Search results

The study is a survey covering the Ohangwena, Khomas and Otjozondjupa regions highlighting developments in the teaching of information literacy in Namibian schools through the subject Basic Information Science (BIS). This paper aims to provide an update on previous related studies which have been conducted in Namibia led by Nengomasha et al. (2012), Namibia Library Council (NLIC) Report (2007) and Smith et al.’s Baseline Study (2008).

The main objective of this study is to find reasons for non-compliance in the effective teaching of BIS in Namibian schools focus sing on the three regions. The data collection methods were questionnaires and focus group discussions.

A major finding from the study is that 80 per cent school principals are supporting the teaching of the subject BIS in the Ohangwena region, while 20 per cent are non-compliant in the teaching of BIS. The compliance levels in the Otjozondjupa region is that 75 per cent school principals support the teaching of BIS whilst 25 per cent school principals are non-compliant. In total, 60 teachers were randomly sampled in the Otjozondjupa region, while 75 school principals out of a population of 157 were also randomly sampled in the Ohangwena region. In the Khomas (100) region, 52 school principals were randomly sampled out of a population of a 108. The study recommends that it is critical for school principals in Namibia to fully support the development of young learners to be critical thinkers for lifelong learning challenges through the teaching of information literacy.

This study is original.

Qualitative participatory methods are needed to measure the effectiveness of the community-based rehabilitation (CBR) program in Namibia. The study explored the experiences of CBR volunteers in evaluating CBR program in Namibia through the use of photovoice. Further the study assessed the strengths and limitations of utilizing photovoice method as an assessment tool for CBR evaluation.

The study employed a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design. Data was collected through the photovoice method. Two CBR sites and 16 participants who were CBR volunteers were purposively selected. Data was collected and analysis was conducted simultaneously utilizing the photovoice method and themes were determined using WHO CBR matrix.

Various experiences were elicited regarding participants' experiences in line with the five components of the CBR matrix. Most experiences were reported regarding the health component, and the education component had the least experiences reported. Methodological strength and weaknesses as well as implications for practice are revealed. Further research can explore the benefits of combining photovoice with other data collection methods.

Sustainability of CBR programs depends on community ownership, empowerment and government funding. Photovoice is participatory and hence gives community ownership and empowerment. Evidence from photovoice can enable persons with disabilities to formulate action plans that can advocate their concerns with policymakers and justify more funding for CBR programs.

This community based initiative seeks to increase communities’ adaptive capacity through the development of resilient farming practices and improved natural resource management in the face of climate change. Integrating the basic aspects on climate information, the project toolkit had two main objectives; firstly it increases community awareness about climate change risks to farmers and natural resource users, and secondly it aims to build momentum at community levels for innovative adaptation tools as applicable to their environments. These toolkits are applicable to the rural communities, peri‐urban and communities across Namibia.

Participatory rural appraisal methods were used to solicit inputs from the local people during the toolkits development process. Resource mapping, root analysis of climate impacts, and gender mainstreaming were key to this project. A total of 30 community consultations were held in 12 constituencies in all the regions. About 200 people per region were consulted. Their selection was based on their day‐to‐day engagement with community members – these included community activists, farmers, local NGOs as well as governmental civil servants and resource users.

The main outcomes of the project were the compilation of the climate change toolkits, as well as outreach materials such as a video for training of trainers events on climate change adaptation, posters, and radio talks in the different regions. The toolkits are in the process of being implemented, and there are positive reports from the regions where they have been distributed.

This paper is a synopsis of the experiences from Namibia's climate change adaptation toolkits and offers insights relevant to many other African countries, and how these can be improved to make climate change adaptation work especially in the rural areas.

This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.

This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, reports and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2018.

The paper provides a brief description of all 422 sources, and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians and anyone interested as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

As an alternative poverty analysis approach, the purpose of this paper is to map the patterns of multiple deprivation in all 13 administrative regions of Namibia using the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey data.

Unsupervised statistical learning methods including the principal component analysis, k-means clustering and bivariate analysis were applied.

The results show that the multiple deprivation approach is a useful alternative in characterising poverty dynamics in the country. Specifically, the mapping shows that other dimensions of poverty such as access to utilities and services among other things are equally useful welfare indicators as they scored higher than income and consumption on discriminant ability.

Unpacking the multi-dimensionality aspect of poverty has drawn significant attention from development economists and continues to play a major role in policy formulation for developing countries. The study recommends buttressing of conventional income poverty measures with multiple deprivation approaches for a comprehensive picture on poverty issues.