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Experiences of teachers in the full-service primary schools' implementation of inclusive education in the Vhembe East district
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2021The development experienced by a substantial number of teachers in the full-service
schools and the other important policies aimed to help the implementation of Inclusive
Education are the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS), and the
Draft National for Resourcing an Inclusive Education System. These policies were
created to form a practical guide for teachers for Full-service schools on what Inclusive
Education is and how it is implemented. The aim of the study was to investigate
experiences of teachers in the full-service primary schools about the implementation of
Inclusive Education in the Vhembe East District. The study adopted the qualitative
approach, and the individual interviews were conducted to collect the data from the two
principals and 10 teachers in the full-service primary schools. The interview schedule
was structured and used to collect the data from the participants. Purposive sampling
was used to select the participants of the study. The data collected was analysed
thematically. The study revealed that teachers highlighted that they use the policies
such as the Screening Identification Assessment policy when they implement inclusive
education. The participants indicated that they are not well trained on the
implementation of inclusive education and as a result some of them develop a negative
attitude when they are teaching an inclusive classroom. The study recommended that
teachers in the Full-service primary schools should be trained a
Influence of the 21st century technology in learner academic performance in King Cetshwayo district secondary schools
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Comparative and Science Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2021In the 21st Century, technology has been known to play an important role in stimulating teaching and
learning. Conversely, technology is also seen as a tool which tends to distract learners and hamper their
academic performances. This study investigates strategies that can be adapted for the control of online
gadgets in order to enhance learners’ academic performance in the 21st Century. Quantitative methods
were adopted for the study. Rural and urban-based secondary schools were purposively selected, while
180 educators were randomly selected across the schools. The selected schools comprised of ten (10)
rural and ten(10) urban secondary schools in King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South
Africa. Data were collected through the use of questionnaires which were administered to the 180
randomly selected educators. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS. The findings of the study
showed, inter alia, that there is a need for the use of online technological gadgets in schools to be
legalized by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) under strict terms and conditions. Also, there is
need for parents according to DBE to keep the gadgets during school hours and return them after school
and week-ends. The study recommends that a strong alliance regarding the control of learners’ use of
online gadgets be formed amongst DBE, parents and educators
ScRING finger protein, Mdm2, MdmX, p53, cancer, ubiquitination, drug discovery, ZINC16046951, University of Zululand, South Africa
No full textA Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2021].World-wide cancer is rated as the deadliest disease, more than TB, HIV and malaria combined. Parveen et al., 2015 reports that unless drastic measures are taken, cancer will statistically increase by 78% by 2030. Although different cancer therapies have been employed to combat cancer development, immunotherapy remains the current hope as a manipulative therapy to provide immune boost, more specificity and effective drug design against cancer (Vanneman and Dranoff, 2012). Really Interesting New Gene (RING) finger protein is a truncated domain from RBBP6 known to function independently in protein-protein interaction and cellular processing signalling. It is a 10 kDa protein defined by its hallmark residues cysteine and histidine that binds two zinc ions for structural stability and integrity (Dominguez., 2004; Krishna et al., 2003). When human RING finger domain was used as a searching bait to fish out other possible RING finger domains from other organisms, Saccharomyces cerevisiae RING (ScRING) finger domain stood out amongst others as it lacked the first zinc binding site which is abnormal for RING finger domain (Kappo et al., 2012). ScRING finger domain is cysteine rich domain from a Mpe-1 RBBP6 homologue that binds zinc ion for structural stability. Therefore, biochemical, structural and In silico characterisation was done for this study to provide basic insight into the hypothesis that ScRING finger protein is a RING finger-like protein or an abnormal RING finger protein and to determine target inhibitors for RING finger-type E3 namely, Mmd2 and MdmX.
Expression, purification, Far-UV CD, Intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, SE-HPL chromatography and ANS fluorescence were used to biochemically and structurally characterise ScRING finger protein. In silico inhibitory studies, for Mdm2 and MdmX complexes with RO-2443 as a control, and ZINC16046951, as the experimental ligand, were conducted using molecular dynamics tools, namely RMSD, RMSF and Rog. MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA were utilized to calculate binding free energy contributions per complex amino acids.
Far-UV CD confirmed ScRING finger domain is a protein dominated by β-sheets which are a major contributing factor in protein stability and integrity. ANS fluorescence indicated the presence of hydrophobic binding pockets required for protein-protein interaction. These results provided direction towards regarding ScRING finger protein as a RING finger domain rather than a RING finger-like domain. In silico inhibitory studies showed ZINC16046951 as the highest energy binding and Table ligand to Mmd2 compared to other complexes. These results provided the baseline information needed for drug discovery and structural determination.A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2021]
Exploring an Integrated Management Approach to address learner discipline in the context of multiple deprivations. a case of King Cetshwayo District Schools
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Education in the Department of Educational Management and Foundations at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2021The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has located the
safety and the protection of the child as the global priority. Therefore, the South African
government, citing the Bill of Rights, made it clear that in all matters of the child, ‘the
best interests of the child’ were dominant. Moreover, this led to the democratisation of
South African education, particularly the learner discipline system. Innovative
directives on how to handle discipline were provided in the Constitution: among other
things, the abolition of corporal punishment. However, it is believed that the banning
of corporal punishment has led to a resurgence of learner indiscipline in schools. This
study aimed at exploring an integrated management approach to address learner
discipline in the context of multiple deprivations. A qualitative study embedded in the
interpretivist paradigm was employed, and especially, the case (King Cetshwayo
District) study design was adopted. Data were elicited through interviews (individual
and focus group), observation and document analysis. Using purposive and
convenience sampling, two SMT members, two educators, one SGB member (the
parent component) and one RCL member were the participants that were interviewed
in four schools, which made a total of 16 participants. Data were analysed using
inductive and content analysis. The findings revealed that in an integrated
management approach, learners’ voices are hardly heard by the other stakeholders.
This study has also revealed that teachers themselves are not good role models for
the learners as some come late to school, and classes are left unattended. They are
also not performing their duties as stated in the Schools Act of 1996. The findings have
also revealed that the Discipline, Safety and Security Committee was not appropriately
instituted, and therefore its functionality and effectiveness were inadequate. Based on
the findings, the study recommends that the Department should organise ongoing
workshops for SMTs, SGBs, educators and RCLs to capacitate them about their roles
in discipline and in education as a whole. The study further recommends that the
principals should ensure that all stakeholders are represented in the Discipline, Safety
and Security Committee, and ensure decentralisation of decision making so that more
suitable disciplinary measures are taken, bearing in mind the social context of the
schoo
A Toxicological Evaluation and Anti-Candidal Activity of Plants used by Women in Northern Maputaland (South Africa) for the Treatment of Gynaecology and Obstretrics Ailments
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science in the Department of Botany at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2021.Medicinal plants still play an important role in the primary healthcare of lay people in northern Maputaland in spite of the availability of hospitals and clinics. According to an ethnobotanical survey conducted in 2014, the lay people in northern Maputaland use plant species independently and in combination to treat gynaecology and obstetrics medical conditions. These plant species were generally regarded as safe by the lay people except for one plant species, Trichilia dregeana. Consequently, this study’s aim was to investigate the safety of medicinal plant species used by the lay people in northern Maputaland. Furthermore, as these plant species were used to treat medical conditions specifically related to woman, the inclusion of the efficacy of these plant species against Candida stains was included due to the prevalence of vaginal thrush.
The aqueous and organic (1:1 methanol-dichloromethane) extracts were prepared from 51 plant samples (including leaf samples collected for potential substitution for the roots). Toxicology of these plants was assessed using the brine shrimp lethality assay (BSLA) and the Ames assay (using Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains) for mutagenicity. The anti-Candidal activity was assessed using the antimicrobial micro-dilution assay to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of of the plant samples aginst Candida albicans ATCC 10231, C. tropicalis ATCC 750 and C. glabrata ATCC 900300.
There were three plant spescies (Acalypha villicaulis root, Grewia occidentalis root and Gymnosporia senegalensis leaves) that indicated neither toxicity nor mutagenicity in this study. All the toxic plants samples (in BSLA) were further subjected to two-fold dilution and demonstrated acceptable toxic concentrations, which were found to range from 0.98 to 0.10 mg/ml. However, Hermannia boraginiflora, Sapium integerrimum, Scadoxus puniceus and Tabernaemontana elegans remained toxic even after diluted to the lowest concentration of 0.031 mg/ml.
Plant species combinations that were found to be non-toxic in BSLA in both aqueous and organic extract were Euphobia tirucalli (root) + Ozoroa engleri (bark) + Scadoxus puniceus (bulb) + Senecio serratuloides (whole plant), Bridelia cathartica (root) +
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Opuntia stricta (stem) + Searsia nebulosa (bark) and B. cathartica (root) + Erythrina humeana (root).
In the Ames test, plant samples that appeared to be non-mutagenic against both S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains were A. villicaulis root, Cyperus natalensis root, Euclea natalensis leaves, G. occidentalis root, Ochna natalitia leaves, S. integerrimum leaves and S. puniceus bulb. However, Hypoxis hemerocallidea and O. stricta appeared to be the most mutagenic against both the S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains with both aqueous and organic extracts showing mutagenicity.
The antimicrobial microdilution assay indicated a small number of plant species that were active against Candida strains and were in most cases these were the methanoldichloromethane extracts. A moderate activity against C. albicans was observed with the aqueous extract of Euclea natalensis root and Rhoicissus digitata leaves. The methanol-dichloromethane extracs of O. stricta stem, P. africanum root and S. birrea stem were also active (moderately) against C. albicans. Against the C. tropicalis, a moderate activity was observed against A. villicaulis leaves, Acanthospermum glabratum whole plants, B. cathartica leaves, Cassytha filiformis whole plant, Euphorbia tirucalli stem and Garcinia livingstonei root. A noteworthy anti-Candidal activity was observed with Commiphora neglecta root and leaves both with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.13 mg/ml against Candida tropicalis. There was no activity observed against C. glabrata.
This study has indicated that medicinal plant species may have toxic and/ or mutagenic effects, even without any noteworthy signs after consumption. However, it was determined that toxicity can be reduced by carefully managing the dose. The reduction of concentration is not known whether it may affect the efficacy, therefore further studies on the efficacy are recommended
An investigation of staff performance management systems and productivity in the Department of Home Affairs: case of Richards’s Bay office
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in the Department of Public Administration in the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law, University of Zululand, 2020.The provision of services in the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has received negative publicity from the media and individual community members who have accessed the services provided by the institution. The staff in the DHA have been criticized for their low productivity and deemed unprofessional by local communities being serviced. The developments of a White Paper acknowledge these challenges with regards to staff productivity and performance by highlighting that the Department currently operates with low qualified staff who are also demoralised by undertaking routine low level work. This study investigates the staff performance and productivity in the Department of Home Affairs, Richards’s Bay in order to identify the challenges that have led to poor performance, taking into account the performance management system (PMS) implemented as a tool to address it. It adopts a qualitative research methodology, through structured interviews, with employees of the DHA as primary participants and clients as secondary participants. The study analysed the importance of the PMS as it is the mechanism used in the public sector to ensure efficient productivity of employees. It revealed major challenges with the implementation of a PMS, notably insufficient employees’ knowledge due to poor performance planning and training. This has had a major impact on staff performance and productivity. The study also revealed that the employees were demoralised due to an ineffective performance appraisal process. The relationship between employer and employees was found to be broken due to poor communication and the centralisation of services was found to have created a challenge with regards to provision of effective and efficient service delivery. The poor performance planning and less training, ineffective performance appraisal, poor communication and centralisation of services is one of the challenges that contributed more to ineffective staff performance and productivity
Investigating Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the conservation of protected areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Portland, Jamaica: policy, practice and management
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, at the University of Zululand, 2020.The main aim of this study was to comparatively investigate Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in the conservation of Protected Areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Portland, Jamaica. The aim of this study was achieved through the following objectives: (a) to identify and classify the IKS that exist in the study areas, (b) to establish the status of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the current practices of conservation of protected areas, (c) to assess the effectiveness of co-management plans that exist in the study areas and (d) to propose strategies for enhancing the integration of IKS in the management of protected areas. Based on the deployment of a mixed method approach in the form a convergent parallel paradigm, qualitative data was gathered through interviews of purposely sampled participants. Quantitative data was collected through the use of questionnaires from randomly selected participants from the study areas. In line with the convergent parallel design, qualitative and quantitative data analysis was done concurrently. Quantitative data was coded using different group of numbers for each theme investigated, these numbers were inserted into Microsoft Excel 2013, where different worksheets were created for the different study areas and then uploaded into Microsoft Excel 2013 so as to produce graphs and tables. Content analysis was utilised to analyse qualitative data. This involved the interview responses, text was shortened to the most significant, coded or named to the most relevant, codes were categorized according to similarities or differences and then themes were interpreted. The results of the study indicate that efforts for the continuous identification and classification of Indigenous Knowledge Systems has been obstructed by the displacement and disregard of Indigenous Knowledge Systems by Protected Areas. Consequently, the status of IKS in the current practices of Protected Areas for conservation management in the study areas is limited at best and nonexistent at worst. In an attempt to provide transformation, co-management plans were introduced, however, these plans have inefficiently integrated indigenous communities and their Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Consequently, this research advances strategies which could be adopted so as to enhance the use and successful integration of indigenous communities and their Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the co-management and governance of Protected Areas in the study areas.National Research Foundation (NRF
Synthesis of binary, ternary, and alloyed metal sulfides by a solvent-less route
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, at the University of Zululand, 2020.The work outlined in this thesis entails recent advances in reaction protocols to afford high quality semiconductor materials. As a step towards sustainable and green synthesis, this thesis presents the use of a simple, scalable and environmentally benign solventless approach in the preparation of (Ag+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+and Fe3+) doped CoS and (Cu2+, Sb3+ and Fe3+) doped AgBiS2 by solid state pyrolysis of ethylxanthate precursors. In addition to the synthetic protocol, the work demonstrates the utility of xanthates as a single source precursor in the fabrication of semiconductor materials due to their low decomposition temperature and high possibility of forming pure crystalline products.
The synthesis part of this study was divided into two sections, the first section was to prepare complexes using ethyl xanthate as a ligand from potassium ethyl xanthate. This was prepared by dissolving a calculated mass of xanthate into a measured amount of distilled water at room temperature followed by reacting with an aqueous solution of the metal nitrate. The second section involves the melt (solvent less) method. This is as follows, a stoichiometric amount of xanthate complexes of the corresponding metal was mixed and crushed to obtain a homogenous mixture. The mixture was then placed in a ceramic boat which was then placed in a glass reactor tube inside the furnace with a temperature of 250 °C under inert conditions for an hour. This methodology was employed for both binary systems and ternary system for this study.
The first chapter reports fundamental aspects of semiconductors. The scope of this literature review chapter is narrowed to the band gap dependent properties of semiconductor materials. Doping of semiconductors has also been discussed as one of the methods used to enhance the conductivity of semiconductors. The chapter also focuses on synthetic routes which provide access to the modulation of the properties of the semiconductors to suit a specific applications. More importantly the chapter provides highlights on the melt method as an alternative approach to circumvent the limitations reported in the use of conventional methods. Examples of both binary and ternary metal chalcogenide semiconductors are also discussed briefly. General applications of metal sulfides are discussed in detail in this thesis.
The work demonstrated in chapter two focused on the synthesis of both ethyl xanthate complexes and (Ag+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+and Fe3+) doped CoS semiconductors. Thermogravimetric analyses of metal ethyl xanthate complexes show clean thermal
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decomposition at fairly moderate temperatures, the average decomposition began around 120 °C to and ends between 150 °C and 200 °C. The synthesis of (Ag+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ and Fe3+) doped CoS were performed by thermal decomposition of a mixture containing 5% of each metal ethyl xanthate at 250°C. The physicochemical properties of the as-prepared semiconductor materials were elucidated by powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDs) and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis) techniques.
Chapter three presents facile cationic (Cu2+, Sb3+ and Fe3+) doping in AgBiS2 by the solventless route using xanthate complexes. Thermogravimetric analysis of the as-prepared complexes demonstrated that they all thermalize cleanly at fairly moderate temperatures. Likewise, the physicochemical properties of AgBiS2, Ag1-xCuxBiS2, AgSbxBi1-xS2 and AgFexBi1-xS2 systems were ascertained by p-XRD, TEM, SEM and EDX techniques.
The last (fourth chapter), concludes on the progress outlined in the above-mentioned studies towards the environmentally benign techniques for fabrication of semiconductor materials as well as their applicability in solar energy to solve the problem of non-renewable energy crises
Challenges in the teaching of reading in English, to grade 3 Venda speaking learners in rural areas of Soutpansberg east circuit
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Masters of Education in the department of Educational Management and Foundations, Faculty of Education, at the University of Zululand, 2020.Learners in the Soutpansberg East District struggle with reading in English, as the first home language. This affects their understanding of other subjects. This study aimed to investigate the challenges in the teaching of reading in English, to Grade 3 Venda-speaking learners in rural areas of Soutpansberg East Circuit. One of the main objectives was to further find out what strategies teachers in the area were using to teach learners how to read, while also looking at what factors affected the academic performance of these learners. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers, each from a rural school in the Soutpansberg East Circuit. This type of data collection method was used to ensure that the study utilised raw data from the participants to ensure it is accurate and relevant. Interview discussions were taped, transcribed, analysed and data categorised into themes. The findings revealed that teachers had a limited understanding of reading comprehension strategies. They regarded teaching reading as a challenge as they do not know what reading strategies are and how to apply them. Additionally, they are stressed, confused and frustrated because learners cannot read and understand the texts. The responses also showed that teachers have identified additional social and environmental factors that negatively affected the academic performance of their learners. This study recommends that teachers should be provided with extra support that would help them to teach learners to read. More in-service training workshops and monitoring could assist teachers. Rural schools should also be provided with reading books and libraries and if need be, mobile libraries should be offered to these schools
Effects of curriculum change on teaching and learning of geography in grade 12
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies in the Faculty of Education, University of Zululand, 2020.The deteriorating of educational level in the country has resulted in the need to look at the implementation of educational curricula especially newly introduced ones. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of curriculum change on classroom practices. This was achieved by organising 129 Geography educators in King Cetshwayo District in KwaZulu-Natal Province to answer questionnaires and 5 were interviewed using semi-structure interview schedule. The Results show that the curriculum was changed to correct not only political and social injustices of the past but also to promote teaching and learning among the marginalised majority African. The approach to the formation of the new curriculum was described as a typical top-down and did not include the views of the majority. Educators expressed their dissatisfaction about their exclusion from the formulation process. Evidence suggests that educators were adequately prepared to implement the new curriculum. However, the practices in the classroom and the prescriptions of the new curriculum were not aligned. Most educators failed to uphold the learner-centred teaching approach philosophy and seemed to have limited knowledge about appropriate teaching methods towards achieving it. Much could have been achieved in the classrooms had the appropriate infrastructure and resources been provided. The study therefore recommended intensive in-service training for educators according to their needs especially in teaching strategies. Appropriate infrastructure and resources must as matter of fact be provided to especially the previous disadvantaged schools