In 1946 a rich gold reef was discovered on the farm Geduld in the vicinity of Odendaalsrus and approximately 3 miles (4, 8 km) from the town. At that stage it was recognised as the richest gold reef in the world. The discovery led to further and progressive explorations in the Goldfields and finally resulted in the coming of many people to settle in the area. As the mining sector developed, the need for certain infrastructure on socio-economic and the social precinct had deepened. The proceeding development of the mining sector had led to the establishment of Welkom, because Odendaalsrus could not comply with the expectations of mining magnates like Ernest Oppenheimer. Consequently, the establishment and layout of Welkom made provision for such requirements like infrastructure, etc. Likewise, with the surrounding mining industry of Anglo-American, Welkom had become the metropolis in the Goldfields. Thereby equal to the mining industry, secondary industry developed on an increasing scale in the Goldfields. Odendaalsrus played on the other hand an important role in the emergence and developing processes of the Dutch Reformed Churches, since the Volksraad of the O.F.S. gave distinct consent on the 26 April 1899 for the layout of the town on the farm of Kalkkuil. Inclusively, the founding and development of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika), also started with their church activities during the early years of the gold discovery near Odendaalsrus. None the less, the Reformed Church of South Africa (Ned. Hervormde Kerk van Suid-Afrika) also had been founded and church activities escalated during the same time in the Goldfields, and more specifically in St. Helena, a well-known established suburb of Welkom. In the same way, it is necessary to emphasise the Evangelical Reformed Church of South Africa (Evangelies-Gereformeerde Kerk van Suid-Afrika) which founded on May 1960 in Welkom, although the members of the church were active with church activities in Welkom long before their congregation was finally established. The culminating factor of the economic power regarding the mining industry may not be overlooked in its influence on the emergence of the various church congregations in the Goldfields. The constant influx of mineworkers to the Goldfields made the existence of the church inevitable for its member’s spiritual well-being. Naturally, the church had to overcome major obstacles, namely: the expansion to new residential areas, the availability of finances, planning schemes for church amenities, the purchase of church estates, the need of ministers, knowledgeable church councillors and general encompassing assistance, etc. Furthermore, the church encountered during the pioneering years all sorts of social disorders, while the minister at times had the working load of approximately two congregations to handle at the same time. Accordingly, it was virtually impossible for the minister to cope with such a strenuous working load effectively, and consequently some issues were at times inevitably neglected in the congregation. The demands of the time and difficult circumstances without proper roads, communication networks like direct telephone systems, the lack of church buildings, manses, the long distances between the central point of worship and some visiting areas within the confinements of the congregation had necessarily complicated the task of the minister. Nevertheless, the church continued and gave concrete stature to its calling by virtue of the founding congregations for meaningful and efficacious spiritual care to its members. Herein, the church was successful because the focus of faith remained on God. All the praise and glory is due to Him. / Thesis (DPhil (Church History and Church Polity))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Church History and Church Polity / unrestricted

Full Thesis / The discovery over seventy years ago of a gold reef in the Northern Free State brought about a hive of business activity. This area, known as the Goldfields, includes Welkom, Virginia, Odendaalsrus, Allanridge, and Hennenman (Anon. 2009:1). Most successful businesses in the area are either directly or indirectly associated with the gold-mining industry.

Thesis (M. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2010 / The aim of this study was to establish factors that contribute to poor learner discipline in the primary school. Although discipline has addressed in many schools, putting it through in the classroom is always another story. To address the issue of discipline, this article examines the factors that influence poor discipline in schools, in the Free State province and sought to suggest strategies that may be implemented to improve poor discipline in schools and sustain positive nation of discipline. Questionnaires were administered to educators and information gathered from responses. Both the literature study and empirical research revealed that there were factors which negatively influenced discipline in schools. Finally, several recommendations were made to rectify the current situation.

Full Thesis / Education in South Africa has undergone numerous changes in recent years, all of which contributed to an increase in the workload of educators and school leaders. New ideologies that impacted on the education system, concurred with democratisation. The implementation of new curricula which were underpinned by Outcomes Based Education (OBE), led to many changes. The decentralisation of authority to school-based management increased the responsibilities of principals. Principals are not necessarily professionally equipped to perform their task. The workload of school principals is becoming increasingly unmanageable and many principals, especially those in secondary schools, are constrained by insufficient time as well as a proper understanding of their leadership task. They frequently encounter situations which demand from them new and improved skills, knowledge and attitudes in order to cope with the wide range of demands and changes. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the level of managerial and leadership skills of principals in selected secondary schools in the Lejweleputswa education district. Fifteen schools were selected as a convenient sample from all secondary schools. Of these, five were classified as dysfunctional (grade 12 pass rate of below 50%), five were “at risk” schools (pass rate between 50 and 60%) and five “passing” schools. From the literature review, nineteen critical management and leadership skills were identified and used as basis for the self-compiled questionnaire. The data collected from the questionnaire was used to determine the management competencies of principals. In turn, this information was analysed to determine the training needs of principals which were subsequently compared to the contents of the new Advanced Certificate in School Management and Leadership (ACE:SML). The aim of this comparison was to determine whether the ACE: SML responded adequately to the identified training needs of principals. The data revealed the substantial inadequacy of managerial and leadership skills of principals in the Lejweleputswa Education District. It was further found that the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Management and Leadership did not cover all essential skills identified in this study. The recommendation was made that a comprehensive needs analysis which covers the entire country, is done and to subsequently use the results it yields to implement corrective measures. It was also recommended that the ACE: SML be revised to include the development of all identified skills.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education Management)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / The study focuses on the challenges facing principals of high-poverty schools in the Lejweleputswa Education District in the Free State. This study moreover deals with the strategies employed by principals of high-poverty school in addressing these challenges. It further profiles the leadership qualities as exhibited by the principals of high-performing, high-poverty schools. An in-depth literature review which covered typical problems faced by such schools and the leadership styles generally employed when managing them, was conducted. An empirical investigation using a qualitative research design was conducted and data was gathered through interviews with the principals and focus group discussions with teachers of the five selected schools. In the final analysis, findings and recommendations were made to officials in the Department of Education, teachers and the principals of high-poverty schools on how to confront challenges in the disadvantaged communities while at the same time moving towards maintaining academic excellence.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Educational Management)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / The implementation of strategic planning in schools started in the United States of America (USA) in the 1980s. It is not clear when the concept was first used in South Africa, but its importance in the successful management of a school cannot be underestimated. Strategic planning basically includes a group of instruments, operations and concepts structured to help managers, leaders and planners to think and act strategically. The planning process comprises a definition of the goals, a valuation of the resources available for meeting the goals, and the definition of definite plans or initiatives that are intended to achieve the goals. The process usually includes a classification exercise that identifies the highest priority initiatives. The study addresses the management process and indicates how strategic management fits into this process. Strategic planning is the process of deciding on an organisation's goals, determining the policies and programmes necessary to achieve all specific objectives, and establishing the methods essential to assure that the policies and strategic programmes are implemented. Strategic planning ensures that the school is associated with the changing internal and external environment. This planning is formulated by top management and focuses on the entire organisation. A qualitative design was followed in which the opinions of principals and School Governing Body chairpersons were sought through the use of open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Method triangulation was incorporated by the use of afore-mentioned data collection methods. Another form of triangulation employed in this study is data source triangulation. This entails making use of more than one group of participants to gather data. This study obtained data from various groups of people as described in the sample. The findings of the study indicate that strategic planning does not occur in many schools in the Motheo district. If a form of strategic planning does occur, SGB chairpersons are often excluded in the drafting and implementation of these plans. Collaboration between School Management Teams and School Governing Bodies is needed to ensure the successful drafting and implementation of strategic plans

Thesis (Phd. (Psychology of education )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / This purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the deputy principals in managing conflict among secondary school teachers in the Lejweleputswa Education District, in the Free State Province. Two questionnaires, one for the deputy principals and one for teachers, were developed. The questionnaires were administered on six deputy principals and twelve teachers from six secondary schools in Monyakeng, Nyakallong and Kutloanong townships. The qualitative approach was mainly used for the collection and analysis of data. The study revealed that conflict was common in the surveyed township secondary schools. The study found thatthe causes of conflict for the township secondary school teachers included poor communication, shortage of resources and facilities, work overload, gossiping, high rates of absenteeism and poor performance of teachers. The study further revealed that the role of the deputy principals was crucial in the handling of conflict in schools. The conflict resolution strategies commonly applied by the deputy principals included negotiations, accommodating, collaborating and compromise. However, avoiding, arbitration and competing strategies were avoided by the deputy principals. The role of the deputy principals in resolving conflict was found to focus more on building relationships and collegiality among teachers in the township secondary schools. It was recommended that schools are provided with adequate resources and facilities, as well as adequate teachers; that counseling sessions to be introduced for teachers, and that training in stress and conflict management is also introduced for township secondary school teachers. A conflict resolution model appropriate for the township secondary schools was also developed.

Thesis ( PhD. (Educational Management )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014? / The aim of the study was to determine the need for capacity building among student affairs practitioners with regards to student governance. As cited in the literature review chapter, minimal progress has been made in South Africa towards capacitating student affairs practitioners and this reality has led to the conception of this study. Pertinent questions were formulated and expressed for the qualitative section of the study. For the quantitative section of the study hypotheses were formulated to determine the relationship(s) between and amongst the independent variables of the study: which are male and female student affairs practitioners, senior and junior student affairs practitioners, and professionally trained and non-professionally trained practitioners. Finally, the researcher examined the views of student affairs practitioners regarding the professionalization of student affairs practice. In the light of the foregoing assertions the researcher sought to solicit views of the different student affairs practitioners on the need to professionalize student affairs practice, with special reference to student governance. The qualitative design allowed the researcher a more interactive experience with the interviewees and thereby facilitated more in-depth and meaningful responses in pursuit of the goals of the study. The phenomenological method was identified as the most suitable research method for this study. The quantitative research design allowed the researcher to specify phenomena being studied and to quantify the relationships between and within variables of the study namely: Gender (Male versus Female student affairs practitioners), Experience (Senior versus Junior student affairs practitioners), and Professional training (Professionally trained versus Non-Professionally trained student affairs practitioners) as Independent Variables (IV) and Student Governance as a Dependent Variable (DV). The research method best suited for this research design was found to be the descriptive method. This study used Sequential Exploratory Triangulation, where interviews were conducted first with a sample of convenience; and the adapted questionnaire was then administered to a wider pool of 150 student affairs practitioners conveniently sampled from the membership databases of both SAASSAP and NASDEV. The approved questionnaire was further subjected to tests of statistical validity. In this manner factor analyses was conducted by subjecting the forty two items of the questionnaire to principal component analyses using varimax rotation of one (1) criterion to extract the categories or components of the questionnaire. Twenty seven (27) items which had an Eigenvalue of above .50 were extracted and dispersed into two factors namely Personal Capability and Professional Competence. Fifteen items below the Eigenvalue of .50 were, therefore, discarded from the final questionnaire which the researcher named Student Affairs Professional Competency Scale (SAPCS). The SAPCS that was administered to the sample of 150 participants; yielded a 74,6% response rate for analysis. The results of the study supported current research that there is a need for capacity building for student affairs practitioners responsible for student governance. However, the main limitation of this study is that the findings and results are not applicable to the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, who have since become part of higher education administration, and consequently student affairs practitioners from this sector have recently been accepted as members of NASDEV. Their exclusion from this study is mainly due to the fact that the conception of this study preceded these recent developments in the sector. More inclusive research needs to be pursued in future and it is envisaged that future research in the field of student affairs in South Africa should be more representative and therefore include both qualitative and quantitative presentation.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2010 / Newly appointed principals are facing enormous challenges as managers of their schools today. When they are first appointed, many begin their work with a lot of uncertainty, anxiety and frustration due to lack of assistance, guidance and support. As principals of schools, newly appointed principals are expected to perform to the best of their ability in order to ensure that their schools succeed and achieve the best possible results. The constant changes in education require the newly appointed principal to adapt to these changes and to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in order to implement the policies, regulations and procedures. Without proper guidance and support most newly appointed principals are unlikely to succeed. It is therefore necessary that these principals are exposed to induction and mentoring opportunities in order to capacitate them and enhance their performance and their competencies. Newly appointed principals should first be exposed to an induction programme after their arrival at work. The induction programme should subsequently be followed by a mentoring programme whereby a mentor is assigned to the newly appointed principal. The purpose of this study is to develop an induction and mentoring programme to assist newly appointed principals in selected education districts in the Free State province. The qualitative approach is used in this study as it seeks to represent reality from the perspectives of the participant, without interfering with or biasing that perspective, in their own words and using their own concepts. To analyse data for this study the researcher used coding in order to categorise data into themes. The findings of this study reveal that all the schools do not have a policy for the induction and mentoring of newly appointed principals. The study also revealed that schools did not have a formal induction and mentoring programme and as a result, there were not enough induction and mentoring opportunities for new principals in their first year as principals. It was also found that no monitoring and evaluation was done due to lack of formal programmes in the schools. It is recommended that a policy for the induction and mentoring programme be formulated in schools. Those responsible for inducting and mentoring newly appointed principals must ensure that the programme is properly managed in order for it to succeed. The induction and mentoring programme should be thoroughly planned in order to meet the needs of the newly appointed principals. Before implementing any programme it is essential that the training needs of newly appointed principals are identified. These needs should then be prioritised in relation to the needs they are intended to serve. The induction programme should have carefully formulated objectives so that the programme can address the needs of newly appointed principals appropriately. It is important therefore that this programme be monitored at all times in order to ascertain whether it is meeting the objectives of the programme. The induction and mentoring programme for newly appointed principals should be evaluated at the end in order to determine the success and impact of the programme on newly appointed principals.

Thesis (Phd. (Education?)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2014 / In this research, the researcher focused on the level of knowledge and skills of foundation phase teachers on curriculum adaptations for learners with learning impairments. The sample consisted of 20 foundation phase teachers and 22 learners. Interviews were conducted with 20 teachers and the researcher observed the interaction between teachers and learners as well as the interaction between the learners themselves. Field notes were also taken during fieldwork. The findings indicated that most teachers understood what the adaptations were; although only few aspects of the curriculum were understood to be adapted to the needs of learners with learning impairments. Some teachers gave learners varying activities whilst other teachers gave all their learners the same activities. The teachers mentioned that they gave different activities to individual learners during expanded opportunity time, which was, according to the researcher, time consuming. The study recommends that the Learning Support Advisors (LSAs) and Subject Advisors (SAs) should conduct in-services training in which foundation phase teachers are trained in curriculum adaptations. Teachersshould be asked how they explore the meaning of curriculum adaptations. This strategy will help the facilitators to identify what teachers already know, and build on that knowledge. The question and answer technique will serve as an introduction to the training. The LSAs and the SAs should conduct the training using different teaching strategies. Thereafter, they should highlight strategies such as: Multilevel instruction; cognitive training which entails self - instruction, self - monitoring, scaffolded instruction and reciprocal teaching; content enhancement which entails graphic organizers; mnemonics and peer assisted learning strategy; direct instruction, peer tutoring and cooperative learning. The researcher designed the following models to improve the knowledge and skills of foundation phase teachers on the implementation of curriculum adaptations for learners with learning impairments: - In-service training model; - Curriculum adaptations model; - Model of an application for adaptation(s), and - A model of a record sheet for adaptation(s).