The effects of school violence on teaching and learning in selected schools in Amatole West District, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Poswa, S
- Date: 2022-11
- Subjects: School violence , Violence in children
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26075 , vital:64788
- Description: The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of school violence on teaching and learning in three selected schools in the Amathole West education district. The objectives of the study guided the entire project and the theory of socio-ecology by Benbenishty and Astor (2005) underpinned and guided the study. Different forms of school violence, causes of school violence, its effects and measures to curb its spread were discussed. The study made use of the pragmatic paradigm which allowed the researcher to make use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The data collection instruments consisted of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Three high schools were selected purposively with a sample of 75 respondents. Three principals, five teachers (school management team) and 7 learners (school representative council) participated in the semi-structured interview and 60 learners were randomly selected to take part in the questionnaire completion. Data analysis included coding of questionnaires and running the codes on the SPSS package. There after, results were presented using tables and descriptive analysis. Percentages and numeric figures of different forms of school violence were analysed. Data collected from the semi-interviews was coded according to different themes and categories and presented in form of discussions. Thematic analysis was applied in this regard. Therefore, the themes that emerged from the findings of the study were linked to the reviewed literature and research questions. The researcher cross-checked with the participants whether their responses were captured correctly before drawing any conclusions. The major findings of the study revealed that school violence is very much prevalent in the three selected schools. However, the severity of the problem varies from one school to another. Learners indicated that they experience bullying, verbal abuse, corporal punishment, cyberbullying, theft of property, gang-related violence and sexual harassment. Bullying, verbal abuse, cyberbullying and corporal punishment were rated as the most common and frequent forms of violence. In addition to the findings above, some causes of school violence noted by the respondents included peer pressure, poor parental care, exposure to violence at home or communities, unguided exposure to media, easy access to drugs, alcohol and weapons and teacher absenteeism. Effects of school violence included loss of concentration in class, poor academic results, class disruptions and depression or suicidal thoughts. All participants were allowed to say what they think should be done to curb the spread of school violence. Reasons given included that of ensuring that other departments are included in the committees that deal directly with school violence cases, strict and consistent enforcement of the school code of conduct and the department’s policies on school violence. Most learners and teachers indicated that parents are not present in the lives of their children. Thus, parental involvement was strongly recommended by most participants. The researcher had some recommendations to make. It was recommended that communities should take an active part in fighting drug and alcohol abuse by learners in communities. This could be done by reporting people who sell these drugs and alcohol to persons who are under the age of 18. It was further recommended that the department of education should understand and take advantage of technology. School violence apps can be developed specifically for teenagers. These will ensure that knowledge about school violence is spread to most learners. Lastly, workshops should be conducted with both teachers and learners to equip them more about school violence. The conclusion of the study highlighted some important points to be taken into consideration. One of the points was that a failure to implement the strategies outlined in the study will result in the department spending millions of Rands in repairing and replacing what has been lost in schools. This lose will be due to theft and vandalism, high rate of teachers resigning because of stress-related problems. In addition, the economy will be characterised by a high rate of unemployment due to learners who drop out of school, overcrowded classes will continue to affect teaching and learning. Ultimately, there will be a continuous decrease in the NSC results of entire District of Amathole West. For further or future research studies, the researcher suggested that studies on the department’s policies on school violence are needed. These studies can focus on what the policy entails, and the implementation and effectiveness of such policies. In addition to these studies, a study that closely looks at parents as contributing factors to school violence is needed. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, 2022
- Full Text:
Photovoltaic-powered wireless communication system for rural schools outside national utility grid
- Authors: Kaseke, Richmore https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8295-5016
- Date: 2007-02
- Subjects: Photovoltaic system
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25483 , vital:64284
- Description: Access to global information is inarguably one of the key ways of bringing development to any community. In developing worlds, many rural schools lie outside both the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) cable network and the national utility grid. Rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT) continue to widen the digital divide between urban and rural schools. In South Africa, although these rural areas are outside the ISP’s cable network, they enjoy excellent mobile (cellular) communications network coverage. Fortunately, leading mobile operators in the country (MTN and Vodacom) have incorporated mobile data packet services into their cellular communication networks since 2002. A stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system for powering ICT equipment in off grid rural schools was designed and installed; and its performance monitored. Performance of the system was considered in two categories, which are; cost and service performance. In cost performance, return on investment (ROI) and payback period (PB) are the two critical considerations. The PV system designed in this study gave an impressive ROI and PB of 286percent and 5 years, respectively. In order to monitor and evaluate the service performance a data acquisition system (DAS) was designed and installed. Besides proving the potential of PV in powering ICT equipment, results from the DAS also suggested a more efficient way of employing PV as a power source for powering equipment that is based on Switched-Mode Power Supply Units. Concurrent and continuous change in irradiance and temperature result in a four-segment pattern of rising and falling module efficiency throughout the day. Generally, modules produce more energy on cooler sunny days than hotter sunny days. Infrared (IR) Thermography was also used as part of both indoor and outdoor module tests. During indoor tests at pre-deployment stage, IR Thermography showed development of hot spots in mismatched cells of reverse-biased modules. On the outdoors, IR Thermography reiterated the effect of bird droppings on module surfaces by showing hot spots forming on areas covered by the droppings. For internet connectivity, a customized Mobile Internet Device (MIDevice) was designed, built and tested. The device allows remote computer systems to be connected to the Internet via the already existing mobile communication network k using General Packet Radio Services (GPRS). An entire rural school local area network (LAN) can be connected to the Internet via a single MIDevice. An experimental setup was designed in order to monitor and evaluate performance of GPRS in specific and mobile Internet solutions in general. Results obtained proved that GPRS can indeed be a solution for remote Internet connectivity in rural schools. In order to improve performance of GPRS or mobile Internet connections, caching, pop-up blocking and proxy filtering are necessary. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2007
- Full Text: