Lyne (2004) reports. While Chapter 2 provides an in-depth review of literature related to the theory of economic institutions, Chapter 3 applies this knowledge to Thomson's (1996) pilot project on institutional reform. This project, in terms of its action research that bore the ex ante transaction costs of willing participants, set in motion a process of institutional change leading to the development of the land rental market. The introduction of a formal contract, approved by the tribal authorities, served to give credence to rental transactions. In addition, institutional changes were made to reduce the likelihood of crop damage by stray cattle on arable land, in order to encourage willingness of households to lease in land. Recommendations were made by Thomson (1996) to further increase the exclusivity of arable land property rights. Options were evaluated by the author for institutional reform of communal grazing resources. This is to prevent degradation of grazing land caused by overstocking. Recommendations were made to promote sustainable use of the land. Chapter 4, apart from briefly analyzing the current survey results, provides two comparative studies of institutional reform, the first related to Australian water resources and the second related to land registration experiences in Africa. The last section of the Chapter evaluates a proposal for introduction of formal financial services to rural farmers. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.
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An exploration into the opportunities and barriers of vegetable production as a poverty reduction strategy for small scale farmers : evidence from a case study in Nqutu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Bright, Ariel Elizabeth. January 2010 (has links)
Since South Africa’s democratic transition poverty, especially in terms of income, has
persisted. Poverty reduction strategies must focus on closing the gaps of current policies
which miss the poorest. Specifically, attention must be paid to those living in rural areas.
While the use of agriculture as a poverty reduction strategy was envisioned by government as
one of the key components of land reform and rural advancement, its potential has been
limited as South Africa agriculture in the post-apartheid era is challenged with providing
opportunities and support for small-scale farming systems.
It was thus the aim of this dissertation to address part of this crisis by engaging with smallscale
farmers in an attempt to understand the barriers and opportunities that they confront
when accessing inputs needed for agricultural production that contributes towards their
livelihoods. This was explored through a case study in which two focus groups and ten
qualitative interviews were conducted. Through this it was found that land is being used
productively by resource poor farmers as a pathway from poverty. The inability to purchase
fencing and the lack of easy access to water proved to be the two most significant barriers to
crop production while accessibility to seeds was found not to be an issue when controlling for
financial limitations. Opportunities arose as respondents relied on interdependent
relationships between the different assets in their possession. Overall, it was concluded that
with a more appropriate support system which focused on overcoming the lack of
information and resources, as well as the lack of services and infrastructure productivity
could improve giving small farmers the potential to make a larger contribution to reducing
poverty. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.
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The reading world of Black primary school teachers in rural KwaZulu-Natal.January 1999 (has links)
An investigation into the extent to which rural black primary school
teachers of English in Kwazulu-Natal have been exposed to a culture of
reading in general and, more particularly, their perceptions of the value
of proficiency in reading English.
/ Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 1999.
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Land use change detection of small scale sugarcane : a case study of Umbumbulu, South AfricaPillay, Kavesha. January 2009 (has links)
The aim of this study was to detect spatio-temporal changes in sugarcane land use using satellite imagery for 1991–2006 in Umbumbulu, South Africa. This change detection study will enable quantification of change and the changes between different land use and land cover that has occurred over the study period 1991–2006. This work embarked on a change detection analysis using image-processing software namely ERDAS, IDRISI and ArcGIS to complete the study. Three Landsat TM images from 1991, 2001, and 2006 were used. The images were geometrically corrected to a common map projection, followed by image processing operations namely: radiometric correction, supervised image classification, accuracy assessment and post classification comparison change detection. Each image was separately classified into land cover categories of water, grassland, mix bush/shrub, forestry, sugarcane and built-up land using the supervised classification maximum likelihood algorithm in ERDAS. Final classification accuracy was determined to be ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ by means of employing standardized accuracy assessment measures, the error matrix. The post-classification comparison technique was applied to compare the classified images to assess for changes in sugarcane land use over time using IDRISI software. The classified images produced were exported into ArcMap GIS software for additional change analysis. The results are displayed as change maps. Change analysis has been executed based on digital interpretation of classification results. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
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Assessment of the water poverty index at meso-catchment scale in the Thukela Basin.Dlamini, Dennis Jabulani Mduduzi. January 2006 (has links)
The connection between water and human wellbeing is increasingly causing concern
about the implications of water scarcity on poverty. The primary fear is that water
scarcity may not only worsen poverty, but may also undermine efforts to alleviate
poverty and food insecurity. A review of literature revealed that the relationship
between water scarcity and poverty is a complex one, with water scarcity being both
a cause and consequence of poverty. Furthermore, water scarcity is multidimensional,
which makes it difficult to define, while it can also vary considerably,
both temporally and spatially. Finally, the relationship between water scarcity and
poverty is a difficult one to quantify.
Within the context of water scarcity, indicators are viewed by many development
analysts as appropriate tools for informing and orienting policy-making, for comparing
situations and for measuring performance. However, simplistic traditional indicators
cannot capture the complexity of the water-poverty link; hence a proliferation of more
sophisticated indicators and indices since the early 1990s. The Water Poverty Index
(WPI), one of these new indices, assesses water scarcity holistically. Water poverty
derives from the conceptualisation of this index which relates dimensions of poverty
to access to water for domestic and productive use. However, the WPI has not been
applied extensively at meso-catchment scale, the scale at which water resources
managers operate. In South Africa, the Thukela Catchment -in the province of
KwaZulu-Natal presents a unique opportunity to assess the WPI at this scale.
The Thukela is a diverse catchment with respect to physiography, climate and (by
extension) natural vegetation, land use, demography, culture and economy. While
parts of the catchment are suitable for intensive agricultural production and others
are thriving economic centres, a large percentage of the population in the catchment
lives in poverty in high risk ecosystems, with their vulnerability exacerbated by
policies of the erstwhile apartheid government. Many rural communities, a high
percentage of which occupy these naturally harsh areas, have low skills levels, with a
high proportion of unemployed people, low or no income and low services delivery.
Infrastructural development, which relates to municipal service delivery, is often
made prohibitively expensive by the rugged terrain in which many people live. As in
other catchments in South Africa, the Thukela is affected by policies and initiatives
aimed at accomplishing the objectives of post-1994 legislation such as the South
Africa Constitution and the National Water Act. The potential of the WPI to assess
the impacts of these initiatives on human wellbeing and to inform decision .making in
the Thukela catchment was investigated.
An analysis of a 46 year long series of monthly summations of daily values of
streamflows output by the ACRU agrohydrological simulation model has shown that
the Thukela, in its entirety , is a water-rich catchment. The reliability of the
streamflows, which has implications for communities who collect water directly from
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streams, is high along main channels but can be considerably less along low order
tributaries of the main streams. The flow reliability along the small tributaries is less in
winter than in summer. A high percentage of the catchment's population, in addition
to being poor and not having access to municipal services, live near, and rely on, the
small tributaries for their water supplies. Admittedly, this analysis addresses only one
dimension of water poverty, viz. physical water shortage. Nevertheless, the study
revealed that despite the Thukela's being a water-rich catchment, many communities
are still water stressed. A more holistic characterisation of the water scarcity situation
in the Thukela catchment was achieved using the WPI.
A review of possible information sources for computing the WPI in South Africa found
that many monitoring programmes, information systems and databases are either in
existence and are active, or being restructured, or are under different stages of
development. If and when they are all fully functional , they should be able to support
national assessments of the WPI at meso-scale without the need to collect additional
information. A combination of information from some of the active databases and
secondary data from other local studies was used to compute the WPI in the Thukela
catchment. The assessment uncovered the following:
• There is an apparent association between water poverty and socio-economic
disadvantage in the Thukela catchment.
• There was an improvement in the water poverty situation in most parts of the
Thukela catchment between 1996 and 2001, although the degree of improvement
varied from subcatchment to subcatchment. Climate change, if it manifests itself by higher temperatures and reduced rainfall,
will most likely worsen water poverty throughout the Thukela catchment, with the
subcatchments in which many of the poor communities are located being more
likely to experience the most severe impacts as the coping capacities of those
communities are already strained under current climatic conditions.
The findings of this study illustrate the potential of WPI as a tool for informing
decision making and policy evaluation at the meso-catchment scale at which many
water-related decisions are made. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.
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Positive values of masculinity in prevention of HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy in rural KwaZulu-NatalMthiyane, Italia Nokulunga 11 1900 (has links)
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the positive values of masculinity and the role of a man in the prevention of HIV and AIDS and teenage pregnancy in order to develop a health education handbook for young Zulu men.
The objectives of this study were to
identify expectations of a man of essence
describe the man’s role in the prevention of HIV and AIDS and teenage pregnancy
develop a health education handbook for young men in developing positive values of masculinity
Continuing transmission of HIV and high teenage pregnancy causes concern about the effectiveness of risk reduction measures. Masculinity is associated with risky sexual behaviour.
A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory and contextual study explored the positive values of masculinity and the role of a man of essence in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. Semi-structured interviews with interview guides were conducted to collect data among Zulu men aged 18-24 years residing in Nquthu sub-district in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Twenty-one participants from three villages of Tribal Authority 8, namely villages 3, 7 and 9, were interviewed. Data were analyzed thematically and manually. Follow-up interviews were conducted with participants who had committed to a plan of action to prevent HIV infection and teenage pregnancy.
The study found that a man of a kind embraced gender equality and the education of women; treated women well, and used traditional/cultural or religious and modern methods to prevent HIV and teenage pregnancy. According to social norms, the participants were expected to have sex with or without a condom. Social support came from parents, grandparents, teachers and health care workers. The participants appeared to lack role models; some preferred to buy condoms, and some used condoms inconsistently. Some experienced problems such as pressure to have sex or girlfriends. A contribution of this study was the development of a health education handbook for young men to develop into men of essence through positive values of masculinity and prevent HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. / Health Studies / Ph. D. (Nursing)
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