Central University of Technology

About: Central University of Technology is a education organization based out in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Higher education & Population. The organization has 852 authors who have published 1478 publications receiving 13171 citations. The organization is also known as: Technikon Free State & Central University of Technology Free State.

The Prevalence of Concurrent Sexual Partnerships among Students in Institutions of Higher Education in Zimbabwe

Abstract: This study set out to establish the level of sexual activity and prevalence of concurrent sexual partnerships among students in two Faculties at a University in Zimbabwe. The study also investigated the extent and motivation for age-discrepant sexual partnerships and the possible link between multiple concurrent sexual partnerships and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Four research questions were posed to establish the level of sexual activity among university students, prevalence of concurrent relationships, motivation for and involvement in intergenerational sexual partnerships, and students' knowledge of the possible link between concurrent sexual behaviour and the spread of HIV/AIDS. A convenience sample of 145 student respondents (85 females and 60 males) was used in this study. A ten-item self-administered questionnaire and focus group discussion were used to collect the necessary data. The study found high levels of sexual activity (more for male than for female students) and high prevalence of concurrent sexual behaviour. The study also found that female students participated in concurrent sexual partnerships to benefit from the resources of their male partners while males were largely motivated around the sex motive. In spite of the high levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, high levels of concurrent sexual relationships were prevalent among students who participated in this study . This study confirmed results reported in the literature and has implications for the spread of HIV/AIDS.

A conceptual framework for delivering cost effective business intelligence solutions as a service

Abstract: Smart use of business intelligence (BI) can allow organizations to leverage the huge amounts of transactional data at their disposal and turn it into a powerful decision support mechanism that gives them competitive advantage. Despite the potential benefits of an effective BI system, the adoption and use of BI systems within the enterprise remains low, especially among smaller companies with resource constraints. This can partly be explained by the predominant deployment approach available today in which a firm needs to procure, install, configure and operate a BI system in-house. Barriers of high cost, complexity and lack of in-house expertise discourage many firms from adopting BI systems. This paper argues that adopting a cloud computing model, where BI is offered as a service over the Internet can lower these barriers and accelerate the pace of BI adoption. However, migrating BI systems from traditional on-premise environments to the cloud presents huge challenges. There are technical, economic, organizational and regulatory hurdles to overcome. Further, BI systems are multi-component (ETL, Data warehouse, data marts, OLAP, reporting, data mining etc.) and deciding which component(s) to move to the cloud, and which ones to leave on-premise needs careful consideration. In addition, the fact that cloud computing is still in its infancy means there is a general lack of conceptual and architectural frameworks to guide companies considering migrating enterprise systems to the cloud. This paper takes a closer look into traditional BI and proposes a conceptual framework that companies can use to chart an adoption path for cloud BI. The framework combines attributes of IT outsourcing, traditional BI, cloud computing as well as decision theory to present a consolidated view of cloud BI. The domain of South African Higher Education was chosen as the target in which the framework will be tested.

Promotion of Entrepreneurship Education - A Remedy to Graduates and Youth Unemployment – A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract: The study sought to understand why young people, especially graduates struggle to find employment. The economy is currently (reportedly) shedding jobs more than it creates. The contention of this paper therefore, is that a strong entrepreneurship culture/spirit among the young people, that is, learners or students, can go a long way to addressing this challenge and a myriad of socio-economic and cultural maladies facing the youth such as, poverty , crime, violence, substance abuse, prostitution and the spread of HIV/AIDS. An enquiry in the form of a qualitative method consisting of observations, interviews and extensive desk-top document analysis has been adopted to address the research problem. A purposeful sampling technique was used to collect data from (n=12 teachers; n=32 learners and n=3 government officials). Extensive documentary evidence shows a mismatch between educational outputs and the type of employment opportunities. This study reveals that teachers bemoan lack of resources, meeting curriculum deadlines, while learners indicate minimal exposure to opportunities to display their entrepreneurial flair , energy and creativity. Furthermore, indications are that very little strides are made in terms of deliberate strategic programmes to foster a paradigm shift from being 'job-seekers to job creators' among the graduates in this country. The study not only provides evidence to justify the underlying hypothesis, but also makes recommendations to enhance the promotion of entrepreneurial culture amongst the youth.