The Namibia Demographic Survey in 2013 revealed that about one out of five teenagers aged 15 to 19 were either pregnant or had given birth. The United Nations report for the same year believes that about 127 girls get pregnant every day in Namibia. The aim of this article was to find out the impact of teenage pregnancy on academic performance of Grade 7 learners at a school in the Zambezi Region. A qualitative research method was used in this article and two teachers and 4 pregnant learners were interviewed. The findings for this study revealed the reasons why these teenagers get pregnant as follows: lack of parental care and control, lack of some material needs, poor peer guidance, lack of sex education, and the influence of alcohol and drug abuse. The impact of teenage pregnancy on academic performance included poor academic performance after the pregnancy, increase dropout because of pregnancy related issues and negative feeling on schooling.
Understanding the role school leadership plays in rebuilding schools as professional learning communities is a crucial step forward in tackling the numerous challenges of conflict and post-conflict school reconstruction. The purpose of this article is to find out the role school leadership plays in a conflict and post-conflict environment school reconstruction as a professional learning community. Qualitative research method was used and the data were collected using interviews. The major findings included a shared supportive leadership that worked collaboratively with other stakeholders to overcome its challenges, provided the needed supportive conditions and reforms and overcame its psychological challenges. This article challenges schools and all those involved in education in conflict and post-conflict societies to rethink their school improvement strategies.
Even though South African policy makers and implementers have done a lot to improve education especially in rural areas and townships, much more thinking and policy direction still need to be done to improve education in these areas. The purpose of this article is to compare the perception of teachers and principals of their schools as professional learning communities in three educational areas in the North West Province of South Africa. A quantitative research method was used and questionnaires were used to collect data from schools in these three areas. 1251 teachers and principals were involved in this research. The major findings were: there were no major differences between the three areas in teachers' and principals' perception of their schools as PLCs, but there were major differences between schools in urban centers, townships and rural areas. This study has reiterated the fact that the South African government needs to rethink how to readdress education and social needs in rural and township schools, as the current policies have not completely addressed the disparities between schools in rural areas, townships and urban centers.
Collaborative leadership in skills development is fundamental for the success of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and state education institutions like Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs) in promoting sustainable livelihoods and social wellbeing in communities. The purpose of this research was to find out how Nongovernmental Organizations and state education leaders collaborate in building skills, what challenges hamper collaboration and what should be done to improve collaboration. The qualitative research approach was used in this study and nine participants from five organizations were purposely selected and interviewed. The major findings indicated the existence of inadequate collaborative practices between NGOs and educational leaders, exacerbated by recurrent major challenges like disunity or fragmentation amongst NGOs, over dependence on external funding and weak capacity which hampered their sustainability as partners as well as skills developers. This study has not only re-emphasised the need for effective collaborative leadership between NGOs and educational leaders in South Africa, it has also provided suggestions to their numerous challenges.
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