The effects of education on economic growth and global competitiveness: a statistical approach
- Authors: Mbatha, Erica Isabel Tavares Da Silva
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Economic development -- Effect of education on -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Educational attainment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147558 , vital:38649
- Description: This thesis investigates whether there is a relationship between education, economic growth and global competitiveness and whether there is a relationship between South Africa’s current throughput rates in institutions of higher education, and its economic growth and global competitiveness. Economic growth is defined as a country’s ability to improve the life of its average citizen based on the strength of its economy. As such, it is increasingly important for a country to assess the factors that contribute to the improvement of their economy, which will ultimately result in its economic growth. Global competitiveness is an indication of how countries are able to provide for their people internally, as well as participate in the international market. To this end, economic growth and global competitiveness are two proxies that can be used to demonstrate the economic wellbeing of a country. Considering that prosperity under economic growth and global competitiveness of a country are driven by its people, one of the aims of this thesis was to investigate whether there is a relationship between education and economic growth and global competitiveness. Considering the recent demand in free education in South Africa, it is also important to understand whether there is a relationship between South Africa’s current throughput rates at higher education institutions and its economic growth and global competitiveness. Bearing in mind the political past which has led to inequality in the country, it is important to understand which types of education contribute to the economy and which types need to be further supported in order to increase the country’s economic productivity. Therefore, an additional aim of the thesis was to determine the relationship between South Africa’s current throughput rates in institutions of higher education, and its economic growth and global competitiveness. To address the aforementioned aims, data were collected from various open access online repositories. All the data were collated and numerous general linear models were constructed and tested to determine the different relationships as per the two aims. The results reveal that secondary school education had the highest impact on economic growth and global competitiveness on a global scale. This could be attributed to the fact that secondary school graduates tend to make up the largest part of the general workforce and as such, would make up a substantial proportion of the economy. Regarding South Africa, the only significant relationships were between green cluster universities (universities that focus on both research and technical training) and global competitiveness. Overall average throughput rates in all academic institutions were low; this could indicate that perhaps there are issues within the higher education system itself that need to be addressed in order to increase the throughput rate. From a managerial perspective, the results of this research stress the importance for the government to further investigate this area of study, as the call for free education becomes more prominent. The low throughput rates seem to suggest that the government is spending substantial amounts of money on students who do not always complete their studies. More research needs to be done to assess the root of the problem in South Africa’s tertiary education system, in order to ensure that this aspect increases its positive contribution towards the country’s economic growth and global competitiveness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A local portrait of South African counselling psychologists’ endorsement of the values and scope of practice of their profession in relation to their career satisfaction
- Authors: Ngobeni, Nhlori
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Counseling psychology -- South Africa , Counseling psychologists -- South Africa , Psychology -- South Africa , Psychologists -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94350 , vital:31038
- Description: The 2011 revision to the scope of practice of counselling psychology in South Africa has renewed debates about what is it that should distinguish counselling psychology as a distinctive area of practice and research in South Africa. This study reports the findings of a survey of a sample of 228 South African registered counselling psychologists, including the extent to which they endorse the traditional values of their category, the extent to which they endorse the current scope of practice for counselling psychology, and measures of career satisfaction. Findings are that women and white practitioners comprise the large majority of the category. Counselling psychologists strongly endorse most of the traditional values of the category and are generally highly satisfied with their careers. Surprisingly, given these findings, only a large minority indicate that they would choose counselling psychology again knowing what they know now. Most significant, the findings of a multiple regression analysis indicate that endorsement of the scope of practice most strongly predicts career satisfaction scores, followed closely by black racial identification, years of experience, and then endorsement of counselling psychology values. Logistic regression analysis to predict which counselling psychologists would choose counselling psychology again knowing what they know now, revealed that only endorsement of counselling psychology values and endorsement of the scope practice made a significant contribution to predictions. This study provides a snapshot of the current status of South African counselling psychology today and it remains that in the next ten years, there will be significant changes as the category changes across the globe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
A sociological study to explore the knowledge of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis at Rhodes University
- Authors: Ntshinga, Throny
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pre-exposure prophylaxis -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Prevention -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Government policy -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Health education (Higher) -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students -- Health and hygiene
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96247 , vital:31254
- Description: South Africa has a very high prevalence rate of HIV infections, this is why this exploratory qualitative study examines the Rhodes University’s HIV policy and its awareness programmes, with a specific focus on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). The World Health Organisation’s (2016-2017) recommendations for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis has been accepted and rolled-out nationwide by the South African Department of Health. This is to maintain the HIV-negative status of not only the general public, but specifically students at higher institutions of learning. PrEP has been integrated with other HIV prevention methods through the Higher Education and Training HIV/AIDS programme. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with five female and four male students, and six health care staff members at Rhodes University. Data was thematically analysed, and the findings show that there is a lack of knowledge of both the HIV policy and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis among the participating students. However, the staff members are knowledgeable due to the fact that they work in health care.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Community engagement in theory & practice
- Authors: Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2019?
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/98052 , vital:31534
- Description: The position of universities within our society has never been simultaneously more vulnerable nor important. Globally, the purpose and value of higher education in the twenty first century, is being seriously challenged more than ever before. Locally, we are confronted with social and economic problems that continue to plague the previously excluded and marginalised in South Africa. This fact is clearly evident in the location of Rhodes University, situated, as it is, in the midst of poverty, in a town with high unemployment and in one of the poorest and most neglected provinces in the country. This demands of us to ask the question that is currently resonating the world over: What then is the purpose of a university? And while we are attempting to answer this question, specifically for the South African context, we should be aware of the urgency to reimagine ourselves and step up, work collectively to redress the imbalances in our society. Universities do not exist in a vacuum - they exist within a particular social, economic, cultural, political and historical context and are an integral part of the community in which they exist. They shape and are shaped by the milieu in which they exist. Through their mission of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, they are uniquely and ideally placed to play a critical role in the project of nation-building, social advancement and societal transformation. Given the complex and painful past of our nation that is characterised by centuries of colonialism and decades of apartheid, racial oppression and dispossession and the denial of opportunities to the majority of the citizens of this country, our universities cannot remain ‘ivory towers’ unconcerned with the daily struggles of those who were systematically excluded from opportunities to realise their full potential. It is our responsibility, indeed our duty, to ensure that we place at the service of our community and humankind the knowledge that we generate. In so doing, we will make it possible for ordinary citizens to become agents of their own emancipation and social advancement. On the occasion of my inauguration as the Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, I pointed out that: “If we remain true and faithful to our intellectual project, as we must, we will be able to advance the higher purpose of higher education: to transform individual lives for the better, to transform societies for the better and to transform the world for the better.” Indeed, the higher purpose of higher education is to transform lives for the better. Community engagement provides universities with opportunities to deepen and broaden our understanding of the role and purpose of our universities in the creation and sustaining of a better society and a better world. It is only when we build respectful, reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships with the previously excluded communities and draw on the different kinds of knowledge that reside in these communities that our knowledge project can start to respond meaningfully and appropriately to the cause of building and sustaining a more just, a more humane, a more caring, a more equitable, a fairer, a more compassionate and more inclusive society. Our University has committed itself to four guiding principles that will drive all our endeavours as an institution of higher learning. These are: • Sustainability – we need to ensure that the principle of sustainability permeates every aspect of our academic endeavour and every decision taken by our university. In the process, we want to produce graduates with an elevated sense of awareness and responsibility in building and sustaining sustainable communities. • Simultaneous local responsiveness and global engagement – our academic endeavour should seek to respond to the pressing and urgent local challenges while simultaneously contributing to our accumulated global stock of knowledge. This will allow us to enter the global knowledge system from our position of strength. • Advancing social justice – given the painful past of our country characterized by exclusion and denial of opportunities for some segments of our society, it is vitally important that we do all we can to restore the dignity and humanity of those who were treated as less than human by the previous dispensation. • Advancing the public good purpose of higher education – our university does not exist in a vacuum. It exists within social, cultural and economic milieu and has an important role to play in lifting the standard of living of our local community. These four principles should guide all academic endeavours in teaching, research and community engagement for the realisation of a society free of hunger, want, inequality and despair. And may it serve as a significant stepping stone towards placing community engagement on a more solid philosophical and moral footing. This publication is packed with a number of exciting and innovative case studies that amply demonstrate that Rhodes University is at the forefront of engaged scholarship and the nurturing of young, talented, committed and engaged citizens. All these initiatives are anchored on the five important pillars of community engagement – mutual respect, reciprocity, mutual benefit, co-creation, and sustainability. We thank all our colleagues and students who go above and beyond the call of duty to contribute in a very meaningful way in transforming the lives of our local community for the better. We are deeply grateful to our Community Engagement Office for enabling and facilitating the interaction between the Rhodes University staff and students and our local community. A word of deep gratitude and sincere appreciation to our community partners who are ever prepared to welcome us with open arms and are always ready to offer our staff and students a different kind of education to the one available within the walls of a lecture room. Our sincere appreciation and gratitude also to our Communications & Advancement Division for seeing to the production of this fabulous publication. I have no hesitation in strongly recommending this publication to all who share our vision of a better society and a better world and are committed to working with courage and conviction to the realisation of a society and a world of our dreams.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019?
A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification:
- Authors: Marshall, David C , Moulds, Max , Hill, Kathy B R , Price, Benjamin W , Wade, Elizabeth J , Owen, Christopher L , Goemans, Geert , Marathe, Kiran , Sarkar, Vivek , Cooley, John R , Sanborn, Allen F , Kunte, Krushnamegh , Villet, Martin H , Simon, Chris
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140601 , vital:37902 , DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4424.1.1
- Description: A molecular phylogeny and a review of family-group classification are presented for 137 species (ca. 125 genera) of the insect family Cicadidae, the true cicadas, plus two species of hairy cicadas (Tettigarctidae) and two outgroup species from Cercopidae. Five genes, two of them mitochondrial, comprise the 4992 base-pair molecular dataset. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic results are shown, including analyses to address potential base composition bias. Tettigarcta is confirmed as the sister-clade of the Cicadidae and support is found for three subfamilies identified in an earlier morphological cladistic analysis. A set of paraphyletic deep-level clades formed by African genera are together named as Tettigomyiinae n. stat. Taxonomic reassignments of genera and tribes are made where morphological examination confirms incorrect placements suggested by the molecular tree, and 11 new tribes are defined (Arenopsaltriini n. tribe, Durangonini n. tribe, Katoini n. tribe, Lacetasini n. tribe, Macrotristriini n. tribe, Malagasiini n. tribe, Nelcyndanini n. tribe, Pagiphorini n. tribe, Pictilini n. tribe, Psaltodini n. tribe, and Selymbriini n. tribe). Tribe Tacuini n. syn. is synonymized with Cryptotympanini, and Tryellina n. syn. is synonymized with an expanded Tribe Lamotialnini. Tribe Hyantiini n. syn. is synonymized with Fidicinini. Tribe Sinosenini is transferred to Cicadinae from Cicadettinae, Cicadatrini is moved to Cicadettinae from Cicadinae, and Ydiellini and Tettigomyiini are transferred to Tettigomyiinae n. stat from Cicadettinae. While the subfamily Cicadinae, historically defined by the presence of timbal covers, is weakly supported in the molecular tree, high taxonomic rank is not supported for several earlier clades based on unique morphology associated with sound production.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
New Unity Movement Bulletin
- Date: 2017-05
- Subjects: Government, Resistance to -- South Africa , South Africa -- History -- 20th century , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: text , journal
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32079 , vital:31949 , Bulk File 7
- Description: The Bulletin was the official newsletter of the New Unity Movement. It was published about twice a year and contained articles reflecting the organisation's views on resistance to the Apartheid government.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017-05
COSATU Submission on the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill
- Authors: COSATU
- Date: Oct 1997
- Subjects: COSATU
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/109824 , vital:33193
- Description: Twenty Months ago, the Minister of Labour, Comrade Tito Mboweni, released a Green Paper on the Basic Conditions of Employment. From April 1996, government labour and business engaged in negotiations in NEDLAC, first over the Green Paper and later various drafts of the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill (the Bill). The primary aim of these negotiations was to agree on the purpose and content of the Bill. COSATU views this piece of legislation as very important as it replaces the current Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Wage Act and provides a floor of basic conditions of employment for all workers - organised and unorganised- including the most vulnerable, such as domestic and farmworkers. Business on the other hand want to preserve apartheid cheap labour practices in the workplace by protecting the current BCEA passed by the apartheid regime at the time when employers had a cosy relationship with government, and the majority of workers were disenfranchised. Employers, using globalisation and international competition as their cover, want to remove obstacles to further oppression and exploitation of workers. If employers have their way, South African workers, who, as the Green Paper points out, already work long hours by international standards, would work even longer hours, with very little or no protection. The challenge facing you as the elected representatives of the people is to send out a signal to workers, through this Bill, as to what you consider to be the minimum employment standards to which every worker should be entitled, concerning basic things like hours of work, periods of sick and maternity leave and rates of over-time pay. Parliament's choice is stark: to lead the process of eradicating apartheid's legacy from South African work places by improving and securing employment standards for ordinary working people or, to give in to those forces who want to turn back the clock and retain the patterns of apartheid cheap labour and worker insecurity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: Oct 1997
Welfare as a catalyst for development: A case study of a rural welfare programme
- Authors: Lund, Francie , Wakelin, Fiona
- Date: 1992-05
- Subjects: Rural development -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Charities -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Human services -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Social service, Rural -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65905 , vital:28856 , ISBN 1874897220
- Description: One of CORD's activities is the welfare programme, which started four years ago. It has two features which make it particularly interesting. First, it has introduced a level of welfare into rural areas which has not been there before. Second, it is based on a broad, developmental and holistic approach to welfare — which is what most people agree is needed, but very few actually manage to do. Welfare projects are often well meaning but small in scale, without the ability to help people out of the poverty in which they are trapped. We believe that this welfare programme acts as a catalyst for other development activities — it shows that welfare can be a wedge, a point of entry, for broader community development. It is one model for a more appropriate welfare system for the future. Compared to health, there is very little written material about alternative welfare provision. There have been fewer attempts at model building than there have been in health. And it is possible that some small projects have not been written up for others to learn from. A key aspect of innovative work in the social service and development fields is the training of new kinds of workers. This is almost always based on a recognition that existing professionals (for example, doctors, social workers, irrigation engineers, physiotherapists) •are expensive to train • are difficult to move from city-bases, and • are not necessarily good communicators with the people they are meant to serve. The South African government and the South African Council for Social Work (the body that finally controls professional social welfare) have agreed that there is a need for a new category of welfare worker — an assistant or auxiliary. The rules surrounding their training and supervision are such that, although it is a step in the right direction, it does not go nearly far enough. For example, every two assistants must be supervised by one social worker. In most rural areas there are no social workers, so there can be no assistants. When new categories of workers are trained, they often meet with strong resistance from two sides — existing professionals, and people in communities. In the welfare field, the strongest resistance will probably come from the professionals. We think that this welfare programme shows how the work of the professionals can mesh together with the work of people with less formal training, so that they can help each other to deliver better services to more people. The welfare context The welfare programme needs to be set against the context of existing welfare services in South Africa. The South African welfare system is inappropriate and inadequate — this is recognised by people in government, people working in the private welfare sector, and is certainly recognised at community level. The problems that are very evident are: • welfare spending and social services have been biased in favour of white provision • the system has not been properly planned • there is a heavy bias in favour of urban areas, and a serious neglect of rural welfare • where social work posts do exist in rural areas, they are difficult to fill. • the privatisation of welfare which is being encouraged by government (along with the privatisation of health, education, transport and other social goods) will mean that the well-off people will be able to buy better private services, but poorer people will have less access to even poorer public services. There is an emerging consensus across the country that if the welfare system is to have a contribution to make to the 'new South Africa' it will have to become: • more developmentally oriented • more appropriate to the conditions in which the majority of people live • more concerned with the welfare of the very poor, especially in rural areas • more accessible to people who need the services, and particularly by women and children. These principles are accepted internationally as guidelines for the provision of social services such as heath, welfare and education. In the field of primary health care in South Africa, we have many examples of model schemes which have tried to learn how to provide appropriate, affordable, accessible health services. Many of these have been written about; some indeed are known internationally. All these case studies are vital to the development of better health services in future. In most rural areas, and in the majority of peri-urban informal settlements, we are not talking of a situation where services could be improved by adding more professionals — we have a situation where there is virtually no access to welfare services at all. The interview that follows is presented as a case study of an innovative welfare programme.
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- Date Issued: 1992-05
Reconstruction of South African sport: from sports activism to post-apartheid policy planning and implementation
- Authors: Roberts, Cheryl
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Sports and state -- South Africa , Discrimination in sports -- South Africa , Sports -- South Africa -- Planning
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73426 , vital:30190 , 0620163321
- Description: The six papers which appear in this publication were delivered at a consultative conference of the National and Olympic Sports Congress which was held in Johannesburg from 1-3 November 1991. There is no doubt that this conference on development could not have been held at a more critical juncture in South Africa's history, particularly at a time when the country stands on the threshold of an era which is expected to usher in a non-racial, democratic society. Given the legacy of apartheid, development and preparation have become priorities for the National and Olympic Sports Congress. It was against the background of the inequalities and future projections for transformation of the sports network which brought delegates together from across South Africa and from all codes of sport and co-ordinating regional councils. A central theme of the papers is that the reconstruction of South African sport demands a national programme, one that would ensure progress towards an equitable sports structure but also one that would set realistic goals without raising expectations that are unlikely to be realised. A central challenge of the conference was the search for a suitable combination of high performance sport and mass participation. The gender question in sport also came under the spotlight. Sport's male-dominated, hierarchical and sexist structure was mandated for urgent review. Conference was told that black women have very few opportunities to participate in sport unlike white sportswomen and sports people overall. Five resolutions, aimed at transforming the present state of South African sport, were adopted at the conference. After exhaustive discussions delegates identified the broad themes to be: national development and planning, national sports policy, building one sports federation, sponsorship, rural areas, affirmative action and empowerment. Conference noted the absence of a co-ordinated national sports policy, the heavy commercialisation of sport together with the lack of vision and planning for the future of sport. In this regard it was resolved to intiate the acceptance and development of a national sports policy which would emphasise development, national identity and patriotism, democracy, accountability, non-racialism and non-sexism. If the conference deliberations are to be seriously implemented then the apartheid sports network will undergo structural changes which will develop the historically disadvantaged and unleash the suppressed talents of millions of people who are trapped in an unequal and resourceless system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992