Magister Commercii - MCom / Amongst many challenges, South Africa is still struggling to address the problem of high levels of poverty in the country more than two decades after the apartheid regime has ended. The government has however remained resolute in its effort to alleviate poverty especially through the provision of social grants. The expansion of the social assistance scheme after the apartheid regime has played an important role in extending benefits to a wider population of South Africans particularly the poor and the vulnerable groups. The effects of social grants on poverty have been proven to be effective. This has been widely tested empirically using the monetary approach as a measurement of poverty. However, few academic works have studied this effect on multidimensional poverty. Moreover, existing studies have focused predominantly on single poverty dimensions. As a result, this study investigates whether social grants reduce multidimensional poverty in South Africa. This study uses the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) as a poverty measurement, which encompasses three dimensions of poverty. This dissertation found poverty to have declined over the years but it is still prevalent amongst households headed by blacks and females residing in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces with large household. The relationship between social grants and multidimensional poverty is tested empirically through a logistic regression using the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) data for Wave 4, year 2014/15 to be specific. The empirical findings reveal that a R1 increase in income from social grants results in a 1% decrease in the odds of a household being multidimensional poor. As much as social grants reduce multidimensional poverty, they have been found to be statistically insignificant and thus less effective in the reduction of multidimensional poverty.

No description available.

Este trabalho visa (a) desenvolver um modelo para estimar os custos, os investimentos necessários e o consequente impacto orçamentário para a garantia do direito à educação em condições de qualidade nos sistemas públicos de educação básica para a população em idade escolar obrigatória (4 a 17 anos) e para a população fora da faixa etária obrigatória que não concluiu a escolarização básica e deseja exercer o direito à educação; (b) desenvolver, com base no modelo, o protótipo de um simulador de custos para planejamento de sistemas públicos de educação básica em condições de qualidade (SIMCAQ) a fim de orientar o desenvolvimento de um sistema computacional; e (c) a aplicação do protótipo a casos reais. A revisão da literatura que analisa a trajetória do planejamento no setor público brasileiro e, especialmente, no setor educacional, apresentou inúmeras evidências de ausência ou falhas na previsão dos custos das metas estabelecidas. Este aspecto é considerado como um dos principais motivos pelo qual parte dos planos governamentais brasileiros resultou em descontinuidades e metas frustradas. Em consonância com esta realidade, a literatura também mostra que as experiências quanto ao planejamento e apuração dos custos dos serviços públicos brasileiros são recentes e escassas, o que dificulta o dimensionamento do aporte financeiro necessário para fazer face às ações propostas nos planos. Neste contexto, três fatores justificam os esforços desta pesquisa: (a) a necessidade de subsidiar os planos educacionais com estimativas de valores necessários para consecução de objetivos e metas de curto, médio e longo prazo; (b) a necessidade de estimar o custo por aluno necessário para garantir um padrão mínimo de qualidade do ensino nas escolas públicas; e (c) a necessidade de implantar sistemas de análise de custos para reduzir as disparidades do custo efetivamente praticado nas escolas como forma de assegurar a equalização de oportunidades educacionais e a igualdade de condições para o acesso e permanência na escola. Sendo assim, para a consecução dos objetivos propostos, foi realizada uma pesquisa com abordagem quantitativa de caráter exploratório e descritivo. Foi desenvolvido um modelo conceitual para estimar os custos do processo de adequação de uma rede de ensino a \"parâmetros de condições de qualidade\" durante determinado período de tempo. Igualmente, a partir do modelo, foi elaborado um protótipo do SIMCAQ utilizando 66 planilhas eletrônicas relacionadas por fórmulas e operadores lógicos segundo o projeto lógico que descreveu as cinco etapas do fluxo de informações. A aplicação do protótipo a três municípios goianos de portes distintos e redes públicas de ensino com características diversas mostrou que o SIMCAQ consegue realizar estimativas da demanda por matrículas, professores e infraestrutura dos prédios escolares, etc. por localização de moradia (urbano / rural) e por etapas de ensino conforme parâmetros de qualidade pré-estabelecidos. Além disso, o protótipo calculou o valor do custo-aluno-ano para cada etapa por um período de dez anos. Os valores estimados pelo simulador foram consideravelmente superiores aos valores verificados por pesquisas anteriores e aos valores previstos para serem redistribuídos em Goiás no âmbito pelo Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica e de Valorização dos Profissionais da Educação (FUNDEB) em 2012. Igualmente, os custos totais das redes de ensino analisadas apontaram a necessidade de maior aporte de recursos para garantir a oferta de ensino com os parâmetros de qualidade utilizados neste trabalho e que os municípios investigados devem investir mais de 30% da receita corrente em educação básica. Desse modo, o SIMCAQ pode constituir uma ferramenta para auxiliar o processo de tomada de decisão dos gestores, uma vez que facilita a análise de cenários de custos e investimentos para fazer face às metas do planejamento educacional. / This paper aims at (a) developing a model to estimate the costs, the necessary investments and the consequent budgetary impact in order to guarantee the right to education in quality conditions in basic education public systems for population in mandatory school age (4 to 17 years old) and for population out of the mandatory school age who have not concluded basic schooling and who wish to exercise the right to education; (b) based on the model, developing the prototype of a cost simulator for planning basic education public systems in quality conditions (SIMCAQ) with the intention of guiding the development of a computational system; and (c) applying the prototype to real cases. The literature review which analyses the path of the planning in the Brazilian public sector and especially in the educational sector presented numerous evidence of absence or failure in established goals cost prediction. This aspect is considered as one of the main reasons why part of Brazilian governmental plans resulted in discontinuities and frustrated goals. In line with this, the literature also shows that the experiences regarding planning and calculations of Brazilian public services are recent and scarce, which complicates the measurement of financial contribution necessary to cope with the actions proposed in the plans. Within this context three factors justify these research efforts: (a) the need to subsidize the educational plans with values estimation necessary to achieve objectives and short, medium, and long-term goals; (b) the need to estimate the cost per student necessary to guarantee the minimum pattern of teaching education in public schools; and (c) the need to implement cost analysis systems to reduce disparities of the costs effectively practiced in schools so as to ensure the equalization of educational opportunities and the equality of access conditions and school permanence. Then, to achieve the proposed objectives, we developed a quantitative research of exploratory-descriptive character. We created a conceptual model to estimate the costs of the adequacy process of a teaching system to \"parameters of quality conditions\" during a determined period of time. In the same way, we formulated, from the model, a SIMCAQ prototype using 66 electronic spreadsheets related by formulas and logical operators according to the logical project which described the five stages of information flow. We applied the prototype to three towns in the state of Goiás. They are towns of different sizes and present public teaching systems with distinct characteristics. The application showed that SIMCAQ can estimate demands for enrolment, teachers, and school building infrastructure, etc. per housing location (urban / rural) and per teaching stages according to the predetermined parameters of quality. Besides, the prototype calculated the value of cost per student per year for each stage for a period of ten years. The values estimated by the simulator were reasonably superior to the values found in previous researches and to the values which are supposed to be redistributed within the state of Goiás by the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education (FUNDEB) for 2012. In the same way, the total costs of the teaching systems we analyzed pointed the need for greater financial resources in order to guarantee that the offered teaching meets the parameters of quality presented in this paper. Also we concluded that the towns must invest more than 30% of its current income in basic education. Thereby, the SIMCAQ can be seen as a tool to help managers in the process of decision making, once it facilitates the analysis of cost and investment scenarios to cope with educational planning goals.

Este trabalho visa (a) desenvolver um modelo para estimar os custos, os investimentos necessários e o consequente impacto orçamentário para a garantia do direito à educação em condições de qualidade nos sistemas públicos de educação básica para a população em idade escolar obrigatória (4 a 17 anos) e para a população fora da faixa etária obrigatória que não concluiu a escolarização básica e deseja exercer o direito à educação; (b) desenvolver, com base no modelo, o protótipo de um simulador de custos para planejamento de sistemas públicos de educação básica em condições de qualidade (SIMCAQ) a fim de orientar o desenvolvimento de um sistema computacional; e (c) a aplicação do protótipo a casos reais. A revisão da literatura que analisa a trajetória do planejamento no setor público brasileiro e, especialmente, no setor educacional, apresentou inúmeras evidências de ausência ou falhas na previsão dos custos das metas estabelecidas. Este aspecto é considerado como um dos principais motivos pelo qual parte dos planos governamentais brasileiros resultou em descontinuidades e metas frustradas. Em consonância com esta realidade, a literatura também mostra que as experiências quanto ao planejamento e apuração dos custos dos serviços públicos brasileiros são recentes e escassas, o que dificulta o dimensionamento do aporte financeiro necessário para fazer face às ações propostas nos planos. Neste contexto, três fatores justificam os esforços desta pesquisa: (a) a necessidade de subsidiar os planos educacionais com estimativas de valores necessários para consecução de objetivos e metas de curto, médio e longo prazo; (b) a necessidade de estimar o custo por aluno necessário para garantir um padrão mínimo de qualidade do ensino nas escolas públicas; e (c) a necessidade de implantar sistemas de análise de custos para reduzir as disparidades do custo efetivamente praticado nas escolas como forma de assegurar a equalização de oportunidades educacionais e a igualdade de condições para o acesso e permanência na escola. Sendo assim, para a consecução dos objetivos propostos, foi realizada uma pesquisa com abordagem quantitativa de caráter exploratório e descritivo. Foi desenvolvido um modelo conceitual para estimar os custos do processo de adequação de uma rede de ensino a \"parâmetros de condições de qualidade\" durante determinado período de tempo. Igualmente, a partir do modelo, foi elaborado um protótipo do SIMCAQ utilizando 66 planilhas eletrônicas relacionadas por fórmulas e operadores lógicos segundo o projeto lógico que descreveu as cinco etapas do fluxo de informações. A aplicação do protótipo a três municípios goianos de portes distintos e redes públicas de ensino com características diversas mostrou que o SIMCAQ consegue realizar estimativas da demanda por matrículas, professores e infraestrutura dos prédios escolares, etc. por localização de moradia (urbano / rural) e por etapas de ensino conforme parâmetros de qualidade pré-estabelecidos. Além disso, o protótipo calculou o valor do custo-aluno-ano para cada etapa por um período de dez anos. Os valores estimados pelo simulador foram consideravelmente superiores aos valores verificados por pesquisas anteriores e aos valores previstos para serem redistribuídos em Goiás no âmbito pelo Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica e de Valorização dos Profissionais da Educação (FUNDEB) em 2012. Igualmente, os custos totais das redes de ensino analisadas apontaram a necessidade de maior aporte de recursos para garantir a oferta de ensino com os parâmetros de qualidade utilizados neste trabalho e que os municípios investigados devem investir mais de 30% da receita corrente em educação básica. Desse modo, o SIMCAQ pode constituir uma ferramenta para auxiliar o processo de tomada de decisão dos gestores, uma vez que facilita a análise de cenários de custos e investimentos para fazer face às metas do planejamento educacional. / This paper aims at (a) developing a model to estimate the costs, the necessary investments and the consequent budgetary impact in order to guarantee the right to education in quality conditions in basic education public systems for population in mandatory school age (4 to 17 years old) and for population out of the mandatory school age who have not concluded basic schooling and who wish to exercise the right to education; (b) based on the model, developing the prototype of a cost simulator for planning basic education public systems in quality conditions (SIMCAQ) with the intention of guiding the development of a computational system; and (c) applying the prototype to real cases. The literature review which analyses the path of the planning in the Brazilian public sector and especially in the educational sector presented numerous evidence of absence or failure in established goals cost prediction. This aspect is considered as one of the main reasons why part of Brazilian governmental plans resulted in discontinuities and frustrated goals. In line with this, the literature also shows that the experiences regarding planning and calculations of Brazilian public services are recent and scarce, which complicates the measurement of financial contribution necessary to cope with the actions proposed in the plans. Within this context three factors justify these research efforts: (a) the need to subsidize the educational plans with values estimation necessary to achieve objectives and short, medium, and long-term goals; (b) the need to estimate the cost per student necessary to guarantee the minimum pattern of teaching education in public schools; and (c) the need to implement cost analysis systems to reduce disparities of the costs effectively practiced in schools so as to ensure the equalization of educational opportunities and the equality of access conditions and school permanence. Then, to achieve the proposed objectives, we developed a quantitative research of exploratory-descriptive character. We created a conceptual model to estimate the costs of the adequacy process of a teaching system to \"parameters of quality conditions\" during a determined period of time. In the same way, we formulated, from the model, a SIMCAQ prototype using 66 electronic spreadsheets related by formulas and logical operators according to the logical project which described the five stages of information flow. We applied the prototype to three towns in the state of Goiás. They are towns of different sizes and present public teaching systems with distinct characteristics. The application showed that SIMCAQ can estimate demands for enrolment, teachers, and school building infrastructure, etc. per housing location (urban / rural) and per teaching stages according to the predetermined parameters of quality. Besides, the prototype calculated the value of cost per student per year for each stage for a period of ten years. The values estimated by the simulator were reasonably superior to the values found in previous researches and to the values which are supposed to be redistributed within the state of Goiás by the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education (FUNDEB) for 2012. In the same way, the total costs of the teaching systems we analyzed pointed the need for greater financial resources in order to guarantee that the offered teaching meets the parameters of quality presented in this paper. Also we concluded that the towns must invest more than 30% of its current income in basic education. Thereby, the SIMCAQ can be seen as a tool to help managers in the process of decision making, once it facilitates the analysis of cost and investment scenarios to cope with educational planning goals.

My entire career in lecturing and research in the field of financial management in education, have led to me becoming more and more intrigued by questions related to the amounts of money being spent on education and the performance of learners in the Senior Certificate Examination in public secondary schools in South Africa. The South African education system has changed dramatically since 1994 and is aimed at restoring the injustices of the past by providing equitable quality education. Despite many reforms our system is not rendering acceptable results as is evident from our participation in international and national tests (TIMSS, PIRLS, SACMEQ and ANA)2. Internationally UNESCO is driving the Educational for All campaign in an attempt to address issues related to quality education. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the funding of education and the quality of education in selected diverse top performing secondary schools in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The results of the sample schools in the National Senior Certificate examination was used as indicator of the quality of education provided. Towards this end, I have done multiple case study research in six schools selected using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Semistructured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data. I found that there is a definite link between funding and the quality of education provided. This manifests itself in allowing schools to reduce class size by appointing additional teaching staff, access to technology and staff development. However, all the schools in the sample indicated that the crucial factor determining their success was their teachers! In addition to the role of the teachers, I found that structures created for and the manner in which academic performance was managed and parental involvement also played determining roles. Contrary to what was expected, the use of technology as teaching aid, although convenient, was not playing a decisive role. The research led to a much better and deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between funding and the quality of education, but additional investigation is required in order to highlight this matter even further to allow for the informed improvement of efforts to raise the quality of education in South Africa and the world. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This study focuses on the effective management in public schools in South Africa and the impact this may have on quality education. An investigation into what is regarded as effective management is done and looks at the different role players that are responsible for a school’s management. In this study the primary focus was principals. The concept of quality education was also investigated and other elements that could influence the outcomes of quality education was discussed. This study also looked at the major projects and studies currently being done to investigate school effectiveness. Research questions and objectives were formulated through an extensive literature review and research data was collected by means of a quantitative research method. The responses were analised by means of statistical methods and the findings discussed, which included some major findings about the link between non-monetary inputs, socio-economic conditions of learners and the teacher-learner ratio’s that have an impact on the quality of education given to learners. Based on these findings, recommendations for principals were made to increase the effective management of schools, as well as recommendations for further studies. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study focuses on the effective management in public schools in South Africa and the impact this may have on quality education. An investigation into what is regarded as effective management is done and looks at the different role players that are responsible for a school’s management. In this study the primary focus was principals. The concept of quality education was also investigated and other elements that could influence the outcomes of quality education was discussed. This study also looked at the major projects and studies currently being done to investigate school effectiveness. Research questions and objectives were formulated through an extensive literature review and research data was collected by means of a quantitative research method. The responses were analised by means of statistical methods and the findings discussed, which included some major findings about the link between non-monetary inputs, socio-economic conditions of learners and the teacher-learner ratio’s that have an impact on the quality of education given to learners. Based on these findings, recommendations for principals were made to increase the effective management of schools, as well as recommendations for further studies. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

<p>Акредитација, као један од<br />елемената квалитета, омогу-ћава<br />пословној организацији да стекне<br />конкурентску предност, а<br />купцу/кориснику да има<br />повјерење у њен производ<br />/услугу. Развијен национални<br />систем акредитације и интегрисан<br />у регионалне и међународне<br />системе акреди- тације омогућава<br />присуство на инотржишту. То се<br />постиже уз непрекидну обуку и<br />образова-ње за квалитет свих<br />заинтере-сованих страна.</p> / <p>Akreditacija, kao jedan od<br />elemenata kvaliteta, omogu-ćava<br />poslovnoj organizaciji da stekne<br />konkurentsku prednost, a<br />kupcu/korisniku da ima<br />povjerenje u njen proizvod<br />/uslugu. Razvijen nacionalni<br />sistem akreditacije i integrisan<br />u regionalne i međunarodne<br />sisteme akredi- tacije omogućava<br />prisustvo na inotržištu. To se<br />postiže uz neprekidnu obuku i<br />obrazova-nje za kvalitet svih<br />zaintere-sovanih strana.</p> / <p>Accreditation as one of the elements<br />of quality, enables the business<br />organization to gain competitive<br />advantage, and customer to have<br />confidence in its product/ service.<br />Developed national accreditation<br />system and integrated into regional<br />and international systems of<br />accreditation allows the presence<br />international market. This is<br />achieved through continuous training<br />and education for the quality of all<br />parties interested in it.</p>

Thesis (PhD. (Education)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / This thesis is a study on the effect of resistance to change on quality education in Limpopo Province. The study investigated basic challenges in the change process at schools. The empirical research was done by using semi-standardized interviews where predetermined questions were posed to each participant in a systematic and consistent manner but allowed the participants to go on discussing issues on the effect of resistance to change on quality education beyond the questions confines. (cf. Struwig & Stead, 2001:98). Observations and perusal of documents complemented the interviews to gather information. Data was analyzed through tables. The study has revealed the reasons why do people (educators) resist change, pin-pointing the source of the resistance which makes it possible to see what needs to be done to avoid resistance or convert it into commitment to change. The literature review has brought to the light that change is not only needed because of what has happened in South Africa in the past, but made it very clear that education is changing everywhere in the world. South Africa has not only an opportunity to heal the crippled system of education but to simultaneously catch up with the world. The relevance of theory to the effect of resistance to change on quality education has been highlighted. The study is based on the ambiguity theories which stress uncertainty and complexity in schools and other organizations characterized by problematic goals, unclear technology and fluid participation in decision making with reference to the new approaches of facilitation and learning The study also attempted to look at policy initiatives with reference to uniform systems for schools and governance to promote quality education. Also, an attempt was made to integrate educational laws, policies and regulations with regard to the provision of quality education. Finally, recommendations to deal with resistance to change were high-lighted. In education, the megatrends are already making themselves felt for those who attempt to resist the change, the future holds frustration, unhappiness and ultimately defeat. For those interested in the improvement of quality education and for those who are willing to recognize the changes coming, there will be opportunities, challenges and the thrill of having participated in one of the most existing periods in history. It is the researchers wish that each South African hope to be equal to the task, for failure will have disastrous consequences not only for our learners, but ultimately for the System of Education and the entire Society.

Magistro darbe siekiama įvertinti neformaliojo vaikų ugdymo įstaigos kokybę ir numatyti tobulinimo kelius. Atlikta mokslinės literatūros bei švietimo dokumentų, turinčių įtaką neformaliajam vaikų švietimui bei ugdymo kokybės tobulinimui, analizė. Neformaliojo vaikų ugdymo įstaigoje tyrimas parodė, jog siekiama, kad besimokantieji ne tik turiningai, prasmingai praleistų laiką, siektų įgūdžių bei rezultatų, bet ir patenkintų saviraiškos poreikius. Nustatyta, kad mokytojų požiūris į vaikų ugdymą gana formalus, todėl yra nepakankamai orientuotas į Neformaliojo vaikų švietimo koncepcijos nuostatas. Tikėtina, kad tolimesnis darbas su mokytojais turėtų įtakos ugdymo kokybės tobulinimui. / Quality of an informal educational institution and contemplation of the ways of development are studied in Master‘s work. The analysis of nonfiction and educational documents having impact on informal children education and on its qualitative development was carried out. The research in the informal educational institution has shown that meaningful consuming of learners time, skills and results as well as fulfillment of self-expression are aimed for. It was estimated that teachers‘ attitude towards children education is rather formal, therefore it is insufficiently oriented towards the attitude of Conception of Informal Children Education. Presumptively further work with teachers would influence the qualitative development of education.