Browsing by Author "Johnson, Uduak Friday."

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An analysis of the purposes and uses of monitoring and evaluation within NGOs : a case study of the Centre for Criminal Justice (CCJ).
(2011) Johnson, Uduak Friday.; Manicom, Desiree Pushpeganday.
This study aimed to critically analyze the purposes and uses of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) within NGOs. It proceeded from the criticisms often levelled against M&E with regards to its relevance and its numerous failures. Moreover, if development programme interventions are already justified through useful services rendered to beneficiaries, what impact does development assistance projects like M&E have in the lives of individual beneficiaries of these programmes, especially considering the fact that significant resources and time are expended on M&E? Prompted by this question, the study investigated the strengths and challenges experienced by NGOs in using M&E in programme implementation. Given the numerous and diverse definitions of M&E and its diversity in practice among organizations, it was necessary to carry out the investigation through a case study; using a qualitative research method. The Centre for Criminal Justice (CCJ) was chosen for the case-study, given its history of the use of M&E in its outreach programme implementation. A semi-structured interview was used to gather data from a sample of seven members of the organization from different levels, ranging from management, the evaluator, head office staff and implementation staff who are either directly or indirectly involved in a vital way in the M&E process. This was to solicit diverse and in-depth responses from different perspectives on the purposes and uses of M&E within the organization. Findings revealed that the organization has institutionalized a well-structured, top-down and ongoing monitoring process to gather data daily from the services provided by the implementation staff. It also boasts an ongoing M&E system that follows the three-year cycle of the programme. This is besides other M&E related research carried out in the organization. The study found that some of those involved in the M&E process within CCJ have little or no understanding of the role of M&E within the organization. The implementation staff, for instance, who gather routine monitoring data, were found not to understand the full significance of their services to the M&E and development process as a whole. Beneficiaries were found not to understand the role of M&E within the organization and the impact it has on the services which they receive. The implications of such lack of knowledge to the development process is based on the assertion that the ‘objectives of social development programmes should be to help the indigenous communities or underprivileged groups (such as women, landless labourers, ...) develop the organizational capacity and knowledge needed to identify and satisfy their own needs’ (Valadez & Bamberger 1994: 9). In other words, if their participation should have more relevant outcomes, they need to be aware of what they are engaged in. This is a precondition for sustainable development and ownership of the development process. When this is lacking, there can be resistance or poor participation in the process and the threat of paternalism. The dilemma is that M&E is very technical.
Success or failure? Student experiences of the Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) in the College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
(2017) Johnson, Uduak Friday.; Narsiah, Inbersagran.
South African Universities have responded to the global trend towards massification of higher education by public policy imperative to redress the legacies of apartheid. Extended Curriculum Programmes (ECPs) are used to implement this policy to remedy the limitations of disadvantaged primary and secondary schooling. This serves to improve both participation and success rates of those from these backgrounds who demonstrate potential. Dwindling government funding of tertiary education, high dropout rates, increasing numbers of black students gaining access into the universities, and the threat of a declining quality tertiary education have popularized suggestions in favour of the cancellation of ECPs. While the success of ECPs is being questioned, its value cannot be undermined. Some studies even suggest the expansion of such support to all tertiary students. The imperative to generate strong evidence on the value of ECP to inform policy decisions motivated the current study to target the voices of the ECP students in the College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal as a case study. The Social Constructivist paradigm was used to inquire into ECP students’ experiences of success and failures, using the Attribution theory to assess their beliefs and how they understand and relate to their experiences of learning as affected by the ECP. The Study Process Questionnaire was also used to test how ECP students’ learning motives and studying strategies determine their approaches to learning. This mixed methods with emphasis on the qualitative approach was used to collect data. Students from different levels on, within and through the programme were sampled to give a representative view. Twenty-two face-to-face semi-structured interviews, two focus group interviews and 170 responses from the Study Process questionnaire were used to collect the different kinds of data. Thematic content analysis was used on qualitative data, while data from the SPQ was analysed using STATA statistical analysis software. Students’ approaches to learning were correlated and presented in graphical and tabular formats as determined by their motives and strategies. The discussion chapter used statistical graphs and tables to support themes derived from the qualitative data on students’ attributions. The study found that students attribute the outcome of their studies to a variety of factors that are worth considering in empowering students when implementing the ECP and in policy adjustments on how student underpreparedness can be addressed. The academic and computer literacy skills and other foundational skills from the programme empower ECP students to assist mainstream students. It also facilitates their social construction of university life and enables their adjustment by positively affecting their motivations while preparing them to succeed. The attribution theory was found to have the reflective-tool to enable students understand themselves and their learning habits. Such self-awareness equips students to learn and adopt more productive approaches to learning; a useful tool for student counsellors. The study suggested that opening the ECP up to all students may boycott a vital element of cooperation and competition that the programme evokes between its students and mainstream student when they compare their performances. Nevertheless, instead of discontinuing the programme due to funding constraints, its foundational modules could be open as compulsory to all students based on the outcome of a university entrance test to determine readiness and skills level in important cognate areas. These modules are to be based in the ECP to demonstrate that all students need support of some sort and to enhance equal socialization between ECP students and mainstream students. This would contribute towards eliminating the stigma on the ECP, and sustain the programme through mainstream students’ registration without much recourse to external funding. Nevertheless, financial constraints, difficulty of exiting the programme, and the lack of transparency about its admission criteria remain threats to the programme, but the programme does contribute towards constructing a positive university learning environment.