In rural secondary schools in Zimbabwe, there has been an increase in the number of learners involved in drug and substance abuse. In response, numerous measures among them guidance and counselling have been put in place to mitigate learners against abusing drugs and substances. It is in this context that this study sought to gain insight into the effectiveness of peer counselling strategy as a homegrown remedy to the reduction of drug and substance abuse by rural secondary school learners. It is in this context that the data generation was guided by the qualitative approach. Twenty rural secondary school learners and six stakeholders from different sectors communities who are involved in guidance and counselling initiatives were purposively sampled. Data generated through document analysis and in-depth interviews were analysed according to emerging themes. Findings revealed that in some cases both rural female and male learners are involved in drug and substance abuse as in their interactions they influence each other. Consequently, drug and substance abuse in these rural secondary schools cannot be regarded as a ‘boys’ hazard. Therefore, this called for the need to empower learners in these rural schools through the engagement of all stakeholders in the formulation of the peer counselling strategy. It is against this background that it can be concluded that to a larger extent peer counselling can be an effective strategy in alleviating drug and substance abuse amongst learners in Zimbabwean rural secondary schools. Therefore the following recommendation was made: in rural secondary schools coaching of all stakeholders on the implementation of peer counselling as an instrument to ease off learners' engagement in anti-social conducts should be strengthened.
Zimbabwe is one of the developing countries striving to reach a middle economy status by year 2030. In its bid to achieve this vision, it has adopted an electronic government strategy (e-government strategy) where government business is done electronically. An e-government strategy is a plan for e-government systems and their supporting infrastructure, which maximises the ability of government to achieve its objective of Vision 2030. An e-government strategy must give direction where the government is going, its goals, vision, mission, and some implementation guidelines. In order to reach this objective, the government has to become more accountable and transparent on its journey to Vision 2030, and one of its key drivers is proper records and archives management. Properly managed electronic government records bring about accountability, transparency, and good governance.
This study investigated the challenges and prospects of creating and storing records in the cloud by Zimbabwe Open University in Zimbabwe. Like other universities in Zimbabwe, the university adopted Education 5.0 advocated by the government in 2019. Consequently, the university came up with innovation hubs and industrial parks that became centres for records creation. Keeping all records in the computer without appropriate backups and servers has consequences such as losing vital records. Organisations around the world use cloud computing increasingly to address records storage and disposal. Adoption of cloud computing services carries with it cost implications, and legal and ownership challenges as the virtualised environments are hosted and managed by third parties. The objective of this study was to examine the management, operational, legal and technical issues surrounding the storage of records in the cloud, and the implications for their trustworthiness and authenticity. The study adopted a qualitative research design and drew data from interviews with key participants. Qualitative data were organised into broad themes and the content reported in narrative form. The study found that Zimbabwe Open University is not using cloud computing services effectively and is in the trial phase of cloud computing. It further found that there was a lack of collaboration between the information and communication technology and the records management units as the university decided to move to the cloud on a full-scale basis. The study recommends that the university should first address the management, operational, legal and technical issues surrounding the storage of records in the cloud before implementing the complete use of the cloud. The study deepens the understanding of cloud computing in the management of records at the university, and other state universities in Zimbabwe can use this study to deal with the management of records in the cloud.
This study investigated the challenges and prospects of creating and storing records in the cloud by Zimbabwe Open University in Zimbabwe. Like other universities in Zimbabwe, the university adopted Education 5.0 advocated by the government in 2019. Consequently, the university came up with innovation hubs and industrial parks that became centres for records creation. Keeping all records in the computer without appropriate backups and servers has consequences such as losing vital records. Organisations around the world use cloud computing increasingly to address records storage and disposal. Adoption of cloud computing services carries with it cost implications, and legal and ownership challenges as the virtualised environments are hosted and managed by third parties. The objective of this study was to examine the management, operational, legal and technical issues surrounding the storage of records in the cloud, and the implications for their trustworthiness and authenticity. The study adopted a qualitative research design and drew data from interviews with key participants. Qualitative data were organised into broad themes and the content reported in narrative form. The study found that Zimbabwe Open University is not using cloud computing services effectively and is in the trial phase of cloud computing. It further found that there was a lack of collaboration between the information and communication technology and the records management units as the university decided to move to the cloud on a full-scale basis. The study recommends that the university should first address the management, operational, legal and technical issues surrounding the storage of records in the cloud before implementing the complete use of the cloud. The study deepens the understanding of cloud computing in the management of records at the university, and other state universities in Zimbabwe can use this study to deal with the management of records in the cloud.
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