Teenage pregnancy in South Africa remains heavily present despite implementing policy on Measures for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools.Anchored on a qualitative approach, using semi-structured, focus group interviews and document analysis as data collection techniques, the study used a sample size of 21 participants from three Secondary Schools as case studies.Data were analysed thematically following the inductive sequence of thematic analysis.The study results explain the following paradox: regardless of the stated strategies, schools under research used non-inclusive strategies to implement the policy.These tended to sideline the elderly and educationally challenged parents.Parents were not conversant with the policy and felt the strategies were non-beneficial because of their non-involvement during the formulation and the implementation processes.Results of the study provide evidence for a need to enhance ownership of the policy through different capacity building programmes which solely targeted parents.

The study sought to find the strategies used by peer-led groups in the provision of Psychosocial Social Support (PSS) to vulnerable children in secondary schools in Amathole West Education District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The Psychosocial Support interactive model of 1982 by Merriam and Darkenwald informed this study. A qualitative approach with a case study research design was used as a method of inquiry and was underpinned and framed by the interpretive paradigm that guided the researchers as they generated the data. The target population was all the schools in Amathole West Education District. Four secondary schools were chosen as multiple case studies because they had functional peer-led groups. A sample of 41 participants made up of four peer leaders, four learner support agents, four principals, four Life Orientation (LO) teachers, one district offocial and 24 learners in focus groups was purposively selected because they were directly involved with the peer-led groups. A thematic text analysis was used and the study revealed that peer-led groups employed four strategies: counselling, referrals, partnerships and circles of friends. The study concluded that vulnerable learners who were identified could not be effectively assisted due to a shortage of resources such as counselling rooms and transport as well as lack of training of the peer leaders. The study recommends that peer-led programmes should be part of the large school curriculum with a specific budget to meet the requirements of such programmes.

Implementation of affirmative action is critical for establishing those distinctive benefits through laws and policies for redress of inequality suffered by underprivileged individuals. As a result, affirmative action has become an inescapable aspect of the recruitment process and enhancement of females in institutions particularly, in leadership positions. In this article, a qualitative approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews and document review were used to collect data. Findings showed that affirmative action was an ideal strategy for giving females academics the opportunity to display their capabilities but should not be implemented as tokenism to maintain quality and standard in universities. Moreover, merit, skill and qualities of growth and leadership were identified as imperative. However, lack of transparency and clear lines of communications in implementing this strategy were cited as an obstacle. It was recommended that, transparency and accountability in implementing affirmative action in all university structures was critical. Training that targets gender equality issues should be on-going and be used as a strategy for promoting visibility of females in leadership positions. Merit, skill, qualities of growth and an acumen of leadership should be incorporated to maintain high quality and standard of leadership in universities regardless of gender.

Education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world. These noble words by Nelson Mandela provide a yardstick against which South Africa can measure whether the rights of the child, key of which is the right to education, are progressively being realised. Towards this end, education is seen as the ultimate foundation and solution for the attainment of freedom, democracy and human rights; social justice and equality for South African children. Thus, the question remains: after more than twenty years of democracy, to what extent can South Africa pride herself of having achieved this noble goal? This article reflects on the national effort to realise the rights of children to education against the frameworks provided for in international and regional instruments. The latter require governments’ commitment to ensure that the rights of children to education in particular, are implemented and respected. An analysis will be made on how the new democratic government has succeeded to reverse the discriminatory policies, law and practice of the apartheid era. It further discusses how the existing education system translates the attainment of children rights to education in terms of the standard and quality of teaching and learning; existing school facilities; racial segregation; human and financial resources; and safe school learning environment. The article concludes by identifying measures that need to be taken by all stakeholders in order to promote the realisation of children’s right to education.

Using a sample size of 21 purposively selected participants the study made use of semi structured interviews and focus group interviews as data collection techniques. The results of the study revealed that in both universities no formalized nor systematic monitoring and evaluation had been conducted. Lack of transparency and accountability in monitoring and evaluation and failure to have gender audit were cited as factors that inhibited significant changes towards critical mass of female academics in positions of leadership. Emerging recommendations were that there should be formalized monitoring and evaluation and that both universities should have a monitoring and evaluation framework, this will assist them to tap into the research of female empowerment and gender equality. There must be gender audit to assist universities to see if the critical mass of females is being attained. Lastly, it is recommended that both universities must inject adequate resources particularly through gender technocrats. Key words: Evaluation, Females Academics, Leadership, Monitoring, Policies, Universities

This study explores trust and positive working relationships among teachers in communities of practice as an avenue for professional development in high schools in South Africa. A mixed methods research approach was employed for this study with the use of a semi-structured interview and semi-structured questionnaires as data collection instruments. Ten schools were purposively selected for this study and seventy-nine participants were selected as samples. The findings of the study show that teachers had good working relationships with their colleagues. The good working relationships they had enabled them to assist their colleagues, share their classroom challenges with them, confide in their colleagues, and they were able to get assistance from them. It was established from the study that a great number of teachers feel safe to be part of the communities of practice activities in the sampled high schools, thus, they engage in diverse of discussions with their colleagues and they were able to relate to their colleagues the difficulties they have in terms of their work. The study recommends that teachers should spend an adequate time in their meetings, see themselves as colleagues, interact as teams, and build strong ties to have good relationships and a strong level of trust among themselves.

The purpose of the paper was to investigate how collaboration and mutual support as the processes established by communities of practice to improve continuing professional teachers’ development in high schools. This study is essential as it helped teachers to see the importance of working as teams through mutual support given to each other to boost their professional development. The study was qualitative in nature; semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to get expedient and in-depth information from the participants with the use of case study design. The study found that teachers participated effectively and had mutual relationship in collaborative learning activities in communities of practice. The findings indicated that teachers should collaborate and mutually engage in learning activities in communities of practice in high schools in order to enhance their professional development.

A safe school environment is conducive for learning at all levels of education. However, schools sometimes enroll children who are generally at risk due to various factors. The chapter discussed how schools and early childhood centers (ECD) can maintain safety and peace for children and youths in their care. By virtue of their age, young children are a population at risk as they depend on adults for their sustenance. A safe environment for children entails physical safety, mental health, social security, and nutrition. The chapter focused on safety nets, strategies/models of maintaining safety, peace projects for children and youths, description of children at risk, stakeholders in maintaining safety, risk factors affecting children and youths. It presents Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory that informs the role of systems surrounding the child in maintaining safety nets and peace. The chapter proffers a model that can be adopted to maintain safety nets and peace.

This study employed an interpretive paradigm to investigate the challenges experienced by teachers in implementing school-based continuing professional teacher development in the Fort Beaufort education district in South Africa.Semi-structured interviews were administered to 40 participants from ten different schools.The findings of the study revealed that most of the participants were unable to implement continuing professional teacher development programs for various reasons, such as inadequate training in the implementation process, a lack of resource materials, and insufficient time for professional development initiatives.The results also revealed that the implementation of school-based continuing professional teacher development requires not only an institutionalised advocacy but also a deep reconceptualization in order to provide the type of support that is urgently required to meet the professional development needs of high school teachers in South Africa.

This study employed an interpretive paradigm to investigate the challenges experienced by teachers in implementing school-based continuing professional teacher development in the Fort Beaufort education district in South Africa.Semi-structured interviews were administered to 40 participants from ten different schools.The findings of the study revealed that most of the participants were unable to implement continuing professional teacher development programs for various reasons, such as inadequate training in the implementation process, a lack of resource materials, and insufficient time for professional development initiatives.The results also revealed that the implementation of school-based continuing professional teacher development requires not only an institutionalised advocacy but also a deep reconceptualization in order to provide the type of support that is urgently required to meet the professional development needs of high school teachers in South Africa.

Mentoring for Female Academics in the 21st Century: A Case Study of a South African University Bellita Banda Chitsamatanga, S. Rembe, J. Shumba Abstract This paper investigated the female academics‟ perceptions on mentoring in universities and how it can promote their career trajectory. The study adopted the qualitative methodology. Using evidence collected from a case study of a South African university and a sample size of purposively selected five senior female academics and a focus group of five junior female academics were used for the study. The research solicited data through interviews and document analysis. The results revealed that mentoring is there in universities theoretically but the practical concept appears to be surrounded by grey areas. There is a general lack of interest, knowledge and ignorance from the academics on mentoring and networking. Moreover, gender still influences the female academics perceptions on mentoring and networking in universities and a dearth of female role models promoted disintegration, inaccessibility and egoism within universities. The study concluded that mentoring of female academics should be formalised and on-going and that universities must look beyond gender on mentoring issues. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijgws.v6n1a5

This paper examined the barriers to research and publication efforts of senior female academics in South African and Zimbabwean universities.The qualitative research approach was employed and semi-structured interviews comprising of 10 female academics with more than ten years of teaching within the university system were used as a sample and data were thematically analysed.It emerged from the study that the majority of female academics in South African and Zimbabwean Universities did little research and publication due to heavy teaching workload, lack of scientific training and unavailability of workshops and inadequate funding.Moreover, lack of confidence, ignorance and lack of collaboration among academics were other major barriers established by the study.The paper recommends that the career trajectory of females be enhanced by providing ongoing training on scientific writing, adequate funding and promotion of co-authorship.

Universities of technology in Zimbabwe enrol students with various background educational qualifications for Textile, Clothing and Design programmes. The students are combined and learn in same class resulting in high students’ failure rate, drop outs, late completion of degree programmes, and poor performance of graduates. Thus researchers sought to examine curriculum adaptation procedures used to cater for the students. Post-positivism paradigm in mixed method research approach was adopted for the study. Interviews with TCD management, document analysis, and questionnaire with lecturers yielded qualitative and quantitative data. Findings revealed that lecturers employed various uncoordinated methods to adapt the curriculum content to cater for the students

Using a qualitative approach, the study examines the female academics experiences in academia and the hurdles they encounter in their career trajectories regardless of the Staff Development Programmes (SDPs). The sample consisted of two public universities in South Africa and Zimbabwe and ten senior female academics participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured face to face interviews. The findings revealed that indeed both universities had on and off the job SDPs. However, it emerged that both universities could still do more to ensure that the SDPs in place meet the female academics needs theoretically and practically through capacity building programmes and adequate human and financial resources. The paper recommends that adequate funding should be provided for the SDPs offered in both universities, identifying capacity building programmes to ensure that the training provided to the female academics will meet their needs and enhance their career mobility.

Higher education institutions in South Africa are plagued with challenges such as poor academic performance, retention and throughput that need some interventions. The objective of this paper was to examine students’ poor socio-economic backgrounds and poor academic performance and how these affect retention and throughput rates of universities. This paper is based on a review of literature where there was a search for articles from various electronic databases. The findings show that the impediments of poor retention and low throughput facing South African higher education institutions are as a result of students who are inadequately prepared from high school. It is also revealed that the poor academic performance of students is due to their poor socio-economic background. Consequently, most students drop out from university and others take longer time to complete their degrees. It is recommended that universities establish peer academic support programs to mitigate these challenges. Address for correspondence:

This paper examined the barriers to research and publication efforts of senior female academics in South African and Zimbabwean universities. The qualitative research approach was employed and semi-structured interviews comprising of 10 female academics with more than ten years of teaching within the university system were used as a sample and data were thematically analysed. It emerged from the study that the majority of female academics in South African and Zimbabwean Universities did little research and publication due to heavy teaching workload, lack of scientific training and unavailability of workshops and inadequate funding. Moreover, lack of confidence, ignorance and lack of collaboration among academics were other major barriers established by the study. The paper recommends that the career trajectory of females be enhanced by providing ongoing training on scientific writing, adequate funding and promotion of co-authorship. Address for correspondence: Bellita Banda Chitsamatanga Faculty of Education, University of Fort Hare, South Africa Telephone: 0027 83 7557084 E-mail: chitsamatangabellitabanda@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION Research publication is recognised all over the world as an integral part of an academic career; not only is it a pre-condition for academic promotion and advancement universally, it is a hall mark of true academics (Gaidzanwa 2005; Santos 2016). However, research publication is viewed by most female academics as a barrier to their career development due to lack of exposure to a culture of academic research, different institutional demands, discipline differences and unfavourable evaluation of research output (Nielsen 2016; Turk et al. 2018). In addition, Muriithi et al. (2018) and Wight et al. (2014) cite lack of senior scientists, non-participation in scholarly conferences, language challenges, technological challenges, weak supporting infrastructure, heavy teaching and administrative loads and lack of funding as other challenges. Barrett and Barrett (2013) found that female academics were given extra workloads, a practice that is usually discreet and undetected. The workload systems in some universities work as a disadvantage to female academics in improving their research publication and career mobility (Kataeva and DeYoung 2017). These barriers are further compounded by the fact that, research publications tend to be viewed in a gendered manner. Moreover, being disconnected from, or being superficially connected to, the network and mentoring system within academia is a mammoth task (Bhalalusesa 2010; Zvobgo 2015). Undeniably, academic publishing is suffering at the hands of hegemonic institutions of inequalities that privilege preconceived ideals of masculinity and maleness over femininity and femaleness, disadvantaging women beyond mere publication; thus hindering the career trajectory of females and narrowing the doors to academic publications (Gaidzanwa 2005; Wagner 2016; Nielsen 2016; Payer 2017). For instance, in one university in Zimbabwe, male academics contributed eighty-three percent of research output and articles produced. If comparisons were to be made, the picture in South Africa is not at all different from the Zimbabwean situation. For illustrative purposes, in 2005 feAnthropologist 32(1-3): 1-7 (2018) DOI: 10.31901/24566802.2018/32.1-3.2017 © Kamla-Raj 2018 2 B.B. CHITSAMATANGA, S. REMBE AND J. SHUMBA male academics contributed only fourteen percent and thirty-seven percent of research output in their respective Universities, notwithstanding the fact that South Africa produces eighty percent of the basic research done in Southern Africa. On an international sphere, studies indicate that male academics publish eight percent more articles in refereed journals than females; for instance, in Japan ninety percent of highly productive researchers are male academics (Horta et al. 2012). Thus, it is critical that these statistics are kept in mind as they indicate how a dearth of published work by female academics impacts negatively on getting better salaries, advancement and most importantly, job security (Payer 2017; Turk et al. 2018). Unfortunately, a majority of the female academics have remained consumers of knowledge in universities, instead of producing the knowledge (Benamer and Bakoush 2009; Schaber et al. 2017; Turk et al. 2018). As a result, pressure has been put on universities worldwide to lift their game on research output for female academics by having role models, regardless of gender, to act as mentors (Howe-Walsh and Turnbull 2016). This will avoid a situation whereby the productivity gap widens and female academics continue being viewed as novices in their career trajectories or being omitted for reasons that have nothing to do with their research capability or output. Zvobgo (2015) and Abramo et al. (2016) advance that the productivity gap can be closed by identifying gender dependent environmental factors; personal factors; gender discrimination and family roles that condition the time devoted to research. According to Alrashidi (2017), though some universities have healthy incentives for academics who are research active, these incentives however tend to exclude female academics “unintentionally” due to lack of tangible research output. Moreover, the productivity of an academic is strongly associated with his or her reputation, visibility and advancement in the academic structure. Thus, research output is the crux of an academic profession and an essential requirement for career advancement (Payer 2017). However, the working conditions of the female academics, especially in developing countries, may hinder them from producing tangible results. A study by Kataeva and DeYoung (2017) in Tajikistan indicated that most female academics did not publish because they did not own office space to perform research activities and they lacked mentorship. These views may account for the reasons why most papers are rejected. Likewise, the high rejection rate of research manuscripts is also one of the reasons female academics fail to publish and are unable to develop their careers (Baker 2016; Alrashidi 2017). Summers (2001) posit that the rejection rate of manuscripts by internationally renowned research journals averages around ninety percent. These views are also echoed by Albertyn et al. (2007) who state that in South Africa, 73 accredited journals unanimously agreed that the rejection rate of research manuscripts was exceptionally high. One would therefore ask, where does this leave the female academics that are already compounded with numerous challenges with regards to their career development in universities? The above bring us to the reasons why career development of female academics has been associated with stress anxiety, fear, frustration and a sense of disillusionment with their career path (Finnegan and Hyle 2005; Pienaar and Bester 2012). These scholars further endorse that lack of acknowledgement from the universities’ personnel and management that the existence of tension between research publication, teaching and family life is the cause for burn out and occupational stress among female academics compounds the status quo. Given this backdrop, the majority of female academics finally exit the academia without being promoted, let alone publishing (Fotaki 2013). According to Chinyamurindi (2016) in understanding the career development processes of groups such as females, current concentration should shift to identifying those factors that may retain and sustain individual career development in a demanding context such as universities. Maluleka et al. (2016), Tarusikirwa (2017) and Muriithi et al. (2018) subscribe to the view that it is high time research collaboration among academics (females) is promoted because it holds massive potential such as networking, sharing of resources, enhancing productivity, overcoming intellectual isolation and achieving research goals. However, the extant literature shows that female academics are citied less in referred journals and tend to be under-represented in sole author positions (Scharber et al. 2017). It can be noted that barriers to research and publication by female academics stem from a number of factors (Hemmings and Russell 2010; BARRIERS TO RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION EFFORTS OF FEMALE ACADEMICS 3 Baker 2016). Therefore, interventions that begin from the known to the unknown should be implemented within universities. It is against this background, therefore, that the paper seeks to advance an understanding of the complexities surrounding research output of female academics in South African and Zimbabwean universities. The study was guided by the following main research question.

This paper examined the barriers to research and publication efforts of senior female academics in South African and Zimbabwean universities.The qualitative research approach was employed and semi-structured interviews comprising of 10 female academics with more than ten years of teaching within the university system were used as a sample and data were thematically analysed.It emerged from the study that the majority of female academics in South African and Zimbabwean Universities did little research and publication due to heavy teaching workload, lack of scientific training and unavailability of workshops and inadequate funding.Moreover, lack of confidence, ignorance and lack of collaboration among academics were other major barriers established by the study.The paper recommends that the career trajectory of females be enhanced by providing ongoing training on scientific writing, adequate funding and promotion of co-authorship.

This study employed an interpretive paradigm to investigate the challenges experienced by teachers in implementing school-based continuing professional teacher development in the Fort Beaufort education district in South Africa.Semi-structured interviews were administered to 40 participants from ten different schools.The findings of the study revealed that most of the participants were unable to implement continuing professional teacher development programs for various reasons, such as inadequate training in the implementation process, a lack of resource materials, and insufficient time for professional development initiatives.The results also revealed that the implementation of school-based continuing professional teacher development requires not only an institutionalised advocacy but also a deep reconceptualization in order to provide the type of support that is urgently required to meet the professional development needs of high school teachers in South Africa.

This paper examined the barriers to research and publication efforts of senior female academics in South African and Zimbabwean universities.The qualitative research approach was employed and semi-structured interviews comprising of 10 female academics with more than ten years of teaching within the university system were used as a sample and data were thematically analysed.It emerged from the study that the majority of female academics in South African and Zimbabwean Universities did little research and publication due to heavy teaching workload, lack of scientific training and unavailability of workshops and inadequate funding.Moreover, lack of confidence, ignorance and lack of collaboration among academics were other major barriers established by the study.The paper recommends that the career trajectory of females be enhanced by providing ongoing training on scientific writing, adequate funding and promotion of co-authorship.

Background There is need for ‘high-quality’ teachers who are equipped to meet the needs of all learners through provision of education for an inclusive society according to equal opportunities to all. Objective This paper investigates pockets of good practice in the adaptation of the curriculum for the inclusion of learners with special education needs (SEN) in selected primary schools in the Fort Beaufort District. Method The study adopted a qualitative research approach and employed a case study design. Eight teachers and 10 principals from 10 selected primary schools, 4 education district officials and 1 provincial official were interviewed. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. Data were collected using document analysis and semi-structured interviews and were analysed thematically. Result The study established that teachers use methods relating to different teaching strategies, individual work, group work and extra work. Conclusion It was concluded that there are pockets of good practice of inclusion policy such as the use of different teaching strategies, individual work, group work and extra work for inclusion of learners with SEN in some of the selected primary schools in the poor rural context. The paper recommends adequate training for teachers in curriculum adaptation in order for all teachers to accommodate learners with SEN.