scholarly journals Professional qualifications for the insurance industry: Dilemmas for articulation and progression

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Seamus Needham ◽  
Joy Papier
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Hostile Environment ◽  
Vocational College ◽  
National Qualifications Framework ◽  
College Learners ◽  
Occupational Qualification

In South Africa, the lack of articulation between vocational college programmes and those ofuniversities has long been a source of frustration for college learners seeking vertical progressionpathways. The introduction of a National Qualifications Framework in 1995 appeared to offer hopeof bridging the divide between occupational, practically focused qualifications and traditionalacademic qualifications, but, some 20 years later, the stumbling blocks are still evident in spite ofconcerted national policy efforts. This article reflects on a project conducted over a five-yearperiod that intended to ‘create a progression pathway for TVET candidates into university’ in theinsurance industry and the lessons learned in that process. What at first glance might haveappeared to be simply a hostile environment for articulation and institutional intransigence, onfurther reflection revealed deep-seated curriculum issues associated with qualifications that wereunderstood to differ fundamentally in function and therefore in form. The article draws, inter alia,on Bernstein’s (1999) theorisation of practical and disciplinary learning to show how a curriculumhas an impact on pedagogies, assessment and quality assurance structures. After examining whycollege candidates who had succeeded in the first-level occupational qualification with its largeworkplace component struggled to complete subsequent university levels, the article concludesthat divergent curricula and pedagogies will need serious attention if aspirations for more seamlessarticulation and easier progression are to become reality.

A Review of Medical Waste Management in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaniyi FC ◽  
Ogola JS ◽  
Tshitangano TG
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
South African ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Medical Waste ◽  
African Government ◽  
The Past ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Medical Waste Management

Background:Poor medical waste management has been implicated in an increase in the number of epidemics and waste-related diseases in the past years. South Africa is resource-constrained in the management of medical waste.Objectives:A review of studies regarding medical waste management in South Africa in the past decade was undertaken to explore the practices of medical waste management and the challenges being faced by stakeholders.Method:Published articles, South African government documents, reports of hospital surveys, unpublished theses and dissertations were consulted, analysed and synthesised. The studies employed quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods and documented comparable results from all provinces.Results:The absence of a national policy to guide the medical waste management practice in the provinces was identified as the principal problem. Poor practices were reported across the country from the point of medical waste generation to disposal, as well as non-enforcement of guidelines in the provinces where they exit. The authorized disposal sites nationally are currently unable to cope with the enormous amount of the medical waste being generated and illegal dumping of the waste in unapproved sites have been reported. The challenges range from lack of adequate facilities for temporary storage of waste to final disposal.Conclusion:These challenges must be addressed and the practices corrected to forestall the adverse effects of poorly managed medical waste on the country. There is a need to develop a medical waste policy to assist in the management of such waste.

Lessons Learned from National Food Fortification Projects: Experiences from Morocco, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (4_suppl3) ◽  
pp. S281-S292 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Wirth ◽  
Arnaud Laillou ◽  
Fabian Rohner ◽  
Christine A. Northrop-Clewes ◽  
Barbara Macdonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Policy ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Global Alliance ◽  
Market Structures ◽  
History Of ◽  
Data Source

Background Fortification of staple foods has been repeatedly recommended as an effective approach to reduce micronutrient deficiencies. With the increased number of fortification projects globally, there is a need to share practical lessons learned relating to their implementation and responses to project-related and external challenges. Objective To document the achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and management responses associated with national fortification projects in Morocco, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Methods Independent end-of-project evaluations conducted for each project served as the primary data source and contain the history of, and project activities undertaken for, each fortification project. Other sources, including national policy documents, project reports from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and other stakeholders, industry assessments, and peer-reviewed articles, were used to document the current responses to challenges and future project plans. Results All projects had key achievements related to the development of fortification standards and the procurement of equipment for participating industry partners. Mandatory fortification of wheat flour was a key success in Morocco and Uzbekistan. Ensuring the quality of fortified foods was a common challenge experienced across the projects, as were shifts in consumption patterns and market structures. Adjustments were made to the projects' design to address the challenges faced. Conclusions National fortification projects are dynamic and must be continually modified in response to specific performance issues and broader shifts in market structure and consumption patterns.

Justice versus Social Justice in South Africa: Quo vadis?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marelize Isabel Schoeman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Underlying Basis ◽  
Quo Vadis

This article explores the concept of criminal justice as a formal process in which parties are judged and often adjudged from the paradigmatic perspective of legal guilt versus legal innocence. While this function of a criminal-justice system is important – and indeed necessary – in any ordered society, a society in transition such as South Africa must question the underlying basis of justice. This self-reflection must include an overview questioning whether the criminal-justice system and its rules are serving the community as originally intended or have become a self-serving function of state in which the final pursuit is outcome-driven as opposed to process-driven. The process of reflection must invariably find its genesis in the question: ‘What is justice?’ While this rhetorical phraseology has become trite through overuse, the author submits that the question remains of prime importance when considered contemporarily but viewed through the lens of historical discourse in African philosophy. In essence, the question remains unanswered. Momentum is added to this debate by the recent movement towards a more human rights and restorative approach to justice as well as the increased recognition of traditional legal approaches to criminal justice. This discussion is wide and in order to delimit its scope the author relies on a Socratically influenced method of knowledge-mining to determine the philosophical principles underpinning the justice versus social justice discourse. It is proposed that lessons learned from African philosophies about justice and social justice can be integrated into modern-day justice systems and contribute to an ordered yet socially oriented approach to justice itself.

scholarly journals Quality Assurance in Ghana: Accomplishments and Challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Patrick Swanzy ◽  
Patricio V. Langa ◽  
Francis Ansah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Education System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Higher Education System

This article examines Ghana’s efforts to revitalize its higher education system using quality assurance (QA). Specifically, we discuss the accomplishments and challenges of the QA system. Ghana has one of the oldest QA systems in Africa, so lessons learned there are worth sharing with scholars and practitioners.

scholarly journals Quality improvement in higher education: a critical review, with reference to South Africa

2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 104-113
Author(s):  
R. W. Pretorius
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
And Control ◽  
Measurement And Control ◽  
New System

In view of the controversy which characterises systems for quality assurance in higher education worldwide, this article provides a critical review of the theory and practice of quality in the higher education sector.  The state of affairs in South Africa is also reviewed, with the focus on the new system for quality assurance which is currently being implemented.  Despite good intentions, however, the new system in South Africa tends to be over-burocratic, with limited potential for deepseated change and quality improvement as a result of the focus on accountability rather than on continuous improvement. Real improvement is an internally driven process, which cannot be achieved through burocratic measurement and control.  In line with what has been experienced internationally, this article argues that a more flexible approach to the meaning of quality in the context of higher educaction is required in South Africa.  Apart from defining and assuring quality, this approach should also be directed at its improvement.  However, the point of departure has to be quality improvement, and not quality assurance and control.

scholarly journals The continuous market cycle of the short term insurance industry

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Liezel Essel ◽  
Frederik J. Mostert ◽  
Jan Hendrik Mostert
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Term Insurance ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
The Impact

The short-term insurance industry is a cyclical type of business due to the impact of the continuous market cycle. This cycle has a growth phase, soft market phase, hard market phase and a break-even phase. The objective of the research paper focuses on the improvement of financial decision-making when executives of the short-term insurance industry are managing their business during the various phases of the continuous market cycle. Both a literature study and an empirical survey were necessary to achieve the research objective. The empirical survey included the contributions of the top nine commercial and corporate short-term insurers in South Africa. They represented more than 77% of the total gross written premiums in 2009 and can thus be considered as the leaders of the short-term insurance industry in this country. The conclusions of the study should be valuable to other developing countries with emerging market economies as South Africa is also classified as such. The study focused on the various factors which may cause the continuous market cycle, the problem areas which the executives experience concerning the continuous market cycle, and how often various factors are adjusted by the short-term insurers to account for changes in the continuous market cycle.

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