scholarly journals Case Study Of Postgraduate Student Dropout Rate At South African Universities

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Anton Styger ◽  
Gary Van Vuuren ◽  
Andre Heymans
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Dropout Rate ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Student Dropout ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Postgraduate Studies ◽  
Postgraduate Qualification

Public funding for higher education in South Africa is a significant investment. Large amounts of funds are invested in students and there is a national shortage of high quality students in scarce skills - in particular, students with a postgraduate qualification. Students tend to take longer to complete their studies which contributes to the workload of academic staff. Dropouts are affecting the deliverance of these students in a negative way and priceless research from these students is never delivered and published. Not only are fewer students and research being delivered, but large amounts of funding and human capital are wasted on educating students who will never complete their studies. Postgraduate studies have a potential greater loss, and a beta distribution on the dropout can predict the expected and unexpected loss for these students. The latter is an area for concern and needs to be assessed and addressed as soon as possible.

Impact of Postgraduate Students Dropout and Delay in University: Analysis Using Machine Learning Algorithms

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1821-1826
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Decision Tree ◽  
Prediction Model ◽  
Learning Algorithms ◽  
Dropout Rate ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Accuracy Class ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Student Dropout ◽  
Postgraduate Studies

Cost of education and economic background are some factors that influence student dropout from postgraduate studies. However, high dropouts do not affect the students only, but also impact university revenue. This research analyzes various literature on machine learning algorithms and applies suitable algorithm to produce a prediction model. This study indicates that decision tree and Random Forest algorithms have better accuracy, class recall, and class precision than Naïve Bayes. Therefore, the prediction model uses the Decision Tree algorithm to provide various approaches to maximize revenue in universities. The findings indicate high dropout rates negatively impact university revenue, while low rates influence revenue positively. Other aspects like grants received by students, the number of research publications, anddegree level also positively or negatively impact revenue if the dropout rate is medium. A complete understanding of this prediction model can identify and minimize the risk of early withdrawal or delayed graduation and improve revenue generation by universities.

Deconstructing quality in South African higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kehdinga George Fomunyam
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
South African Higher Education

Purpose This study aims to examine six South African universities with a particular focus on the quality of teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study approach was adopted and data were mainly generated by means of open-ended questionnaires. The questionnaire was circulated to approximately 1,800 students and 746 completed it. The data were categorized and analysed thematically, using both national and international benchmarks for quality teaching and learning. Findings The findings reveal that teaching and learning in South African universities is marred by a plethora of challenges. Lecturers lack basic skills and essential resources to effectively facilitate teaching and learning. Furthermore, quality benchmarks set by the Council on Higher Education are only met on paper and little or nothing is done to translate this into practice. Originality/value The study proposes among others that clearer policies on funding are recommended to ensure proper allocation of resources, staff development and institutional comeliness. Finally, to enhance transformation, universities should prioritize teaching and learning and take steps to ensure that those teaching in the classroom are qualified to do so.

scholarly journals Critical analysis of leadership governance and its implications in the universities: a case study of South African universities

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-165
Author(s):  
Lulu Fortunate Jali ◽  
Lawrence Mpele Lekhanya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Survey Monkey ◽  
Operational Issues ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on exploring the leadership governance in universities. The leadership governance creates an environment which is transparent and it incorporates stakeholders that transform the university. The leadership governance faces visible and invisible challenges which calls for experts in different areas of leadership to be incorporated into the structures of the university in order to bring sustainability in the university. The primary data was collected from six traditional universities and three universities of technology in South Africa from the sample of 39 members of senate. The nature of the study is a quantitative study in which Survey Monkey was used for the distribution of questionnaires. The findings of the study indicate that there is a lack of involvement of stakeholders in the processes of reviewing policies and operational issues. The other findings was the use of university members in leadership to promote unity.

scholarly journals Status of Astronomy at Mbarara University of Science and Technology

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S260) ◽  
pp. 674-678
Author(s):  
Simon Anguma ◽  
Edward Jurua
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Space Science ◽  
Major Subject ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Postgraduate Studies

AbstractIn this paper, we describe the role astronomy has played in interesting students towards taking physics as a major subject during their final year in Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). This has resulted into some former students from MUST taking up postgraduate studies in Astrophysics and Space Science in South African Universities. The plans to strengthen and develop Astronomy in Uganda are also discussed, and in particular, the strategies for organizing the IYA2009 are outlined.

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