OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open access peer-reviewed journal
Reorienting teacher education towards social inclusion for sustainable development
Nceba Nyembezi
Division of Academic Affairs and Research Directorate of Research Development,
Walter Sisulu University, Private Bag X1421, East London, 5200, South Africa.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 11-18, 2014.
Abstract: In recent decades, the issue of exclusion has gained prominence in the discourses of social policy, education and social structures and relationships. Essentially, exclusion is a concept that captures a way of positioning oneself with regard to the surrounding social and natural environment, an approach to viewing the world and acting within it. These ways of being in the world, which are grounded in our life experiences and can be either exclusion – or inclusion-oriented, notably either essentially sustainable or unsustainable, are an important issue of concern. Alienation and disconnection in mutual relationships between individuals and the surrounding social and natural environment can have destructive consequences, which is why we need to recognise that individuals are mutually interrelated in a plurality of relationships with human and non-human others. Thus, to survive and retain the Earth as a favourable habitat for future generations, we must basically alter our relationship with the world to make it more inclusive and sustainable. It requires a shift in the way we perceive the world and ourselves within it, which entails significant implications for education at all levels and teacher education in particular. In 2001, the South African department of Education adopted the White Paper 6, which led to the implementation of inclusive education. This breakthrough was meant to be stepping stone to ensuring the accommodation of various learners experiencing barriers to learning in ordinary schools. This article deals with the needs of learners experiencing barriers to learning and their immediate support from ordinary teachers, who form the backbone of support within the inclusive classroom. However, the teachers themselves are in dire need of support. Teachers, on the other hand, experience various demands due to the crowded curriculum. In most schools there are no dedicated staff employed to provide support and counselling to learners and teachers. It was therefore important to ask a question whether the teachers were able to deal with learners experiencing barriers to learning. The objective of this paper was to clarify the range of special needs to be included in ordinary classes, and to focus on the challenges and demands this situation places on teachers. The findings of this study also point to some severe deficits by teachers to handle issues of sexuality and HIV and AIDS, either due to lack of knowledge, pressure at work, or negative attitude about discussing them with learners. This calls for either proper pre-service training or in-service training of teachers towards HIV and AIDS support.
Keywords: HIV and AIDS; inclusive education; special needs; support
Occupational Details Of Collectors Of Post-Consumer Clothing Waste In Mumbai
Suman D. Mundkur a , Ela M. Dedhia b
a Department of Textiles and Apparel Designing, SVT College of Home Science (Autonomous),
S.N.D.T Women’s University, Juhu Road, Mumbai-400049, India.
b College of Home Science, Nirmala Niketan, (Affiliated to Mumbai University), 49, New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400020, India.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 19-32, 2014.
Abstract: Consumers are discarding their clothes much before they are fit to be thrown away. This may be due to the fast changing fashion, increased spending capacity and growth of the retail industry. Disposal of clothes is not given much thought. One of the options is to exchange them for a value. Unique in India is a mobile door-to-door collection service of used clothes discarded by households. This is done by men and women known as bhandivale in Mumbai, India. Their livelihood depends on the bartering skill in exchange for stainless steel utensils and plastic ware. They specialize in collecting, sorting and selling clothes in the second-hand market. Unlike rag-pickers, studies on bhandivale who make a living exclusively by collection and redistribution of clothes in Mumbai are limited. This is part of a larger study on these collectors of post-consumer clothing waste in Mumbai. The objective of this study was to understand the present working conditions and identifying the changes in their work environment. A Descriptive Research Design was selected. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. The research Design made use of survey non-participant observation, case study, oral history and narrations to elicit the data. A semi-structured Interview schedule and observation schedule were used as tools to gather primary data. The process of collecting clothes from various residential locations between Bandra and Borivali in Western Suburbs, Thane in the Eastern Suburbs and Sion and Central Mumbai and selling old clothes at the second-hand goods market, Chor Bazaar near Mumbai was observed during the field visits in the business hours. The samples were drawn through non-probability convenience sampling design using snowball technique. Work of the bhandivale business involves a number of activities. Understanding the nature of work itself, the number of hours per day devoted to the profession, the various activities involved and the time taken for rest and breaks. This paper also deals with the pattern of exchange, the mode of transport and the competition faced. The increase in the high-rise residential tower apartments has to some extent changed the method of collection of clothes from the residents. The security personnel of these indirectly help in facilitating transactions for the bhandivale. There is flexibility in the pattern of exchange thus requiring a regular cash flow that is generated through sale of second-hand clothes. Direct selling of the clothes in the second-hand market gives a higher rate of return than selling the clothes through agents called Chindhivale. Some bhandivale have taken up alternate occupation alongside with the family business; has given them a better living. They have not given up on their traditional occupation. The bhandivale themselves do not realize that they are important stake-holders in the recycling industry. As important contributors to the environment, they mobilize solid waste in terms of surplus clothes generated from Mumbai households.
Keywords: Clothing waste; Collection; Second-hand clothes; Occupational details, working conditions.
Localising the Fight Against Illicit Drug Use in South Africa: A Social Development Policy Masterstroke?
Fay Hodza
Department of Sociology, Monash University (South Africa Campus), Roodepoort, South Africa.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 33-44, 2014.
Abstract: South Africa adopted a new National Drug Master Plan (NDMP) in 2012. The plan covers the period 2013 to 2017 and is being implemented in communities by the Department of Social Development. The Plan provides the operational framework for all drug intervention programmes in the country. One of the most celebrated elements of the NDMP is its emphasis on the localisation of the fight against illicit drug use. Localisation refers to the process of empowering local organisations, neighbourhoods, communities and individuals to be key actors in creating and implementing strategies for combating drug abuse. To operationalise this concept, the NDMP provides for each community to have a Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC) that is mandated to develop and coordinate all illicit drug abuse programs and activities in every community. While localisation has been celebrated as a social development policy masterstroke by pro-government actors such as the African National Congress (ANC), its critics view it as inadequate due to its failure to address the structural dimensions of drug abuse in the country. This paper examines whether or not localisation is indeed a social development policy masterstroke by interrogating the promises, successes and challenges of Local Drug Action Committees (LDACs) as strategic development structures in the fight against drug abuse in the West Rand region of Johannesburg. In this paper, I argue that whilst LDACs offer a wide window of hope for reducing drug abuse problems in depressed communities, a myriad of challenges needs to be overcome for them to yield the expected results. These challenges include lack of funding, diverging interests, infiltration by outright criminals, locally entrenched “cannibalistic capitalist activities,” and police corruption. These challenges are so entrenched in the communities to an extent that it becomes almost impossible for LDACs to effectively fulfil their mandate. Hence, this paper shows that localisation alone does not guarantee positive results unless if it is accompanied by equally robust community based training in selfless and value based leadership and community volunteerism. There is also a need for government to mobilise resources to support LDACs so that they can become self-supporting in the future. The observations and conclusions made in this paper are based on an ongoing qualitative research study that commenced in June 2014. I have been conducting secondary data reviews, in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with various stakeholders involved in the fight against illicit drug use in the West Rand region in order to understand how the localization of the responses to the drug abuse scourge has been implemented and with what results. Grounded theory analysis was employed in order to make sense of the data and generate answers to the central question under discussion, that is, does the National Drug Master Plan’s focus on localization represent a social development policy masterstroke?
Keywords: Drug abuse, local drug action committee, localisation, national drug master plan, social development policy.
International Legal Responses on People Smuggling
Ahmad Almaududy Amri
Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS),
University of Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 45-52, 2014.
Abstract: People smuggling is a threat to maritime security. Indeed, this issue has become one of the main concerns of the international community, as people smuggling not only affects countries of origin and destination, but also transit states. According to the British Home Office, around 30 million people are smuggled every year all over the world. Moreover, a vast amount of money is received by people smugglers in return for their services. The perilous nature of people smuggling operations means that people’s lives are often threatened, thus making people smuggling one of the main threats to maritime security in the region. Therefore, the issue is worthy of particular attention, and further measures should be implemented in order to solve the problem.
Keywords: legal response, human smuggling, migrants, maritime security
Greening of Human Rights: A Reassessment
Christiena Maria Van der Bank a, Marjoné Van der Bank b
Department of Human Sciences, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa.
Department of Legal Sciences, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 53-60, 2014.
Abstract: The National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 is important legislation, providing remedies for preventing or redressing acts that undermine the constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful for peoples’ health and well-being. It also promotes access to information and public participation in developments that affect the environment. In this process of evolution, environmental law has unleashed a number of novel principles such as: the participatory principle, the polluter pays principle, the precautionary principle, the inter-generational and intra-generational principles, the prevention principle, the sustainable development principle and so on.
Keywords : Environment; Green; Human Rights; Protection and Resources.
The Illusion of Democratic Participation in Nigerian Local Government 1999-2011
Onovwakponoko Lucky Ovwasa
Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Federal University Lokoja,
Kogi State, Nigeria.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 61-72, 2014.
Abstract: This paper examines what appears to be a deliberate isolation of the Nigerian Local Government institution from democratic participation and consolidation by state governments. This is because elections in a democratic setting obviously provide the opportunity for citizens to participate in the political process of choosing their representatives at all levels of government. The analysis reveals that since the recommencement of democratic government in Nigeria on May 29th, 1999 elections have not been held in most of the 774 local governments in the country whereas elections are being held as when due at the Federal and state levels. The methodology adopted in this work is both descriptive and analytical including content analysis. The non-elections at the local government levels violate the 1999 constitutional provisions that stipulated periodic elections for the local governments. This situation the paper blames on the higher level of government which deliberately deny local government the opportunity of participating in the democratic process of election. The paper also reveals that this negative attitude of the state government towards the practice of democracy at the local government levels is responsible for the absence of democratic practice at that level which in turn affects development at the grass-roots level. This attitude places a limitation on the capacity of the local governments to effectively discharge their constitutional responsibilities to the local communities. Some recommendations are made to move the grassroots democratic practice forward for the local governments to be more responsive and efficient in the discharge of their duties to the people.
Keywords: Illusion Democratic Participation Local Government Nigeria
Disabling Campuses: The Development and outcomes of Nigerian Disability Policies
Abubakar Ahmed a, Zakaria Al-Cheikh Mahmoud Awadb, Mastura Adamc
a,b& c Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 73-85, 2014.
Abstract : The focus of this paper/study is to assess the accessibility of learning infrastructures and facilities of public educational institutions to students (living) with disabilities (SWD) in Nigeria. The objectives include examining the relevant policies on inclusive education system or program, identification of relevant buildings and infrastructures, determining the accessibility provisions in the buildings and the built environment and comparison of accessibility characteristics against the conventional standard. The study made on the basis of a case study approach and survey access audit checklist covers walking, visual and hearing impaired. The study found that accessibility to buildings and infrastructure in Nigerian Universities is poor and is worsening. Only the health buildings/centres/infrastructures are provided with ramps, definitely not because of the disabled but because of hospital stretchers. In this era of social integration, efforts should be made by policy makers and building and urban designers to incorporate all inclusive accessibility modes into planning and design of educational institutions to accommodate both able and the disabled for national development.
Keywords: Accessibility; Assessment; Built-environment; Policies; SWD
Formulating the least cost feeding strategy of a custom feeding programme: A linear programming approach
Bonani Nyhodo a, Victor Mbulah Mmbengwa b, Abongile Balarane c , Xolile Ngetu d
a, b National Agricultural Marketing Council, Markets and Economic Research Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.
c National Agricultural Marketing Council, Agribusiness Development, Pretoria, South Africa.
d National Agricultural Marketing Council, Agricultural Trusts, Pretoria, South Africa.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 85-92, 2014.
Abstract: The profitability of a developmental project depends on effective use of available resources. That is normally referred to as appropriate decision making that requires a computation of a feasible option among several options to determine the optimal choice. To do that (get the optimal choice) a mathematical technique called Linear Programming was used in this study to provide the cost minimisation option (feed ration). The feed ration that was computed is the least cost feeding strategy (cheapest feed ration that meets the dietary requirements of cattle) appropriate for the custom feeding programme run by the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC). The custom feeding programme, like commercial feedlots, keep animals in a zero grazing and unlike the commercial feedlots accepts even older animals. Noteworthy is that the cost of feed constitute the biggest input used in the custom feeding programme (more than 60% share of total cost of all input used). Therefore, minimising the cost of buying feed is very important to the NAMC and all stakeholders involved in purchasing of feed. The optimal solution indicates that the least or cheapest feed would cost the NAMC R4.71c/kg which is a combination of VM and MB. The most expensive feed to add in the ration would be Lucerne and yellow maize meal. The feasible solution has surpluses of each of the required nutrients.
Keywords: Beef, NRMDP, Linear Programming, Feed, Optimization
Divided Based Return Forecast as Benchmark for REIT Performance
Olusegun Olaopin Olanrelea, Rosli Bin Said b, Mohd Nasir Bin Daudc
a, b, c Department of Estate Management, Faculty of Built Environment,
University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg. 93-111, 2014.
Abstract: REIT return benchmark in specific REIT market are produced using NAV, Leverage, Income, Dividend forecast and Star rating of investment. A range of benchmarks exist across the different REIT markets including US NAREIT, UK IPD, AUX LPT and EPRA. The Asian REIT market have S-REIT index and J-REIT index as a benchmark for REIT return, yet there is absence of regional benchmark index. This paper focuses on establishing a sector predicted benchmark for REIT performance in Malaysia for competitive comparison across Asian REIT market in full consideration of the joint contribution of identified return predicting factors. To measure portfolio or investment performance, studies have traditionally employed performance measures that compare the returns of managed portfolio with benchmarks like S&P500 index, NYSE Composite, NAREIT Index, Composite Price Index (CPI), KLCI, ASI, or ratios like Jensen Measures, Treynor ratio, Sharpe ratio etc. This study attempt a forecast of REITs return benchmark using Time Series analysis. The study adopted the quantitative research approach. A sample of 10 listed conventional REITs were selected to reflect diversity in portfolio and location. Data were extracted from the annual reports of selected REIT companies through their websites for period of eight years (2006-2013). Time Series regression was performed on the collected data from the listed REITs to establish a linear model for the forecast of REIT return at any period that can serve as benchmark for the REITs. The data shows that none of the predicting variables have a one direction of influence with dividend. A decline in the Size or NAV or FFO does not rigidly lead to a fall in dividend and vice-versa. Therefore the predictors jointly influence dividend. The regression for the trend estimation for forecast also support this position of joint significant influence of predicting factors on dividend. The study found that predicted return of 7.5% is above the actual return from REIT (6.26%) which indicates that REIT is performing below their capacity and could do more. The forecast is 18% higher than the actual. The forecast for the first quarter of 2014 is a bit higher than the actual dividend declared (table 6). A final dividend of 9.2 Sen and 7.6% annual return is predicted for year 2014 and could serve as benchmark for REIT performance for 2014. The study covers the conventional REITs that were listed in Bursa Malaysia, hence, the 4 Islamic REIT were excluded from the study. Similar study on Islamic REIT could serve a subject for another research.
Keywords: Benchmark, Dividend, Performance, REIT Return, Time Series.
The Proposed Johor-Riau Link: A Tunnel to Nowhere?
Mohd Hazmi Bin Mohd Rusli a,b, Rahmat Mohamad c, Lowell B. Bautista d,
Roman Dremliuga e
a Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Malysia.
b Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong, Australia.
c Asia-African Legal Consultative Organization, New Delhi, India.
d Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong. Australia.
e Faculty of Law, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia.
Volume 07, Issue 10, Pg.111-118, 2014.
Abstract: Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra are separated by a narrow funnel-shaped waterway of the Strait of Malacca. Plans have been made to link Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia through a bridge or a tunnel, with the objectives of boosting trade and tourism activities in the region. Nevertheless, as the proposed bridge would span across the Strait of Malacca which is now one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints, this proposed project may face objections from the international maritime community. As an alternative, a suggestion has been made of constructing the Johor-Riau Link by tunneling the Strait instead. This article examines the positive and negative economic, political and legal implications should the Johor Riau Link project is carried out. This article concludes by reiterating that both Malaysia and Indonesia are not prepared for the construction of Johor-Riau Link, at least not at the current point of time.
Keywords: Law of the Sea, Strait of Malacca, Shipping, Economic Sustainability, Legal Implication