|
|
|
Sort Order |
|
|
|
Items / Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Srl | Item |
| 1 |
ID:
142515
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
This paper examines affirmative action in Malaysia and South Africa, two regimes that favor majorities. Malaysia’s highly centralized and discretionary programme is in contrasts with South Africa’s more democratized, decentralized and statutory structure. With regard to affirmative action outcomes, both countries have made quantitative gains in increasing representation of Bumiputeras in Malaysia and blacks in South Africa, in tertiary education and high-level occupations. However, there is also evidence to suggest continuing, primarily qualitative, shortfalls, in terms of graduate capability, dependence on public sector employment, and persistent difficulty in cultivating private enterprise. The results reported here emphasize the importance of implementing affirmative action effectively in education, while exercising restraint in employment and enterprise development.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
ID:
142513
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
One of the major debates in South African higher education is whether or not certain universities have lowered their academic standards by admitting academically underprepared students. However, these debates reflect the official voice of higher education institutions and there is little analytical work on students’ perceptions and experiences of their academic progress, particularly those of low-income students. Taking a cue from Merleau-Ponty on the salience of perceptions in his phenomenology of perception, this study analyses students’ perceptions and the quality of the undergraduate experience in one faculty at a South African university using the institution’s Student Profile Questionnaire Survey dataset and linking this to their academic progress from 2008 to 2013. The analysis points to the deleterious effects of race and class on the academic progress of low-income students. The study employs the capability approach, which is premised on enabling wellbeing, social justice and the development of a conducive environment for human prosperity, and ascertaining the capabilities and constraints of individual students in relation to their academic progress at university.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 3 |
ID:
142514
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Many scholars agree that there is no clear consensus regarding what “urban sprawl” is or what causes it. The term “sprawl” can be used or defined a number of ways for many situations. When its definition is ambiguous, it is impossible to determine its causes or consequences, including the effects of any policies designed to contain it. In this paper, first, we provide a conceptual definition of urban sprawl based on different dimensions such as density, concentration, proximity to services, automobile dependency, and extent of vegetation cover being paddy, eco-sensitive, or with decreased plantation areas. Such a definition provides a basis for understanding urban sprawl, its nature and its characteristics being location and context specific. Second, an “extended urban area” is demarcated as the geographical base for the study of the urban sprawl. Each dimension is defined and tested in 25 urbanized and suburbanized areas in the Colombo Metropolitan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4 |
ID:
142508
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
This article explores the role that political ideology played in shaping the outcome of the 2012 presidential election in South Korea. It conceptualizes political ideology as two-dimensional and utilizes cluster analysis to identify distinct ideological groups. By analyzing two sets of survey data collected in 2012, it discovers four ideological groups. A striking result uncovered by the cluster analysis is the change in party identification and voting in favor of the conservative party made by one group in particular—a change that proved to be the competitive edge the conservative party candidate needed to win the fiercely competitive two-way election. In other words, this group served as the fluid middle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 5 |
ID:
142511
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Drawing upon recent data, this paper explores the relationship between women’s involvement in Self-Help Group (SHG) based microfinance programmes and their empowerment. The composite empowerment indicator shows that only 13.2% of women associated with microfinance are empowered. The paper finds that though the length of membership in SHGs increases the intensity of women’s economic and political empowerment, it does not show a significant relationship with their social empowerment. It is also observed that ‘economic empowerment’ does not necessarily lead to the attainment of social and/or political empowerment. The paper argues that although SHG-led microfinance programmes have the potential to empower women in some aspects, their capacity in ushering social transformation is limited.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 6 |
ID:
142510
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Botswana, an African country, is characterized by linguistic and religious diversity. To this end, the paper assesses the extent to which the school curriculum accommodates and reflects the country’s linguistic and religious diversity. The paper argues that whilst Botswana’s Vision 2016 calls on the education system to accommodate linguistic diversity, the curriculum does not do so. Through the pursuit of a linguistic assimilation policy, the education system promotes and recognizes only one local language (Setswana), leaving other local languages out of the curriculum. In contrast, the curriculum houses a multi-faith religious education. This brand of religious education is an attempt to accommodate the religious diversity that exists in Botswana. Previously, schools had a mono-faith religious education syllabus. The multi-faith syllabus is considered to be a meaningful way of enabling learners to appreciate religious diversity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 7 |
ID:
142512
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
The 21st century witnessed a wave of uprisings code-named the Arab Spring that resulted in the fall of Ben Ali, Gaddafi, and Mubarak. Indeed, the ‘mother’ of the Arab Spring was in Syria where efforts to oust Assad claimed an enormous but predictable toll on human lives and immeasurable infrastructural obliteration. The United States and Russia gathered considerable allies behind them to fight for regional dominance in a Cold War style. This article argues that, in spite of pitting superpowers, the Syrian conflict deeply divided the Arab World with no solution in sight. The article further notes that, while serious damage was done to the country, peace-making in Syria needed a compromise to be struck by Moscow and Washington, considering their active role in the conflict. The conflict further deepened sectarian violence in the region as the conflict spread to Syria’s neighbors, such as Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 8 |
ID:
142509
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary/Abstract |
The aim of this paper is to determine and compare the risk factors of maternal mortality before and after childbirth in Burkina Faso. Analyses are performed at both bivariate and multivariate level using conditional logistic regression. An Emergency Obstetric Care (EMOC) survey of Burkina Faso for 2010 provided the data utilized for the analyses. The diagnosis of health professionals indicated that abortion with 36.3% is the main direct cause of prenatal maternal deaths while haemorrhage with 41.6% is the main direct cause of maternal mortality after delivery. In addition, 29.4% of post-natal maternal deaths were due to infection while only 23.5% of prenatal maternal deaths were due to the same cause.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|