5 research outputs found
Assessing Compliance to the World Health Organization Schedule for Antenatal Care in Swaziland : a retrospective analysis
Get PDFDissertation (MPH)--University of Pretoria, 2014.In 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed to developing countries a different approach to antenatal care (ANC) service delivery called the “Goal-oriented” or “focused ANC” (FANC) approach. Since then, a number of countries have adopted this approach and Swaziland is one of the countries. Fundamentally, this model helps in reducing the number of ANC visits women need to make during pregnancy, placing more emphasis on birth planning, emergency preparedness and identification, prevention and management of life threatening complications during pregnancy, labour and delivery.
Swaziland like many African states has encountered several challenges in implementing this approach. About 97 percent of pregnant women visit health facilities during pregnancy, close to 80 percent make at least four ANC visits (Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey 2006/7) but the challenge is the country does not have empirical evidence on compliance to the WHO focused approach.
To assess compliance with the Focused ANC approach among women in Swaziland, a retrospective desk review of ANC records was be undertaken in 17 ANC facilities identified as ANC sentinel sites. The review used records of pregnant women attending ANC from 2010 to 2012.
The primary objective was to assess compliance with the WHO FANC approach, using data from 2010-2012. The limitation of the study approach is that only existing information collected for patient monitoring was used, therefore additional information that would have been necessary for the analysis was unfortunately unavailable. There was no contact made with the women during data collection process.
Epi-info was used for electronic data capturing. Data was then imported to STATA version 12 for analysis. A p-value of 0.05 was considered for statistical significance. The total sample size used was 1264 records. Descriptive statistics were generated to compare demographic information. Compliance was estimated by combining the four visits made by each woman and comparing visits with the WHO schedule for visits. Fishers exact test was used to test for probable demographic and health factors associated with compliance. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate the coefficients for ANC compliance according to demographic and health factors and to control for potential confounders.
Ethical clearance to conduct the study was sought from the Ministry of Health Scientific and Ethics Committee in Swaziland as well as the University of Pretoria. Permission to access data was also sought from the Strategic Information Department in the Ministry of Health.
Results from this study will be used as a baseline since no other study on compliance has been done in Swaziland. The results will also be used to inform future FANC implementation as Swaziland has already reviewed the focused ANC guidelines. On the other hand, WHO is reviewing the focused ANC guidelines which will be shared with countries for adaption. This study has come just at an opportune time as results can also be used to inform the finalization of the new FANC guidelines at the global level.
The findings will be presented at the University of Pretoria School of Health Systems and Public Health seminar and also at a national stakeholders’ meeting, as well as local and international conferences. Findings will also be published in the WHO Bulletin.
The study found that women in Swaziland did not comply with the Focused ANC schedule. Overall compliance was 0.87% (CI: 04-1.4). There was however an observed improvement in compliance over the years, where women who presented for ANC in 2012 were four (4) times more compliant than those who presented in 2010 (OR: 3.8).
These findings are presented as a journal article in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of a Master’s degree in Public Health at the University of Pretoria. Miss. Nomsa Mulima is the first author and Professor Andy Beke and SAS Shade Ajayi Steve Olorunju are the second and third authors respectively.tm2015School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH)MPHUnrestricte
Machine Learning Centered Energy Optimization In Cloud Computing: A Review
Get PDFThe rapid growth of cloud computing has led to a significant increase in energy consumption, which is a major concern for the environment and economy. To address this issue, researchers have proposed various techniques to improve the energy efficiency of cloud computing, including the use of machine learning (ML) algorithms. This research provides a comprehensive review of energy efficiency in cloud computing using ML techniques and extensively compares different ML approaches in terms of the learning model adopted, ML tools used, model strengths and limitations, datasets used, evaluation metrics and performance. The review categorizes existing approaches into Virtual Machine (VM) selection, VM placement, VM migration, and consolidation methods. This review highlights that among the array of ML models, Deep Reinforcement Learning, TensorFlow as a platform, and CloudSim for dataset generation are the most widely adopted in the literature and emerge as the best choices for constructing ML-driven models that optimize energy consumption in cloud computing
The role of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the national liberation struggle in South Africa with reference to the rural far northern Transvaal, 1976-1990
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 250-275)
Editorial
Get PDFPerspectives in Education (PIE) seeks to stimulate important dialogue and intellectual exchange on education and democratic transitions with respect to schools, colleges, non-governmental organisations, universities and universities of technology in South Africa and globally. In this issue, we foreground discourses on topical issues in the provisioning of schooling in South Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In the opening article by Doniwen Pietersen on Pedagogy of care in online teaching and learning environments at tertiary institutions, the author argues that whereas several of the technological platforms adopted during the Covid-19 lockdown had the potential to reach more students, they had also overloaded educators and pupils. It is argued that the role of university teachers should be reflected not only by the number of students engaged in class content, but also by the embodied cultural capital that students bring to online, face-to-face and hybrid learning spaces.
In the same vein, Desiree Moodley in her capacity as a writing consultant, critically reflects on the dialogue around the adopting Universal Design for Learning framework at higher education institutions in South Africa, and its implications for writing centres and for meeting individual students’ learning needs.
In the third article on students’ experiences with stories as lenses for sense-making, Deborah Lees discusses the experiences of first-year university students using storytelling as a lens to reveal identity, and to better understand their transition from school to university. Staying with the theme of student experiences at university, Róan Slabbert analysed peer-assisted learning (PAL), which over the years have been subjected to ongoing development and ultimately implementation into many so-called \u27high-risk\u27 programmes. Slabbert concluded that a statistically significant difference was found in the overall comparison between the pre- and post-intervention results after the dependent t-test was performed. Staying with education and the Covid19 pandemic, Ramgovind, Valashiya and Pramjeeth discuss Educational resources leveraged by students at a Private Higher Education Institution during the Covid-19 pandemic. They found that by understanding the educational resources (i.e. human, material and financial) that were leveraged by students during Covid-19, PHEIs can streamline decision-making regarding operations, assistance provided to students, and manage online learning in a manner that mitigates pitfalls should events similar to the pandemic occur.
Transitioning from university to the world of work is an often-neglected research area. In this section of PIE, we start by looking at beginner teachers transitioning from university graduates to fully legitimate participants in the teaching profession. Ruben Abraham, Stephen Daniels and Lucinda Du Plooy offer an insightful view on how a formal mentoring programme can assist students in the transitioning from university graduates into school practitioners. Keeping with the topic of transitioning, Dale Langsford asks the important question on how pedagogically focused conversations enable pre-service teachers to make sense of observed teaching. Moving into the classroom situation, Jacqueline Goldin, and Carolina Suransky report on their research where through there engagement with citizen science, they experienced the transformative power of affect and the relevance of emotions in education as a social and political project. In the next article, we explore the relationship between the philosophy of ubuntu and the principles of inclusive education. In their analyses, Jabulani Mpofu and Maximus Sefotho found that there is a very strong relationship between the philosophy of ubuntu and the principles of inclusive education.
In the next cluster of articles, we move into the classroom situation. In the first of this series, Ottilia Goto and Jameson Goto look at Secondary school students\u27 perceptions of the 21st-century teaching of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation (4Cs) in Zimbabwe. Their findings highlight the need for teachers to embed critical thinking and creativity activities within collaborative and communication learning activities. In the next article, Fungirai Mudhefi, Koena Mabotja and Dimakatjo Muthelo analysed the use of Van Hiele’s geometric thinking model to interpret Grade 12 learners’ learning difficulties in Euclidean Geometry. They recommend that educators should use constructivist teaching approaches that encourage learners’ conceptual understanding instead of traditional methods that promote rote memorisation of geometric facts. The third in this cluster is an article by Bongumusa Gubevu and it examines geography teachers’, parents’ and learners’ understanding and experiences of the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the teaching of that subject.
A number of articles explore different management-related topics. First, Jama, Buka, Naidoo, and Moloi report on research into school support stakeholders’ perceptions in identifying learning barriers and reported that findings revealed insufficient knowledge about the identification of learning barriers. Next, we look at middle leaders pursuing teacher safety against learner victimization. In their research, Darrell de Klerk and June Monica Palmer explore teacher safety against learner victimization, which is a growing concern worldwide, and this problem is exacerbated by a lack of understanding and readiness to implement policies to address this matter. Selaelo Maifala analyses the school management team’s role of defining the school vision and mission at a South African rural school. He concluded that SMT members do not understand that the vision and mission could serve more than a visual purpose and that it must be designed to guide principles to direct smaller objectives within the organisation. Concluding the management section, Jardine, Shaik, and Adendorff reported in their research on the mentoring and to be mentored in Grade R.
The last cluster of articles offers very stimulating and thought-provoking reading on three important topics. First, Obakeng Kagola discusses Foundation Phase male teachers’ experiences of teaching comprehensive sexuality education in the Eastern Cape. Next, we look at the right to education for children with autism in Lesotho as discussed by Mahlape Tseeke and Kelello Alicia Rakolobe. Beausetha Bruwer and Annalene van Staden explore the psychology of teaching deaf learners using the Bilingual-Bicultural approach\u27s theory and application to accommodate the familial and social contexts, language use, and overall development differences among deaf learners and their hearing peers, and among themselves. The last contribution in this section deals with Foundation Phase learners with visual impairments. Jossie Steyn, Mariette Koen, and Hantie Theron look at a collaborative approach among teachers to support the teaching such learners. The authors describe the research in which teachers were actively involved in the research process, and how teachers contributed to changes that promoted the inclusion and success of Foundation Phase learners with visual impairments.
We close this edition of Perspectives in Education with a thought-provoking article by Nomsa Mnisi and Thokozani Mathebula critically analysing the World Bank’s agenda to reframe inclusive education through its investment projects and inclusive policies. According to the authors this neoliberal approach results in unevenness and social inequalities. and the exclusion of learners in schools. They put forward recommendations to prevent the exclusion of its intended recipients, namely the poor, unprivileged and excluded learners in post-apartheid South African schools and instead to support universal and free public education.
We trust that you will find this edition stimulating and thought-provoking and that the views presented will stimulate discourse and research that will further grow and develop the boundaries of education.
Jan Nieuwenhuis
Edito
Enhancing the reading conditions in a multilingual grade six class : exploring the possibilities
No full textThe qualitative study described in this research addresses the question of ""how to enhance reading conditions in a grade six class with learners from different language backgrounds, but taught in English as a medium of instruction"". The conceptual framework helps to carve a path through the maze of definitions about reading, independent readers, reading models and Cambourne's reading conditions, which were the focus of the research. The grade six classroom, in which the reading conditions, mainly ""immersion"" and ""engagement"", were to be enhanced, consisted of 42 learners and one teacher. The observation period started in February 2002, but the actual research described in this dissertation lasted two months (August and September 2002), and happened in different phases: the initial phase and the main research period. The latter was made up of the intervention and the final phase. In the initial phase the reading conditions In the classroom layout, the learners' profile, the teaching practices and the attitudes towards reading were explored through observations, field notes and interviews. Other qualitative data was gathered using a reading survey and a cloze procedure test, which were both developed by the researcher. The collected data helped to set up the intervention, in which several challenges had to be faced. During that intervention the physical conditions in the classroom were enhanced to create an encouraging and comfortable space for the learner-reader. A wide variety of interesting and relevant books were brought in the classroom in order to make it a literacy rich environment. At the same time, organising activities based on prediction and sequencing studied the learners' meaning making process. These activities were created to stimulate the learners' engagement in reading. In the final phase possible changes in reading engagement and attitudes were registered through the same cloze procedure test and a second reading survey. Significant results of the research showed that reading became a social experience, an interaction between learners and teacher, in an environment where learners read for pleasure. Even though the intervention took place over a short period of two weeks, the results indicate that there are ways in which teachers can enhance reading conditions and a stimulating environment can be created to engage learners in reading
