Brazil’s Bolsa Família and its impacts on student enrollment and achievement is studied increasingly frequently, but the quality of education received by Bolsa Família recipients is often not factored in. This study uses school data and the Bolsa Família registry to map patterns of school inputs for all Brazilian students, and to discover any patterns in inputs for specifically Bolsa Família recipient students. The availability of all types of school inputs follow similar regional patterns: low quantities of materials and low quality facilities in the North and Northeast regions, and the reverse in the South and Southeast, with the most consistently high averages of all inputs found in the Central-West. High proportions of these students tend to be present in the North and Northeast, affecting their access to school inputs. These students also tended to lack infrastructure and technology inputs, which likely have a mixed impact on student performance. / text

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published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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Since mercantilism, which began in the mid 1600s, there have been numerous systemic changes in the global trading system. The most significant changes have been colonialism, the slave trade, peasant enclosures, industrialization and the formation of global economic institutions. Each one of these has had a marked effect on the distribution of resources and the wealth generated from their manufacture. Mercantilism, a theory related to trade and commerce, brought about intense competition amongst Northern countries in order to secure markets and resources. Colonialism was a way of assuring traders access to both primary resources and overseas markets in Southern countries. This pattern of trading whereby Southern countries provide the raw resources for the benefit of those in the North is still relevant, and has contributed significantly to divisions in wealth between the hemispheres. By the early 1800's mercantilists posed a threat to the aristocratic classes, which found themselves land rich but money poor. This, along with the growing movement towards industrialization, led to the eviction of peasants from land they had lived on for centuries. Two sources of cheap labour became available. Peasants who were desperate to find work in order to survive, and those deemed to be slaves from the developing world. Their labour was used to clear land for cultivation and for factory work. This combination of cheap labour and access to primary resources from the South enabled Northern countries to forge ahead with the industrialization of their economies. The year 1944 was an important year for global trading. Three institutions, namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade (GATT) were formed shortly thereafter. These international organisations would help solidify globally the ideology of laissez -faire economics. They would also play a direct role in influencing Southern governments to reduce trade barriers. It is claimed by critics that the IMF, the World Bank and GATT have used their power to uphold policies which have pried open Southern economies for the gain of those in the North. Critics believe these policies have been particulary negative for those living a subsistence lifestyle. Poverty in the developing world is currently at catasrophic levels with 34,000 children dying every " day from malnutrition and disease. Some charge the IMF, World Bank and GATT for increasing the vulnerability of the poor and ecological destruction. Fair trade is a system of trade which deliberately seeks to establish a more equal basis of exchange between the two geographical hemispheres. It helps to counter some of the imbalances of the current trading system. With the commitment of Alternative trading organisations (ATO's) thousands of men, women and children have secured a lifestyle which is both economically viable and ecologically sustainable. The challenge for fair trading is to apply alternative trade models more widely, and to promote fair trading as a part of mainstream commercial activity. One way the fair trading system is doing this is through labelling products sold in supermarkets with a fair trade label. Those products with a fair trade label have passed the fair trading criteria agreed to by the International Federation for Alternative Trading. Social Work is one of many professions that could help support fair trading. By organising fair trade networks as part of social development practice, social work could be active in supporting an economic system which empowers those who are most disadvantaged, and thereby reduces the inequality perpetuated by the current trading system. There are a number of other key roles for social workers. They could educate the public about global economic issues through conferences, workshops and writing educational material. Another role for social workers is that of negotiation. Social workers in the international development field would be in a good position to link Southern producer groups to Northern fair trading businesses. They could also link socially responsible business in the North to marginalised groups in their own countries. A third role for social workers committed to fair trading, is research. Topics could include ongoing analysis of the social and environmental effects of the current trading system, exploring the effectiveness of various alternative trading models and research on factors that could help facilitate the growth of socially responsible business. There are three international bodies which help social workers maintain a global perspective. They are the IFSW (International Federation of Social Work), the LASSW (International Association of Schools of Social Work) and the ICSW (International Council on Social Welfare).

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This study examines the involvement of youth leadership particularly at the University of Durban Westville, in promoting public awareness about HIV/AIDS and in HIV/AIDS awareness initiatives. The aim of the study was to investigate the contributions of the student leaders in initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, interviews were conducted with leaders of various student organisations at the university. The aim was to test the student leadership's general understanding of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, types of HIV/AIDS programmes and their involvement in them. The study is based on a random sample of 15 of 35 student's clubs and societies and the Student Representative Council at UDW. In addition, five organisations from the university structures were interviewed for the purpose of this study. These included: the Student Counsellor from the Wellness Centre, the Academic Registrar from the University Management, Deputy President of the Combined Staff Association, President of the Academic Staff Association and the Director of the Centre for Educational Research, Evaluation and Policy at University of Durban-Westville. The general finding of the study is that the role of the student leadership and its involvement on HIV/AIDS initiatives has been minimal and unorganised. In response this study presents a number of recommendations to address this problem. The key recommendation revolves around the need for the student leaders and the university management to collectively design a framework from which all HIV/AIDS initiatives will be administered. This includes policy formulation and discussions on AIDS. In the final analysis, it is imperative to note that this study was not done only for the benefit of the UDW community, but other institutions such as the government departments, particularly the Education Department, NGO's, Youth Commission and other youth organisations. / Thesis (M.A)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.

One of the most influential authors of the past decade who has tried to assess a theoretical model of defense of 'cultural rights' from a liberal prospective is Will Kymlicka. Kymlicka appears even to believe that his model of multiculturalism represents the only systematic account of minority rights that is yet available within liberal theory. He assumes that other liberal thinkers---e.g. Raz, Taylor, Habermas---'have sketched some concepts or principles which they think should govern liberal approaches to ethnocultural demands' but their views constitute, at the end of the day, 'more outlines than systematic theories' (Kymlicka 1997: 86, n. 1). This essay stems from my critical reading of Kymlicka's theory. / It is not my intention here to provide an alternative model of dealing with 'cultural differences'. My aims are much more modest. First, I want to provide a critical assessment of Kymlicka's theory by pointing out some of its conceptual ambiguities. Second, I want to discuss the case of Switzerland by defending the thesis that it does not constitute a multinational state. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The professional study of idiocy began within the discipline of medico-psychology and was taken up, later, by professionals in the fields of education, social work, and philanthropy. When medical research seemed to confirm the hereditary origin of mental ability, and as studies began to assert that a great deal of social problems were due to 'weakness of mind', men and women from these professions concerned themselves with the prevention of idiocy, primarily by segregation. As social commentators in late-Victorian England became increasingly concerned about the nation's apparent decline in economic and military competitiveness, these professionals and commentators began to stridently campaign for the detention of idiots in permanent colonies. This process continued during the Edwardian period when many professionals slowly gravitated to the eugenic-led campaign for control of the feeble-minded, a campaign which culminated in the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913.

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