Factors contributing towards the decline in enrolment of learners in the rural Junior Secondary Schools in the Qumbu District of Education of South Africa
- Authors: Vellem, Mxolosi
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Rural schools -- Learners -- South Africa School enrolment—Education (Junior secondary) -- South Africa -- Qumbu Rationalisation and re-alignment -- Schools
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , M Ed
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/1326 , vital:30806
- Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors contributing towards the decline of learners in rural junior secondary schools in the Qumbu Education District in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This was done because in South Africa before the 1994 elections rural schools were not supported by the apartheid government. Rural areas were disadvantaged in education, in terms of finance. This resulted in poor quality of teaching and learning. Declining numbers of learners in rural schools was occurring in all rural schools. Staffs were alarmed by the declining enrolment of learners in their schools because their schools were affected. Teachers were redeployed to schools where there were sufficient learner numbers. Department of Education due to declining learner numbers in schools introduced rationalisation and re-alignment of schools, meaning closure of some schools with low learner numbers. This led to learners walking long distances to schools. This study was conducted in the Qumbu Education District. It focused on declining numbers of learner enrolment. The literature internationally focused on declining number in enrolment of learners. These learners were afraid of Physical Science (Chemistry side) as a subject. They had taken Chemistry as difficult because of the perceived link with Mathematics. Continentally the literature had alluded to teenage pregnancy, affected and infected learners with HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. In South Africa literature focused on the educational level of parents. Learners with educated parents leave rural schools to study in urban areas because of poor education which is provided in rural areas. Lack of resources in these schools could also be the cause of declining learner numbers in rural junior secondary schools. The study used a quantitative research design to elicit data from the respondents. The respondents in this study were 50 principals of the sampled rural junior secondary schools. Data was collected from 50 participants through the use of a questionnaire; 50 questionnaires were returned and the data which was finally processed was from these 50 questionnaires. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the analysis of the data. iii The findings of the study revealed that factors such as lack of parental involvement, socio-economic factors, HIV/AIDS - related issues, culture and gender - related issues, lack of resources, teacher and teaching - related issues and the education level of the parents were the contributing factors to the decline in enrolment of learners in rural junior secondary schools in the Qumbu Education District. In the light of the findings, the researcher recommends that more tuition time and the reduction of absenteeism by teachers can help reduce the decline of enrolment in rural junior schools in the Qumbu area. The Department must consider the number of learning areas and not teacher - pupil ratio. The Department should also introduce computer classes, woodwork, bricklaying and other practical skill subjects in these schools. Furthermore there must be resources such as laboratories, libraries and television. Some of the limitations encountered by the researcher during the study included the reluctance of the participants to take part in the research, the inaccessibility of schools in deep rural areas, the slow return rate of completed questionnaires and the obtaining of permission to undertake the study.
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Implications of financial poverty on schooling and management in the Centane Unit
- Authors: Mvenene Nongcwalisa
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Poverty -- Economical aspects -- Schooling and management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Ed
- Identifier: vital:18467 , http://hdl.handle.net/11260/d1009454
- Description: This study sought to find out the implications of poverty on schooling and management in the Centane Educational Unit. Centane Educational Unit is part of the Mnquma Local Municipality. The other Educational units that constitute the Mnquma are Butterworth and Ngqamakhwe. The Mnquma is one of the 7 local municipalities that form Amathole District Municipality. The other areMbhashe, Amahlathi, Great Kei, Ngqushwa, Nkonkobe and Nxuba. Quantitative and qualitative and research designs were used. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from the principals, the school governing bodies parent members, educators and learners of 5 selected section 20 junior secondary schools. Participants were selected using a random sampling technique. The sample was made up of 5 principals, 20 SGB parent members (4 from each school), 10 educators (2 from each school) and 10 learners (2 from each school). Learners were selected from the senior phase. The total number of the sample was 45. The researcher analysed the data collected by means of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings were that poverty- whether absolute or relative- had an adverse impact on schooling and management in the Centane Educational Unit. Its impact relates to parents’ inability to meet financial school requirements. This impact ranges from learners’ poor attendance to school, learners’ lack of concentration on studies, poor participation on extra-mural activities and parents’ failure to pay for school needs. On the basis of the negative effects of poverty on schooling and management recommendations were made in order to conscientise stakeholders on how best they could push back the frontiers of poverty and obviate its detrimental effects on our education system. The researcher encountered such limitations as the geographical location of schools which are scattered and far apart, working responsibilities and pressures, bad and impassable roads, financial commitments, negative attitudes of certain educators, principals and parent components of the School Governing Bodies (SGB) and officials of the Department of Education towards the researcher’s aims of undertaking this study. However, the researcher managed to work with the interviewees as she tried to address these challenges through interactions with her informants.
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