Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 61-77).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 158-167).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-77). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-167). Also available in print.

Inequalities in levels of development between regions within a country are frequently regarded as a problem. The magnitude of the problem is more severe in developing countries than in developed countries. Zimbabwe, as a developing country, is no exception and the country is characterized by severe regional inequalities. This research is concerned with the spatial patterns of socio-economic development in Zimbabwe. The composite index method was used to rank administrative districts of Zimbabwe according to level of development. The composite indices together with socio-economic characteristics were used to demarcate the administrative districts into development regions according to Friedmann's (1966) model. Attention was given to the spatial development policies applied in Zimbabwe. Friedmann's (1966) guidelines, for the development of the different regional types in his model, were applied to the Zimbabwean spatial economy. Suggestions were made regarding possible adjustments to previous strategies used in Zimbabwe, for spatial development planning. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A.

This study explores the factors that influence the English language learning motivation of first generation immigrant students from a low socio-economic class in the city of Växjö, Sweden. Qualitative research methods are applied and semi-structured, in-depth individual as well as group interviews are used to collect the empirical data. The results indicate that students from socio-economically disadvantaged background feel excluded from the society and lack intrinsic motivation to learn English. This lack of motivation is explained in connection with their socio-economic background and the roadblocks currently existing in the Swedish education policy. The findings are analyzed using a theoretical framework consisting of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, social comparison theory and some aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. A concluding discussion is presented in the end.

Text in Afrikaans / The study investigates legal and administrative aspects of the interaction between public sector and private enterprise effected by state procurement of goods and services. South African government contracts are, despite their elaborate regulation by statutory and administrative prescription, regarded as the subject matter of the private law of contract. In this regard, they may be distinguished from the contrats administratif of the French and related legal systems and resemble their British and, more closely, federal American counterparts. Important aspects of government procurement, notably the contractual capacity of organs of the state, those administrative procedures which precede the conclusion of agreements with contractors, and the right reserved to the state to rescind, in the public interest, a contract duly entered into, are nevertheless to be determined by the principles of administrative law. The budgeting, audit and parliamentary control of procurement expenditure, along with the invitation of suppliers' bids and the award of contracts, are the principal administrative aspects of the study and are analysed in Chapters III and IV. The pricing of government contracts in South Africa is, with scant exception, determined by competitive tender. Restrictive trade practices and bid preferences awarded by procuring agencies in the pursuit of socio-economic policies were found, in Chapter V, to impede the operation of free market forces. The law of contract features most prominently in the performance of contracts and is examined in Chapter VI. The discussion, depicting the essential provisions of six standard form contracts commonly employed by government for stores and works, is fairly concise. References to British and American procurement law and practice, a consistent feature of the study, are, however, extensive. In South Africa, the settlement of procurement disputes is generally entrusted to the ordillary courts. Chapter VII deals with a number of special remedies accorded to the state, procedural prerequisites for the institution of civil actions against the state, and alternatives to litigation, especially arbitration and administrative appeal. The final chapters survey the efficacy of procurement as an instrument of socio-economic policy, and advance a few recommendations regarding the proper law and more efficient administration of government procurement. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / 1 online resource (306 leaves) / LL. D.

The development of a community, especially a poor community, hinges on interventions from development workers in government and non government organisations. In the recent past, microfinance has been strongly recommended as an intervention that could assist poor people to improve their quality of life by providing small amounts of money to initiate development enterprises. The microfinance services are provided through microfinance institutions. This study was aimed at establishing the role of microfinance in the socioeconomic development of women in a community. Mpigi Town Council in Uganda was the study area. Fifty respondents were interviewed and eight of these were employees of microfinance institutions and two worked as technical staff from Mpigi District Local Government. Twelve microfinance institutions were identified as providing services to the community in Mpigi Town Council. A variety of literature on microfinance in the developed world, developing world, Africa, Uganda and Mpigi Town Council was reviewed. It was noted that the year 2005 was identified as the International Year of Micro-credit during which its significance would be highlighted. The aim of the international year of microcredit was to improve on the knowledge, access and utilization of micro-credit by poor people in the developing world. During the literature review, it was evident that the literature on the impact of microfinance on the socio-economic development of women in Mpigi Town Council was lacking. By filling this gap, this research will be a referral document for other researchers and a resource book for microfinance institutions during the implementation of their programmes. The study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data that was presented in tables, graphs and numbers to show the role played by microfinance in the socio-economic development of women in a community.The findings of the study reveal that microfinance institutions operating in Mpigi Town Council provide services like training and skills development, insured credit facilities and savings mobilisation, banking facilities, supervision and monitoring of the clients, provision of agriculture inputs like seeds and chemicals and physical items like animals (cows, goats, pigs, sheep etc). The services are particularly provided to women groups, salary earners, and individual women and men. The repayment of the credit facilities is usually through weekly and monthly instalments. The size of the loan depends on the MFI but ranges from one hundred thousand to millions of shillings. The security usually required is group collateral in case of groups, salary in case of salary earners and any other as deemed necessary for the individual by the MFI. The study established that women who accessed the loans from MFIs were able to improve their socio-economic status through starting up and or expanding investments and enterprises, paying school fees for their children, purchase of household items like furniture, land and solar installation, building of houses, confidence building, participation in leadership roles etc. The research also found out that women face some challenges in their access and utilization of the MFI services and these include; small amounts of money disbursed, diversion of funds, high interest rates, low returns on investment, short grace periods, unfavourable repayment schedules and risk of property confiscation by the MFI. The respondents recommended that the government should intervene, especially where interest rate is concerned and centralize it or make it uniform and also monitor the operations of the MFIs so that they offer adequate services to the women. As far as the MFIs are concerned, the respondents recommended that they should lower the interest rate, empathize with their clients, monitor and supervise more vigorously, collaborate with fellow MFIs, increase grace period and enlist the support of employers in the area. For the microfinance beneficiaries, the beneficiaries recommended that they should not divert the funds but should use them for the purpose intended. Furthermore, they should not move from one MFI to another. They ought to acquire the loan when they have some investment already, study the MFI before acquiring the services and support each other as a group to ensure that there is progress in the various undertakings. The results of the research have led to the assertion and affirmation that although the benefits may vary from one beneficiary to another and from one community to another, microfinance has in various ways played a significant role in the socio-economic development of women in Mpigi Town Council. This research report will be used as a document for other researchers and a resource book for the microfinance institutions in Mpigi Town Council. / Development Studies / M.A. (Social Science (Development Studies)

Despite of a well-established welfare state in Sweden, socio-economic and residential segregation is increasing rapidly. This has for instance been related to the neo-liberalisation of the welfare state and housing system. One institutional tool for reducing systematic inequality is the housing allowance, which specifically targets low-income households with children as well as young households without children. However, recent studies show how these groups are becoming ever more excluded, despite of the financial aid. The aim of this thesis is thus to contribute with a situated understanding of the practical accomplishment of Swedish socio-economic marginalisation in relation to housing allowance and the welfare state. This is achieved by examining naturally occurring accounts socio-economic marginalisation in 366 audio recorded phone calls to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency about housing allowance, out of which I specifically focus on accounts made by single mothers. In order to make sense of the data, I apply and introduce an ethno-intersectional approach. This entails the synthesis of the applied ethnomethodological methods Conversation Analysis, Discursive Psychology and Membership Categorisation Analysis with intersectionality as one analytical device. The results demonstrate how single-mothers intersect financial troubles, single-motherhood and ill health while expressing situated marginalisation as part of doing legitimacy work. The study also sheds light on how the application of welfare policies could partake in the systematic (re)production of structural inequalities. At large, the introduction of the ethno-intersectional approach is grounded on the theoretical interest of encouraging further action-oriented and situated explorations of the ways in which categories of inequality such as class, ethnicity and gender operate in conjunction and contribute to the generation, reinforcement or alteration of structural intersections of socio-economic marginalisation and privilege.

The aim of this thesis was to better understand English as second language Nigerian children’s reading comprehension attainment, the first such study to be conducted in Nigeria. In the thesis three studies were conducted to investigate the influence of cognitive and decoding/reading skills on the children’s reading comprehension attainment, namely the preliminary study (Chapter-3) with one primary school in Nigeria, the main study (Chapter-4) with 13 state-run primary schools, and the control study (Chapter-5) including four primary schools in London, respectively. It was found that English as second language children’s reading comprehension performance is significantly influenced by cognitive, decoding and chronological age. The development of cognitive skills which is necessary for success in reading comprehension development is also dependent upon chronological age. That is, age-related increase in cognitive skills brings about increased engagement and more efficient reading comprehension attainment in the children. The normal cognitive development of the children had a positive role also on the children’s performance on language tests necessary for text comprehension. The study found that school socioeconomic background played a significant impact in the performance of Nigerian English as second language children – the better the socioeconomic background of the school the higher the reading comprehension attainment of the children. Furthermore gender was not a factor in the performance and development of reading comprehension by English as Second Language Nigerian children. This implies that parents, teachers and schools motivate and support children irrespective of being boys or girls to realise their full potentials without any discrimination. Having reviewed few theories of reading acquisition/development, the Simple view of reading (SVR) was found to be more appropriate for adoption in this study of Nigerian English as second language children’s reading comprehension attainment. The theory postulates that text comprehension is achieved when children have decoding skills and linguistic comprehension knowledge. The results obtained in Chapters 3 and 4 were in line with the Simple view of reading’s assertion – text comprehension depends on decoding and cognitive skills.