University Botswana Journals
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EVOLUTION OF THE RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POPULATION VARIABLES AND DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
Get PDFThe concerns and issues of the relationship between demographic dynamics/population variables and development could be traced as far back as 500 BC and also during the Ancient Chinese, Greeks and Roman Empire.
However, since the 18th century, the relationship between the two systems (population and development) gained international concerns and attention. It was during this century that a clergy man,, named Thomas Robert Malthus, an economist and demographer (born February 1766 in Rookery, England and died in December1834), had been best known for his theory that population growth would always tend to outrun the food supply and that betterment of mankind is impossible without stern limits on human reproduction. In our time, this thinking is commonly referred to as Malthusianism, entitled as “An Essay on the Principle of Population”.
Overtime, the Malthusian population growth notion sparked debates which gained momentum and featured into the international political agenda after the 1945 establishment of the United Nations. Accordingly, since early 1970’s, sentiments started to express that rapid population growth was a hindrance to development in the third world contries and hence, argued by the modern Neo-Malthusian capitalist oriented group that direct “birth Control” should be introduced as the only condition to enable couples to limit their fertility thereby curbing the high population growth to be covered by the available resources.
However, the idea of the direct birth control alone was counter-argued by socialist-oriented group that “development is the best contraceptive” and hence, the UN 1974 Bucharest World Population Conference (WPC) and the UN 1994 Cairo International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) were organized and finally elaborated that the reduction of human fertility levels, patterns and trends should be integrated with the developmental stages of a given society.
Hence, the interest of this review paper/article is, therefore, focused on looking at the differences between the Malthusian/Neo-Malthusian historical hypothesis and the contemporary perspectives in the interaction between population variables and developmental stages.
CHILDREN AND STRESS IN BOTSWANA: CAUSES, IMPACT, PROGRAMS AND THE WAY FORWARD
Get PDFChildren in contemporary societies, just like adults experience numerous stressful situations or circumstances. However, little has been documented about children and stress in Botswana. Understanding and documenting the impact of stress on children is important because distress has immediate and long term negative effects on children if relevant and adequate help is not provided to the affected children. The stressful situations that children encounter can emanate from the various environments that children live in. These environments include the micro, mezzo and the macro levels of society. This paper interrogates two causes of stress on children that emanate from the micro level as well as the impact of such causes on children’s wellbeing. The causes of stress for children analysed in this paper are: poverty and domestic violence. The authors are more interested in poverty and domestic violence because these are among the major social problems in the country. In addition poverty and domestic violence are gendered because the most affected are females, who also happen to be burdened with the care of children. The paper also examines existing programs and other strategies (both formal and informal) that assist children to cope with stress and charts the way forward in relation to addressing the causes of stress on children as well as identification of practice and research gaps that need to be sealed.  
Legal Aspects of Combatting Corruption in Zimbabwe
Get PDFThis paper examines the legal framework for combatting corruption in Zimbabwe. It argues that the existing legal framework has gross limitations and needs to be strengthened to make it more effective and efficient. The paper suggests that Zimbabwe’s legislation on combatting corruption should be reviewed in a manner that addresses the collective nature of corruption in the country. This may be achieved through a wider definition of the concept of a public officer; expanding the scope of activities considered corrupt to include activities such as influence peddling and illicit enrichment; and enacting comprehensive legislation on protection of whistle blowers.  
IMPROVING QUALITY EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA SCHOOLS: AN “ILLUSION” AND “ELUSIVE” PURSUIT
Get PDFThis article critically examines Botswana’s attempt to improve the quality of education in public primary and secondary schools. Since 1966, numerous reforms have been instituted to produce graduates who are supposedly endowed with labour market skills and ready for absorption into the labour market or self-employment. To achieve this goal, large sums of money are ploughed into the education sub-sector every financial year yet the public as well as the private sector continue to decry the quality of education judging by the calibre of secondary school leavers produced. Data sources included official policy documents and reports which were analysed qualitatively to identify gaps and factors that contribute to failure in attaining quality education. The findings revealed poor synergy between past and current policies, inadequate human and material resources, lack of commitment and political will to implement policies, and inefficient monitoring and evaluation processes that do not adequately inform subsequent reforms. The article concludes that Botswana Qualifications Authority, Human Resource Development Council and Education Training Sector Strategic Plan provide a framework for rethinking quality education which has largely remained an “illusion” and “illusive” pursuit over the past five decades.Keywords: Quality education, Botswana Qualifications Framework, Education policies, Globalisation, Neoliberal reform
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHANGING OF SUBJECT SPECIALISATION BY STUDENTS AT TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN ESWATINI
Get PDFIn the academic year 2009/10 and 2010/11 at one teacher training institution in Eswatini, 55.1% of the student teachers changed the subject specialisation. Unfortunately, there is no study investigated factors influencing the change of subject specialisation by Primary Teacher Diploma (PTD) student teachers in Eswatini (Swaziland). Therefore, the purpose of the study was to identify factors influencing the change of subject specialisation by PTD students at teacher training institutions in Eswatini. The study was a descriptive survey research triangulating a desk review, modified Delphi technique and a survey questionnaire in data collection. The study was also a census of the 2012/2013 third year PTD students (N= 351) from three teacher training institutions. The instrument was validated by teacher educators involved in the programme who were part of the Delphi process. The instrument was found to be 83% reliable. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, correlation and binary logistic regression. The main findings of the study revealed that outside college experience and professionals were the main factors behind the changing of specialisation by student teachers at teacher training institutions in Eswatini. The study recommended that lecturers should be careful as they interact with the students since have an influence in the changing of the specialisation
THE USE OF ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK TO ENHANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFPoor performance of learners in public primary schools in South Africa in the national, regional and international benchmarking assessments is a matter of concern for the Department of Basic Education (DBE). Literature suggests that inadequate and limited pedagogical knowledge of teachers to cope with the implementation of curriculum reforms and the interpretation of assessments contributes to this poor learner performance. The DBE has introduced four curriculum reviews in the basic education system of South Africa between 1997 and 2012. Subsequently, the Annual National Assessment was introduced and implemented in 2011 until 2014. Both these reforms prompted a need for strengthening the use of assessment feedback to support primary school teachers to improve the process of teaching and learning. This paper discusses the use of assessment feedback to improve teaching and learning in public primary schools in a South African school district. A qualitative approach, located in an interpretative paradigm, was adopted for this study while the requisite data was gathered by means of individual and focus group interviews, as well as documents analysis, observation of meetings and a cluster workshop. The finding of the study is that poor reading, inability of learners to answer questions due to lack of critical thinking and problem solving skills are the main causes of poor learner performance in public primary schools in South Africa. It is recommended that the use of assessment feedback for supporting teachers to improve learner performance should focus on enhancing the teacher content knowledge, the choice of teaching strategies, the setting of quality tasks, and improving the feedback practices
African Languages and Community Participation in Environmental Management
Get PDFEnvironmental management debates have focused much on finding solutions to the ecological challenges facing the planet without regard for the language that can be used in fostering the dialogue. The use of African languages has often been ignored under the guise that they do not adequately represent the environmental phenomenon. This paper argues that the appropriate use of an African language such as Chichewa in environmental management discourse can enhance participation of local communities in the conservation exercise. Therefore, the paper reports that the appropriateness of the Chichewa language used in environmental messages is not considered as literally translated technical terms are used which are not in sync with the everyday language use of local communities. The paper therefore concludes that much as the African language is used in the information dissemination, the appropriate form is crucial if local communities are to actively participate in the environmental management
INFLUENCE OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE USE OF EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA
Get PDFWhen educational resources are well utilized, it is expected that performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) examination should improve. Professional development (P.D) is meant to enhance proper use of resources by teachers. The number of students who achieved quality grades in K.C.S.E examination in Mumias District was on decline as in 2008, 2009 and 2010, 17.51%, 15.53% and 13.84% of the candidates respectively were selected by Joint Admissions Board (JAB) to join Public Universities. The purpose of this study was to establish the level of influence of P.D on the use of resources in public secondary schools in Mumias District. The objective of the study was to find out influence of P.D on the use of resources in the teaching and learning process. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of one District Quality Assurance and Standards Officer (DQASO), 33 Head teachers, 165 Head of departments (HODs), 393 teachers and 4786 Form 3 and 4 students drawn from 33 schools. Saturated sampling technique was used to select one DQASO, 30 Head teachers and 150 HODs. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 131 teachers while 360 students were selected based on Israel’s formula of determining sample size. Data were collected by use of questionnaire, interview schedule, document analysis guide and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guide. To ensure reliability of the instruments of data collection, a pilot study was carried out on 3 headteachers, 15 HODs, 13 teachers and 36 students drawn from 3 schools that were not used in the actual study. Validity of the instruments was determined by research experts at the Department of Educational Management and Foundations of Maseno University. Quantitative data from closed-ended parts of the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), percentages, frequency counts and means while qualitative data from open-ended parts of the questionnaire, interview schedules, document analysis and FGD were analyzed on an on-going basis as themes and sub-themes emerged. The main findings of the study were that P.D highly influenced; use textbooks, chalkboard and stationery. It was concluded that P.D positively influenced teacher effectiveness by enhancing use of resources. It was recommended that organizers of P.D should focus more on use of video, radio, internet, television and computer
THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL NUTRITIONAL STATUS ON THE INCIDENCE OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AND PREMATURITY IN BOTSWANA
Get PDFLow birth weight (LBW) and prematurity are significant public health problems facing Botswana and other developing countries. The prevalence of LBW is estimated to be at 15% worldwide, and 33-38% in developing countries. Prematurity and LBW are the primary risk factors and cause of under-five mortality which is a significant issue in Botswana. Evidence suggests that pre and during pregnancy, nutrition is a vital factor in the outcome of the pregnancy and the newborn's health. While this evidence exists, organizations such as UNICEF advocate for better maternal nutrition pre and during pregnancy, there is minimal efforts to address these in Botswana due to lack of data and awareness of the problem.
The goal of this paper is to describe and compare the relationship between maternal nutritional status using national statistics on poverty as a proxy for nutritional status with the incidence of LBW and prematurity in the two most impoverished districts in Botswana compared to the national averages and the two well off districts. Data on LBW from the Ministry of Health and poverty incidence from the Botswana Multi-Topic Household Survey. The results show that the incidence of LBW at the national level is 12.5% and the odds ratios between national rate and each district range from 0.57 to 1.39 while between the most impoverished districts and well off districts range from 0.82 to 2.4. Children born in poor districts are at higher risk of LBW than in well off districts
