The University of Zambia Journals
Not a member yet
787 research outputs found
Sort by
Major Issues of Contention in the Implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) to Learners with Disabilities in Zambia
Get PDFThe educational curriculum of Zambia has since 2013 embraced the teaching of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) to learners of diverse backgrounds. Learners with disabilities are required to access the general curriculum, including the CSE component. However, at the time of this study in 2020, it was not known how the CSE component of the curriculum was being implemented to learners with disabilities in special and inclusive schools and what obstacles act as a hindrance to CSE implementation to learners with disabilities. To cover this gap, we took a qualitative approach to study the obstacles to the acquisition of comprehensive sexuality education skills among learners with disabilities from 2020 in Zambia's five provinces. Education key informants from the Ministry of General education, curriculum development and higher education institutions, and parents, learners with and without disabilities participated in the study. Data were collected between September and October 2020. Data was analysed thematically. The study established that there were several barriers to the acquisition of CSE skills among learners with disabilities with included traditional and cultural barriers, contradictory educational and local policies and lack of support for CSE requisites among others. However, there is a strong desire among learners to learn CSE in schools. We recommend capacity building of teachers on inclusive pedagogy that could break through cultural barriers; provision of appropriate teaching and learning materials and digital inclusion to enhance CSE curricula access to learners and young people with disability; and wider stakeholder engagement especially parents to increase programme support and consistency in sensitisation messages for the benefit of learners and young people living with disabilities
Rapid Smartphone-based Image Reading for Assessing Quality of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients of Commonly Prescribed Drugs-Lusaka Zambia
Get PDFThird world countries suffer from supply of substandard therapeutic drugs and due to lack of robust quality testing facilities, many of these drugs find themselves in the dispensaries and various outlets for over the counter purchase. In order to ensure quality, simple yet informative tests are available and one of them is high performance thin layer chromatography. High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with image acquisition by TLC software application on a smart phone and analysis by freeware Digitally enhanced Thin Layer Chromatography (DeTLC) respectively was performed using the minilab protocols for assessing quality of drugs dispensed at the University of Zambia clinic as well as drugs randomly bought from different pharmacies around Lusaka, Zambia. The quality of drugs was assessed by comparing retardation factors with standards and approximate percent active ingredient amounts were compared using the maximal K intensities derived by the DeTLC software for image analysis. Normalizing the spots to the 100% spot, mean values with respective standard deviations were : atenelol (85.6±0.5), ciprofloxacin (95.6±1.1), ketoconazole (78.2±1.1), mebendazole (95.5±1.1), nevirapine (96.7±1.1), penicillin v (100.5±1.1), quinine (92.9±1.1), rifampicin (99.3±0.7) and isoniazid (72.0±4.1). All the drugs tested were within the acceptable range of concentrations of the active pharmaceutical ingredient ( 0 to 5.3% Rf error). Thus, the simple robust HPTLC method coupled with simple to use digital imaging software provides a quick means to check on quality of the drugs dispensed
Adult Literacy, Situated and Participatory Pedagogy in Overcoming Challenging Learning Discourses in Zambia
Get PDFLiterature on adult learning pedagogy has been inundated with divergent opinions on the affordances of situated and participative pedagogy in adult learning. There is a dominant view that adult learning programmes that take a situated and participative approach are essential for facilitating learning by overcoming the learning challenges encountered by learners. This article discusses the contradiction between theory as espoused in the literature by different scholars and practice as evidenced by the findings of two case studies in Zambia that explored the teaching and learning in adult literacy classes. The discussion is centred on the proposition that situated and participative teaching offers a solution to teaching and learning challenges in youth and adult literacy classes. An ethnographic approach was used to generate the findings of the study. It was established that participatory teaching did not play a role in the teaching of literacy in the literacy classes, rather the teaching was teacher-centred and was influenced by the learning content, the purpose of the literacy programmes, facilitator’s identities, and more importantly the learners asked to be taught in a teacher-centred fashion, despite the available opportunities for participatory engagement
Challenges Facing the Implementation of Learner-Centered Methods in the Teaching of Social Studies in Malawian Secondary Schools
Get PDFIn an effort to advance secondary education in Malawi, the Ministry of Education revised the secondary school curriculum in 2015 from teacher-centered to learner-centered under the Outcome Based Education to enhance the development of transferable skills in learners. Since the inception of the new curriculum, no study had been conducted to explore how teachers implement learner-centered methods in the new Social Studies curriculum. Therefore, this study was undertaken to explore secondary school teachers’ use of learner-centered methods. The researchers in this paper report of the challenges secondary school Social Studies teachers faced when using the learner-centered methods. The study employed progressivism learning theory as its lens; and three categories of public secondary schools were involved. These include: national, conventional and community day secondary schools. Using the qualitative approach, data were generated through interviews, document analysis and lesson observations. Findings revealed that some Social Studies teachers experienced challenges in planning, preparation and implementation of learner-centered lessons. They also encountered challenges of engaging practices that promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills in learners. The study concluded that Social Studies teachers have potential to teach Social Studies using learner-centered teaching methods if given adequate support. The researchers in this study recommended that there was a need for provision of adequate teaching and learning resources in secondary schools. Secondly, there was a need to revise the new Social Studies curriculum because it was huge. Thirdly, the findings indicated that it was essential to provide teachers with in-service training so that they could have robust knowledge and skills on how to implement learner-centered teaching approaches
Teacher Futures: Global Reaction to Teacher Shortages and Variations in Education Labour
Get PDFUpcoming changes in the teacher labour supply will most certainly have an impact on those nations that provide government-based education for their youths. Faced with a significant global shortfall of educators, many nations have taken steps to incentivize teaching as a profession and ensure that qualified teachers are available to students in all locations particularly in rural environments. To highlight these initiatives, a review of the efforts three nations (Australia, the United States of America and Zambia) have undertaken to ensure a viable teacher workforce have been presented. While each nation has specific factors that contribute to current and projected shortages, each also provides unique solutions to assist in resolving this emerging issue
The Involvement of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Social and Economic Development in Lusaka District
No full textThis article explores the involvement of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in social and economic development. It also explores the values inculcated by the UCKG in the congregants to instil social and economic transformation. The article is a qualitative study that involved purposively chosen members of the church to be part of focus group discussions and individual interviews. The article shows that the UCKG was involved in social and economic activities which helped to uplift the living standards of the people in its vicinity. This was done through youth empowerment programmes, evangelism and counselling programmes to ensure members were helped in dealing with the day-to-day challenges they faced and community participation programmes targeting the aged, the sick and those in prison and imparting of social and economic values
Challenges to Academic Freedom at the University of Zambia
Get PDFThere has been substantial discussion, research, and debate concerning the challenges to academic freedom within higher institutions of learning. This stems from the fact that universities often serve as centres of political and intellectual dissent, and as a result political regimes, societies and universities themselves are thus hesitant to grant universities the freedom and autonomy that may cause instability. Academic freedom at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and other Zambian universities is not extensively documented or understood. Therefore this paper seeks to explore the challenges of academic freedom at UNZA by employing a qualitative phenomenological hermeneutic design to collect data on the lived experiences, perceptions and views of the 30 purposively selected participants: 15 academics and 15 academic leaders. The paper was anchored on the theory of social capital and resource dependence. Quantitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. The following major finding resulted from the study: academics and academic leaders experienced various challenges in exercising academic freedom, causing UNZA not to completely realise its mission of creating knowledge through scholarship and research; it was revealed that academics and academic leaders were implicitly violated and controlled by the university management and government through heavy academic responsibilities, financial restraint, lack of academic freedom policy, and freedom of expression. All of these factors hindered the enjoyment of academic freedom at UNZA. However, the participants submitted that they had not experienced any severe or gross violation or limitation of their academic freedom. Various strategie
Namwali Serpell's the Old Drift as a Postcolonial Text: A Semiotic, Linguistic and Onomastic Analysis
Get PDFThis essay analyses Namwali Serpell’s seminal novel The Old Drift from a postcolonial perspective. In pursuing this goal, the essay utilises some aspects of postcolonial theory, semiotics, onomastics and linguistics. In particular, it looks at how Serpell reinterprets the history of colonial Zambia as projected and interpreted by colonial writers. The findings suggest that the novel epitomises a new drift in Zambian literature. The novel problematises the views of the imperial centre as exemplified in colonial literature and suggests that the colonisers used the gun, fraud, deception, language and names as some of the means of subjugating the local people and dispossessing them of their land. Therefore, the whole colonial enterprise was pursued for the benefit of the white settlers at the expense of the local people and was motivated by greed, selfishness and self-aggrandisement
Bacteriology and Antibiotic Sensitivity Patterns of Urine in Urology Patients with Indwelling Urinary Catheters at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia
Get PDFCatheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most common nosocomial infection in hospitals worldwide, and the incidence has been reported to be up to 35%. The growing antibiotic resistance amongst the uropathogens isolated from CAUTI makes it challenging to manage. In Zambia, prolonged catheter use is a burden, particularly in patients awaiting definitive surgery, the elderly and socioeconomically challenged. Bacterial colonisation following catheterisation is inevitable, with reports estimating the risk to be around 5 to 10% per day. By day 10, virtually all patients with urinary tract instrumentation have healthcare-associated UTI, with the duration of catheterisation the most important factor.
The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) over a period of 10 months from July 2015 to May 2016. The cases were in-patients and out-patients with indwelling catheters in situ for not less than three calendar days. Simple random sampling was used to select candidates who were in-patients awaiting definitive surgery and out-patients in the same category as they attended clinics. Data collection and collection of specimens were done by the principal investigator, and then analysed by the microbiologist based at the UTH microbiology laboratory. The patients were recruited at one point, and the data collection exercise employed a questionnaire to collect socioeconomic, demography and clinical information.The variables were collected using the data collection sheet for each participant. The data was then entered into SPSS software to clean and analyse it. The categorical variables were presented as proportions. The main concerns arising during specimen collection were the duration between the time of specimen collection and transfer to and processing at the main laboratory, which was kept within one hour. Specimens received within two hours of the collection were accepted.
A total of 228 patients were enrolled from both out-patient and in-patient departments. Approximately 75% yielded growth of bacteria, and 25.0% were negative. The pure growth yielded Klebsiella Pneumoniae 28.0% and E. coli 25.2%, as the most isolated pathogens. The antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed the highest resistance of the above isolates to ampicillin, nalidixic acid, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and borderline with cotrimoxazole. The organisms were least resistant to amikacin, imipenem, nitrofurantoin, and gentamycin. Acetinobacter and Citrobacter species were also highly resistant to the above drugs, with nitrofurantoin in addition, but least resistant to ampicillin.
The study revealed a high prevalence of CAUTI in the urology section of the UTH, and practices such as poor hand hygiene, open catheter drainage, non-aseptic methods of catheter insertion and poor catheter care are possible contributing factors. There is an association between insertion of indwelling catheters and subsequent development of CAUTI, and the strongest factors noted are the size of the catheters used and the patients level of education. High resistance to antibiotics to many organisms of concern was noted
Place-Based Education: Meaning, Benefits and Prospects for Learners in Rural Zambia
Get PDFThis article discusses the concept of place-based education by outlining its meaning, benefits, and prospects for learners that live in rural and remote areas of Zambia. The study used a descriptive research design, and the data was collected through in-depth interviews and a questionnaire. Interviews were held with in-service rural teachers and the questionnaire was also administered to the same teachers. Using the theory of critical pedagogy of place, this paper suggests how best the place-based learning can be organized to benefit some of the people especially the females living in the rural parts of Zambia. Place-based education in this study was construed as a form of education that takes place anywhere and therefore, the school’s geographical location is one context for learning to take place. The study revealed that despite the proliferation of place-based education venues, learners’ productivity is hampered when they are out of school. For example, girls and boys in Grade 9 are less productive in the Zambian Communities when they drop-out of School. This is because the skills they acquired for the nine years they spend in the education system are less meaningful. Respondents noted that offering education in the local context encourages real educational achievements for many learners. For example, learners can develop holistically and contribute to social matters meaningfully. Respondents observed that place-based learning can take place from anywhere and by anyone. The study recommended that to help learners fit in the society meaningfully, teachers and communities needs to create place-based educational opportunities for learners in many areas and these should be different from one another