Jacob M Selesho

Institutional ranking in a differentiated higher education in South Africa

Ranking institutions on a league table style is explicitly or implicitly used by agencies to determine excellence and performance and reputation of institutions. However, there is a growing concern that this tool tends to encourage drifts of missions, foci, purposes and specialisations of knowledge and skills produced by different higher education institutions globally. This article takes issue with the widely accepted practice of institutional ranking on league table style drawing examples from South Africa. It begins by describing inherent drawbacks of league table approaches and proposes alternative forms of determining performances of institutions. This is followed by discussions on South Africa highlighting the challenges of league table styles to rank institutions in systems where institutions are differentiated in terms of purposes and missions, and how it might subtly encourage mission drift. The third section is devoted to discussions and conclusion.

The Socio-political Consequence of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims in South Africa: A Post-Apartheid or Modern Political Discourse within the ANC Led Government?

Abstract The intent of the study is to investigate and analyse the impact of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims to the rural communities in South Africa. The authors opine that the issue of traditional leadership has been a contested terrain in South Africa long before the African National Congress (ANC) could assume power in 1994. Furthermore, the study attempts to highlight the intervention strategies embarked upon by the ANC in trying to resolve this problem, hence the institution of the Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims Commission which was tasked with investigating the legitimacy of some claims on traditional leadership. The study examines, critiques and contextualizes as to why would organisations and to a certain extent individuals sort claims of the legitimacy of traditional leadership in a democratic South Africa. Without doubt, such attempts made democratic dispensation in South Africa an interesting terrain to highlight issues of socio-political concerns. Therefore, with this study the authors intend to raise the issues of the recognition of traditional leadership in as far as disputes and claims are concerned. The study argues that the issue of traditional leadership disputes and claims can be regarded as a modern political struggle in a democratic South Africa and if not properly resolved, negative consequences can be experienced.

Providing Quality Early Childhood Development Education: A Poverty Reduction Agenda

Abstract It is a well-known fact that basic education is a fundamental driver of human development. Enhancing individuals’ literacy and numeracy skills is beneficial for increased productivity, economic growth and reduction of poverty. A significant portion of young children have started their schooling journey in the early childhood development centers. There has been overwhelming concern regarding the quality of early childhood development experiences afforded to these young children. On the basis of the scenario set above this paper seeks to outline the challenges facing African education in trying to pursue the United Nations’ aim of Education for All, to achieve Millennium Development Goals and finally to reduce the poverty level. Provision of quality early childhood development may be an important aspect of reducing poverty. A recent evaluation reveals that although this early childhood contributes positively to the life of young children, this does not apply equally across the board. Although there are plans and strategies in place, these will continue to be just a dream if poverty continues to divide the society, determined by the quality of schooling afforded to different social classes. This high degree of inequality between schools is largely a legacy of historical educational inequality. However, it ar ises more from differences in educational quality than from differential attainment, since the latter has narrowed considerably in recent decades. Funding is still undoubtedly scarce, funding sometimes in, and by itself is not a guarantee to achieve equity and equality of outcomes. This paper will share insights learned through this study.

Exercising the Fiduciary Responsibility to Improve Education of their Children: Ecological Perspective

Abstract This paper aims to describe the design and implementation of support to at risk school low performing schools using data from nine Provinces in South Africa. Using the literature on external support, instructional capacity, and policy strength, the study gathered data from interviews and observations. The findings suggest that the model of assistance provided by the provinces was adequate to the task. While the policies examined demonstrate recognition that low-performing schools need additional capacity if they are to substantially improve student outcomes, external support providers used limited and haphazard approaches, and as a result, the support component had little influence on teaching and learning. In addition, because the external supports relied on a market-like support structure with few other mechanisms to ensure quality, and because there was limited quantity (intensity) of support, the benefit that external assistance might otherwise have provided was limited. This was particularly problematic for the lowest capacity schools, many of which experienced limited change despite increased educator effort and involvement of external providers. In essence, external assistance through these school accountability policies did little to improve educator and organizational performance.

The Exploitation of Public Representations in the Tuition of History in a Post-Apartheid South Africa: Ecosystem

Abstract For many decades South African education and the teaching of History in particular, has been characterised by desegregation in an effort to accommodate the diverse nature of society. During the apartheid era, the decentralisation of education provided racially defined communities the legal means to preserve their privileges, that the teaching of a ‘segregated’ History in South African high schools was more successful at meeting the demand for racial desegregation than for achieving the ideal of social integration. The above is an indication that throughout the country’s history, segregation has been a constant feature of South African society and therefore, of its education. To date, consensus has not been reached regarding the most effective ways in which high schools should address the issue of utilising public representations in the teaching, as well as in the learning of History as a school subject in post-apartheid South Africa. In attempting to bypass the above-mentioned challenges, the article presents an explanatory study and focuses on the perceptions held by History students in the five Mangaung High Schools on the utilisation of public representations in the teaching of South African History. Furthermore, through the experiences and observations by these learners, the article argues that if History is properly taught, for example, by utilising public representations as focus evidence in the reconstruction of the past, this could be a helpful tool for the attainment of reconciliation and nation building in South Africa. Through the observation by the learners sampled for this project, the researchers were trying to establish the impact of utilising public representations in the teaching of South African History and how often this method is used by educators.

Institutional Funding as an Accountability Process

Abstract The intent of the study was to find out if institutional funding has a quality impact on the delivery of the academic programmes. This study was conducted through the use of semi-structured interviews and documental analysis process. The study did attract responses from 50 academics Heads of Department. Majority of the respondents considered academic programmes as being funded at the lowest grid and this has implication for financial sustainability of the academic programmes. Most of the respondents felt that even thought quality and funding relate yet it is difficult to link them. Despite the fact that there was a reasonable prospect of promoting quality of academic offerings, it was also necessary to help to employ the best academic staff.

Investigating the pr edictive validity of Mathematics and Science Students at University

Abstract Predictive validity of student admission is an incubator programme for producing quality teachers that can enhance performance of learner’s achievement in Mathematics and Physical Sciences at Grade 12. The key issue examined in the paper is whether the admission policy used in Natural Sciences programmes has made a significant contribution to their success in career prospects. In an effort to widen understanding regarding the factors that predict the performance, prior academic achievement were examined. 17 students admitted to the Central University of Technology, Free State in the B.Ed: Natural Science programme majoring in Mathematics and Physical Science at the beginning of the 2004 academic year were sampled for the study. The results reveal that Grade 12 results pass in Mathematics and Physical Sciences had significant effect on student throughput and progress. A pass in university mathematics were associated with significantly less time before graduation, better career progression and better productivity in the teaching subjects.