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Background: South Africa is a developing country whose education system is experiencing a transformation constrained by a legacy of apartheid. The latest TIMSS results confirm the uneven distribution of achievement in mathematics and science. Chief among the problems is that there is a dearth of suitably qualified and experienced teachers to teach the subjects effectively. Moreover the many teachers are unfamiliar with learner-centred pedagogies espoused in the curriculum. Continuing teach...

In monitoring the Monatele-Sa’a earthquake area, audiomagnetotelluric investigation was carried out using a scalar instrument with a frequency range from 4.1 Hz to 2300 Hz. Data have been collected in the Ntui-Sa’a area near Monatele, along a profile containing seven (07) stations directed N-S, covering approximately a distance of 16.5 km. This profile crosses the Sanaga River which seems to be parallel to a buried big fault which shows no indication on the surface. The validation of the...

This study assesses student engagement in the ODL Higher education sector in Zimbabwe.Student engagement has become an important indicator of the probability of a higher level of student retention through satisfaction.The study employed the qualitative research methodology but also used some quantitative research techniques.The case study research design was used with the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) being the case in point.Respondents were chosen using the stratified random sampling...

This study investigates the factors which attract and those which discourage learners from pursuing their studies through Open and Distance Learning (ODL). The study employed a case study research design which falls within the qualitative research paradigm. The questionnaire method was used to gather information. A sample of 44 student respondents was randomly chosen from the 10 Regional Centres. The study revealed that ODL learner is attracted to ZOU because it is conveniently located with...

Background: Undernutrition remains the largest contributor to the global disease burden. Different factors affecting the nutritional status of children need to be studied to determine those to be targeted in a country like Nigeria, characterized by widespread poverty and inequitable distribution of wealth. Objective: This study was aimed at ascertaining the relationship between prevailing socioeconomic and environmental factors, and the nutritional status of children residing in a typical...

Best practices, policy and innovations in the administration of healthcare in developing communities and countries. For administrators, academics, researchers and policy leaders. Includes peer reviewed research papers. Edited by Dr. Judith Shamian, President Emeritus, International Council of Nurses, Professor and Co-investigator with the Nursing Health Services Research Unit, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Climate variability and change are existing sets of conditions which affect crop productivity. An evaluation of their impacts on banana yield in the CDC-DelMonte Banana Project at Tiko is fundamental in conceiving adaptation strategies towards coping with, and minimizing their deleterious impacts for maximum productivity within the present trends on global climate change. An assessment of records of past climatic data (rainfall and temperatures) recorded within three zones ( Mondoni, Tiko...

Resources for the effective implementation of music education in the school curriculum of South Africa have deteriorated since the 1990s, resulting in deficient individual and group music training. This situation has led to negative perceptions about and attitudes towards sight-singing in undergraduate Baccalaureus Musicae students at the School of Music of the North-West University. This article proposes that a movable do solmisation programme can have an impact on the sight-singing...

Vocational technical education (VTE) systems play a crucial role in the social and economic development of a nation. Due to their dynamic nature, they are continuously subject to the forces driving change in the schools, industry and society. Often shaped by the needs of the changing economy and local community, the challenges and opportunities are unique. The issue today is not so much about the value and importance of VTE; how to ensure its relevance, responsiveness and value in an...

This paper presents some of the information presented and views expressed, during a three-week e-discussion on the issue of climate change within African agricultural research and advisory services. For us, as organisers, the results were surprising, in that participants departed strongly and significantly from the questions we had wanted them to answer, and raised different and broader issues, that we might have regarded as tangential but which provided significant learning for us on the questions of climate change and agriculture.

This paper is a result of a pilot study which was conducted in ten government-run primary schools of Dodoma Municipality, Tanzania, between October 2009 and November 2009. The study was aimed at identifying the enabling conditions that help to enhance performance among head-teachers despite their having limited leadership training. Purposive sampling was used to select ten head-teachers and cluster sampling to select government primary schools. Data were obtained through the use of...

The study sought to understand the factors that lead educational authorities in Tanzania to appoint unqualified school teachers to head public primary schools. The findings presented in this paper are based on a cross sectional survey conducted between December 2009 and April 2010 in Morogoro, Lindi and Tabora, three of 30 Tanzania's regions (provinces). Interviews conducted with nine DEOs and 77 head teachers generated the qualitative data used in this report. The study findings reveal that...

This study examined the involvement of school committees in overseeing day-to-day school affairs. The qualitative study conducted in 16 public primary schools in Tanzania‘s Tabora Municipality used interviews, questionnaires and documentary review to get the necessary data from 60 respondents. It established that school committees operated on ad hoc, agenda-driven basis. The operational problems they faced included high transport and materials costs, lack of incentives and conflicts with...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) consists of various aspects of human developments that have been pledged by 189 countries in the United Nations General Assembly in 1990. The MDGs has eight goals, eighteen targets and forty eight indicators to be achieved by 2015. Indeed, deadline is approaching. According to different reports, some countries have shown progress, but many countries in Sub Saharan Africa are lagging behind.  Scholars are now critically looking into the possible...

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Communication Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013.

Recent focus on the ‘early years’ has meant increased attention to children’s early learning experiences. An emerging pressure exists for parents to develop their children’s preparedness for school, pursuant to research emphasising the importance of ‘school readiness’ as a buffer against future academic, social, and mental health problems. The perspectives of parents, influenced by social and cultural factors, are often central to how well children are prepared for the transition to school....