Coloniality or Cultural Pedagogy? The Hegemony of African Children-Youths in Social Development

ABSTRACT Decoloniality was adopted as a framework to unravel the societal and/or self-inflicted coloniality in a child’s development. This study is lensed under the Transformative Paradigm (TP), designed using Participatory Research (PR). Five lecturers and five teachers, who are also parents in a rural location in South Africa, were selected using the snowballing selection method. The participants were interviewed to share their experiences on the danger of culture and its effects on youths/students’ development. Socio-thematic Analysis (StA) was used to analyse the data. The findings showed that cultural history, elders’ self-righteousness, and stereotyping children as rebels are the challenges facing children’s social development. At the same time, the reorientation of students, parents and educators, restructuring teaching and learning strategies are the dimension of the liberation of children’s social development. This study recommends that teachers, parents, children and community elders be re-orientated while teachers/lecturers should restructure their teaching and learning process to accommodate children’s participatory skills in schools.

Subsistence Agriculture as the Basis of Rural Livelihoods in Msinga Local Municipality, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

ABSTRACT Subsistence agriculture is recognised as a livelihood contributing to food security for households in rural communities. The sustainable livelihood approach is employed in this study, based on its strength and optimistic orientation to grant rural people an opportunity to improve their environment, economic standing, and social development. Data were collected from 180 households using a questionnaire analysed with the SPSS software. The subsistence agriculture sector still lacks adequate governmental support for effective operations to enhance rural livelihoods. Assisting subsistence farmers should improve productivity. The study recommends that the local municipalities should establish a marketplace that would be used as a sales point for community members and local emerging farmers to ensure an effective distribution of agricultural products. This would play a significant role in solidifying the return of the rural economy by increasing farm productivity and complimenting market opportunities.

An Analysis of the Profile of Deliberate Self-Harm Cases in South Africa

ABSTRACT Deliberate self-harm (DSH) which includes self-poisoning or self-injurious behavior regardless of intent is a global public health concern. Little is known about the profile of patients admitted following DSH at Dr George Mukhari Tertiary Hospital (DGMTH) in the north region of Gauteng, South Africa. This study aimed to determine the profile of patients and reasons for DSH. In a retrospective chart review study, data was collected on all the patients referred to the Clinical Psychology Unit at DGMTH between January 2018 and January 2019 following DSH. The results showed that the cases of DSH were mostly young, single African females, unemployed with at least a secondarylevel education. Females chose less lethal methods such as poisoning, specifically non-prescriptive drug overdose, while males chose highly lethal methods such as hanging. For females, relationship and family problems remained the main reason for DSH, while males reported financial problems.

The Deaf or Hard of Hearing Population’s Attitude and Information Seeking Behaviour Towards COVID-19 in South Africa

ABSTRACT This study presents an exposé of the information seeking behaviours and patterns and attitudes regarding COVID-19 among a sample of 206 people from the deaf/hard of hearing population (males, n = 119; females, n = 87) in three South African provinces. The researchers designed a Google Form, which was used for the data collection, which took place over seven weeks. The data generated were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The average age of the respondents was ±52.5 years, and the findings revealed that the respondents were most curious about preventive measures against COVID-19, possible vaccines and travel advisories. They explored information provided on the Internet, social networking sites and television for COVID-19 related information. The sources of the COVID-19 related information and the type of the COVID-19 related information sought determined the attitudes of the South African deaf/hard of hearing towards this virus. Recommendations were made based on the findings.

India in Twenty First Century: Human Wildlife Conflicts Still Unsolved

ABSTRACT Although India has succeeded in creation of 868 Protected Areas (PA) covering its 5.02 percent of the total geographical area; it comes with a social cost. With high population pressure and livelihood based on nature and natural resources, India is yet to find a pragmatic win-win solution for solving the problem of Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) in the twenty-first century. In the present paper, the authors discuss the nature of HWCs occurring in the country and major challenges in mitigation measures by analyzing the research trend, available literature sources, reports and with a special focus on two case studies from India, that is, Manas landscape and Indian Sundarbans based on field observations. The paper identifies there is a severe requirement of proper and authentic databases and standard methodology to evaluate the ‘ecosystem (dis)-services’ in the academic discourse. The authors also highlight their reservations about the effectiveness of ‘compensation’ as a mitigation measure

The Human Ecology: An Inverted Asswattha Plant (Ficus religiosa), A Symbolic Presentation by Sri Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita–An Analytical Review

ABSTRACT SriKrishna has presented human ecology (Manusya Loka) as an imperishable banyan tree in Bhagavad Gita that has its roots upward and branches down. The leaves of the plant are the Vedic hymns (human knowledge) and the twigs and buds are the objects of senses. The tree has also roots growing down (towards the branches), which are bound to the fruitive actions of human society. The plant is nourished by the three modes (Gunas) of material nature. The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand its foundation, beginning and end. The workculture of detachment is the weapon to cut down this strongly rooted tree, to make oneself free from the cycle of birth and death.

Challenges Faced By Strategic Partners in Driving Extension Programme: Lessons Learnt From Madzivhandila Agricultural College of Limpopo Province, South Africa

ABSTRACT The section on strategic partners and extension and partnerships at Madzivhandila College of Agriculture aims to identify key areas that require college intervention and to offer appropriate joint intervention strategies by strategic partners and extension and partnerships in the college. The purpose of the study is to clarify the roles of strategic partners and the extension and partnerships section at Madzivhandila College of agriculture. In this study, the authors have adopted a textual analysis to establish the roles of strategic partnerships. It is out of these roles that a broader recommendation, which could be followed by further research to determine their authenticity could be conducted. The authors discussed how stakeholder analysis was conducted, stakeholder selection, relevant partners, terms of references, and challenges faced by strategic partnerships. The findings in this study revealed that there are more than five strategic partners Madzivhandila Agricultural College entered into with; Westfalia, South African Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA), UNIVEG KATOPE, Citrus Growers Association (CGA), Citrus Research International (CRI), Pioneer Hi-Bred RSA (Pty) Ltd, Department of Correctional Services, Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB). PANNAR seed, Makhado Specialised oil Extract enterprise, Ross Breeders Association, Hygro-tech, and SAGA. The study concludes by suggesting a workable solution as a recommendation between the strategic partners and the college.

Challenges of Virtual Instruction during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Accounting Classrooms

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to explore challenges of Virtual Instruction during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Accounting Classrooms. A qualitative research approach and a case study design was used. 10 Accounting teachers were purposively selected. Thematic data analysis was used. The study shows challenges of virtual classroom like lack of teacher readiness, and ready infrastructure to support the virtual learning. The study concludes that rural schools and those that are in semi-urban areas needs to be priorities when technology resources are distributed. Teachers who are in rural and semi-urban areas needs to be up-skilled with technological skills. The study recommends that Network companies should partner with education sector in order to supply data, connectivity, and accessibility by zero- rising then to support virtual classroom learning. After the COVID-19 all teachers should be encouraged to attend various forms of online workshops in order to improve their understanding of online teaching.

Socioeconomic Status of Tea Garden Workers in Theni District of Tamil Nadu

ABSTRACT The study’s major goal is to determine the demographic profile and socioeconomic position of tea garden workers. The researcher used a descriptive survey method as well as stratified random sampling. One hundred and twenty tea garden workers were included as a sample for the study. The research technique for data collecting is a structured questionnaire. According to the research, forty-one percent of female workers and twenty-one percent of male workers are illiterate. The study also discovered that thirty-two percent and fifty-three percent of tea garden families cook with kerosene and firewood, respectively. According to the report, twelve percent of respondents do not have a savings bank account with any bank. According to the report, the government of India’s Adult Literacy Program, continuing education, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana initiatives may benefit all tea garden employees.

Adaptation of Crop Diversification to Climatic Risks and Agro-ecological Zone: Case of Under-resourced Farmers in Eastern Cape, South Africa

ABSTRACT Crop diversification can reduce the extent of losses from climate change and climate risks. This paper explains the state of crop diversification in the study area and identify significant exploitable benefits from the practise. The study employed survey data from farmers in major agro-ecological zones of the Eastern Cape Province, namely Grassland, Savannah and Karoo. Data on crop enterprises, input and output variables were processed in monetary terms and subjected to gross margin analysis. A correlation analysis was applied to examine the sensitivity of farm inputs, outputs and profitability/loss to different crop mixes and agro-climatic variation. Study findings revealed that crop-based enterprise combinations of farmers vary across agro-ecological zones. Farmers choose crops that reduces the risk of emerging climate related losses, input costs and increase output and/or revenue. The study recommends experimental research that details yield benefits and losses in responses to both biotic, abiotic factors and specific crop combinations.