About seventy-seven percent of Zambia’s citizens who are engaged in primary activity in the agriculture sector are poor (Economies, 2017). One of the ways in which the poverty levels can be reduced is by lessening constraints of access to finance in agriculture sector. The implications of the low access to credit in the agriculture sector is reduced productivity, high food insecurity and perpetual poverty particularly in Zambia’s rural areas. Most of the studies conducted focused on identifying factors which limit participation in agriculture finance from the bank’s perspective and not farmers. Therefore, this study sought to fill the gap and assess variables directly related to smallholder farmers access to finance. It further examines the dynamism of access to finance depending on location, gender and transport infrastructure. The data employed in the study was obtained from a survey conducted in 2013 by IAPRI and UNZA with a sample size of 1,231 households in six districts of Zambia. Agricultural credit for small holder farmers (SHFs) in rural areas is mostly provided in the form of cash or in kind through supply of inputs to these SHFs. This data was modeled based on the logistic regression. The results showed that 14.1% of the SHFs had access to finance. Among these farmers only 13% were female. In addition, secondary education, access to finance information, farm size, access to collateral and distance between the location of the farmer and the financial services, were significant factors in determining access to credit. A recommendation proposed to policy makers based on results presented include sensitization on various finance facilities available to rural farmers so that they are aware and can make necessary efforts to access the finance. Rural education is directly related to access to finance, therefore government should promote education for its citizens. Lack of collateral has been identified as a factor that gravely hinders access levels by most. Government should implement standardized policies that ensure availability of credit to farmers with little or no collateral. In conclusion, improved credit permeation in agriculture sector promotes sustainable and inclusive growth in Zambia and will eventually eradicate absolute poverty.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, African Literature, 2014. / The purpose of this research project was to investigate the role of the publishing industry in supporting and promoting isiZulu fiction in South Africa. The research first highlighted the contribution made by the missionaries in the 19th century in publishing literature in indigenous languages in general and in isiZulu fiction in particular. This aspect followed by a discussion of the impact of apartheid’s publishing policies on literature in indigenous African languages. This section then followed by the discussion of the strategies and initiatives that have been introduced in order to preserve and promote this literary tradition in the post-apartheid period. This research assessed OUPSA’s book chain process in order to investigate how the book industry contributes to the post-1994 initiatives of promoting creative writing in indigenous languages. It argued that book publishing is not the end of the book provision process, instead marketing and distribution chain, selection of fiction in schools and libraries, lack of experience of librarians, shortage of African languages fiction and financial resources in libraries as well as inconclusiveness of government policies play a huge role in the distribution process of isiZulu fiction which is pivotal to the sustainable existence of a publishing industry. In this research project, different aspects of the book chain process were investigated, such as: publishing and distribution, schools and public libraries, schools and education and literacy level to find out the link between publishing and libraries and schools. It is hoped that the findings of the investigation identified the significant inhibiting factors which may prevent the provision of isiZulu fiction books to libraries and schools that may have been caused by the methods in which books were commissioned, marketing strategies and implementation of the language policy, especially as to how it affects the promotion and rejuvenation of literatures in African languages.

The problems with which this study is concerned are to determine the applicability of the systems analysis process to educational settings and to provide data concerning the beliefs and attitudes of educators concerning educational computing. A questionnaire was used in a case study of a medium-sized Texas independent school district to measure the beliefs and attitudes of educators toward educational applications of computers. Chi-square goodness of fit tests that use specified frequencies were applied for each statement and each corresponding distribution of responses.

The use of banking automated teller machine (ATM) technological innovations have significant importance and benefits in Nigeria, but numerous investigations have shown that illiterate and semiliterate Nigerians do not perceive them as useful or easy-to-use. Developing easy-to-use banking ATM system interfaces is essential to accommodate over 40% illiterate and semiliterate Nigerians, who are potential users of banking ATM systems. The purpose of this study was to identify strategies software developers of banking ATM systems in Nigeria use to create easy-to-use banking ATM system interfaces for a variety of people with varying abilities and literacy levels. The technology acceptance model was adopted as the conceptual framework. The study's population consisted of qualified and experienced developers of banking ATM system interfaces chosen from 1 organization in Enugu, Nigeria. The data collection process included semistructured, in-depth face-to-face interviews with 9 banking ATM system interface developers and the analysis of 11 documents: 5 from participant case organizations and 6 from nonparticipant case organizations. Member checking was used to increase the validity of the findings from the participants. Through methodological triangulation, 4 major themes emerged from the study: importance of user-centered design strategies, importance of user feedback as essential interface design, value of pictorial images and voice prompts, and importance of well-defined interface development process. The findings in this study may be beneficial for the future development of strategies to create easy-to-use ATM system interfaces for a variety of people with varying abilities and literacy levels and for other information technology systems that are user interface technology dependent.

Across the country, there is growing awareness of the dividends of early reading success and the stark consequences of early reading failure. A number of assessment studies in recent years have shown that the educational achievement of learners in South African schools is unacceptably poor. The 2011 Annual National Assessment results indicate a 35% literacy rate for South African learners in Grade 3 and a 30% literacy rate for learners in the North West Province of South Africa. According to Kanjee (2008), there is a growing trend in South Africa towards the use of assessment to improve learning. The aim of this study is to develop a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system for early literacy skills. In beginning literacy the development of this school-wide progress monitoring assessment system will be based on the premise that useful assessment of learner progress should be formative in its instructional effects and that it needs to focus teacher attention on data representing the results of their efforts. The development of a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system can help identify and strategically intervene before learners become part of the low South African literacy rate statistic. It is generally recognized that reading is developmental and acquired over time. From the convergence of more than 30 years of scientific research, researchers now have a solid scientific understanding of the core foundational skills in beginning reading. Foundational skills are prerequisite and fundamental to later success in a content area or domain. These skills differentiate successful from less successful readers and most important are amenable to change through instruction. One example of a comprehensive assessment system designed to assess these key foundational skills of early literacy for young learners is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). DIBELS measures, by design, are indicators of each of the Basic Early Literacy Skills. In this study, the aim is to collaborate with subject specialists (district level), school management teams (school level), and teachers (classroom level), in order to obtain an in depth understanding of assessment practices in general, and specifically progress monitoring assessment as well as the assessment support needs of teachers and learners. The collaborative aim is to establish a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system that will not only enhance the assessment practices of teachers, but also the system-wide decisions that need to take place so that effective instructional decisions can be made at all levels, and most importantly at the classroom level. In this study I chose to conduct a 16 month action research project in one primary school (i.e., the Happy Valley School) in one specific district (i.e., the Cloudy District) in the North West Province. From the data it is clear that ANA dominates conversations related to assessment, especially in foundation phase. Both at district and school level there is no clear indication that the information generated from assessments is key evidence to continuous improvement in teaching and learning. The data also indicates that the government documents play a crucial role in guiding the actions of the stakeholders. The data indicates that progress monitoring relates specifically to “showing” or “proving” improved learning in language/literacy as measured by ANA. In addition to ANA, and at classroom level, teachers monitor progress fairly “randomly”; they can decide what to ‘look’ for, usually by using their summative assessment marks, when deciding whether a learner is making progress or not. It is possible, therefore, that no two teachers will look at the same foundational literacy skill when deciding whether the learner is making progress in a particular skill. There is also no guideline for teachers in terms of what to aim for in order to ensure that learners make progress in core foundational literacy skills that evidence-based research has shown to have a major effect on reading achievement. In this study, I used a metaphor to illustrate the core components of a progress monitoring assessment and support rocket system. The aim of the rocket is to ensure that all learners achieve “lift off” and hit the identified targets, at all grade levels, on the way to reading success. In order to ensure that the rocket is launched effectively, all stakeholders have to fulfil essential tasks or roles. The assessment and support rocket system implemented in this study was developed to provide a prevention-oriented, assessment and support decision-making system to pre-empt early reading difficulty and ensure progress step-bystep toward outcomes that result in reading achievement for all children. / PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Across the country, there is growing awareness of the dividends of early reading success and the stark consequences of early reading failure. A number of assessment studies in recent years have shown that the educational achievement of learners in South African schools is unacceptably poor. The 2011 Annual National Assessment results indicate a 35% literacy rate for South African learners in Grade 3 and a 30% literacy rate for learners in the North West Province of South Africa. According to Kanjee (2008), there is a growing trend in South Africa towards the use of assessment to improve learning. The aim of this study is to develop a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system for early literacy skills. In beginning literacy the development of this school-wide progress monitoring assessment system will be based on the premise that useful assessment of learner progress should be formative in its instructional effects and that it needs to focus teacher attention on data representing the results of their efforts. The development of a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system can help identify and strategically intervene before learners become part of the low South African literacy rate statistic. It is generally recognized that reading is developmental and acquired over time. From the convergence of more than 30 years of scientific research, researchers now have a solid scientific understanding of the core foundational skills in beginning reading. Foundational skills are prerequisite and fundamental to later success in a content area or domain. These skills differentiate successful from less successful readers and most important are amenable to change through instruction. One example of a comprehensive assessment system designed to assess these key foundational skills of early literacy for young learners is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). DIBELS measures, by design, are indicators of each of the Basic Early Literacy Skills. In this study, the aim is to collaborate with subject specialists (district level), school management teams (school level), and teachers (classroom level), in order to obtain an in depth understanding of assessment practices in general, and specifically progress monitoring assessment as well as the assessment support needs of teachers and learners. The collaborative aim is to establish a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system that will not only enhance the assessment practices of teachers, but also the system-wide decisions that need to take place so that effective instructional decisions can be made at all levels, and most importantly at the classroom level. In this study I chose to conduct a 16 month action research project in one primary school (i.e., the Happy Valley School) in one specific district (i.e., the Cloudy District) in the North West Province. From the data it is clear that ANA dominates conversations related to assessment, especially in foundation phase. Both at district and school level there is no clear indication that the information generated from assessments is key evidence to continuous improvement in teaching and learning. The data also indicates that the government documents play a crucial role in guiding the actions of the stakeholders. The data indicates that progress monitoring relates specifically to “showing” or “proving” improved learning in language/literacy as measured by ANA. In addition to ANA, and at classroom level, teachers monitor progress fairly “randomly”; they can decide what to ‘look’ for, usually by using their summative assessment marks, when deciding whether a learner is making progress or not. It is possible, therefore, that no two teachers will look at the same foundational literacy skill when deciding whether the learner is making progress in a particular skill. There is also no guideline for teachers in terms of what to aim for in order to ensure that learners make progress in core foundational literacy skills that evidence-based research has shown to have a major effect on reading achievement. In this study, I used a metaphor to illustrate the core components of a progress monitoring assessment and support rocket system. The aim of the rocket is to ensure that all learners achieve “lift off” and hit the identified targets, at all grade levels, on the way to reading success. In order to ensure that the rocket is launched effectively, all stakeholders have to fulfil essential tasks or roles. The assessment and support rocket system implemented in this study was developed to provide a prevention-oriented, assessment and support decision-making system to pre-empt early reading difficulty and ensure progress step-bystep toward outcomes that result in reading achievement for all children. / PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:33:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gilvan Elias Pereira.pdf: 1404869 bytes, checksum: 13bff43f986db813f5b6c08568a3c0c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Based on a perspective that assumes a direct relationship between linguistic competence and success or failure at school, this research turns to the student in situation of failure and that has in low language competence (not the ability to make use of language in real situations of life, but to meet the demands required by the school) a central difficulty impeding academic success. To meet such a student in order to better understand what is behind the "alarming" statistics of school failure, we took into account the weight that language has when it comes to school and school learning and, therefore, the resulting need to consider the complexity of the relationship between school learning (in relation to knowledge) an language. It has been assumed that each student excluded or in situations of failure, has his own history is strongly marked, among other things, by the barriers that the low level of language proficiency has imposed. Results of the research (case study) conducted among students in situation of failure confirmed, therefore, that the stigma of student who does not learn, who cannot read and write with the skills required by the school but even so remains there on the edge of her "illiteracy" represents a small part of the qualitative picture of the excluding and selective school model still very present in Brazilian society and that should not be understood only by the logic of statistics or theories based on the exclusive assumption of social modeling / Com base em uma perspectiva que supõe a relação direta entre competência linguística e sucesso ou insucesso escolar, esta pesquisa volta-se para o aluno em situação de fracasso e que tem na baixa competência linguística (não a capacidade para fazer uso da língua em situações reais de vida, mas para responder às exigências requeridas pela escola) uma dificuldade central impeditiva do sucesso escolar. Para conhecer tal aluno com o intuito de compreender melhor o que está por trás das alarmantes estatísticas do fracasso escolar, levou-se em consideração o peso que a linguagem tem quando se trata de escola e de aprendizagem escolar e, portanto, a consequente necessidade de se ponderar a complexidade da relação entre escola, aprendizagem (relação com o saber) e linguagem. Considerou-se que cada aluno excluído ou em situação de fracasso possui sua história e que cada história dessas é marcada fortemente, entre outras coisas, pelas barreiras que o baixo nível de competência linguística impõe. Os resultados da pesquisa (estudo de caso) realizada entre alunos em situação de fracasso confirmaram, pois, que o estigma do aluno que não aprende, que não consegue ler e escrever com as competências requeridas pela escola, mas que ainda assim mantém-se nela à beira do analfabetismo , é um pouco do retrato qualitativo do modelo de escola excludente e seletiva ainda muito presente na sociedade brasileira e que não deve ser compreendida apenas pela lógica da estatística ou das teorias embasadas no pressuposto exclusivo da modelagem social