The Impending Crisis: The Case of the Transition to the Secondary School.

A ZBTE survey on the perceptions of 7th. graders in Zimbabwe on their transition to secondary schools.This study set out to investigate and analyze the perceptions of Seventh Graders towards their transition to the secondary school. Precisely, Grade 7 pupils were asked to appraise the transition from primary to secondary school with a view to assisting these pupils have a smooth transition to the secondary school. Thus, the focus and therefore interest was on understanding what Grade 7 pupils think and feel about moving on to the secondary school. The study involved 120 (N=120) Grade 7 pupils drawn from Harare urban schools. A questionnaire and follow-up interviews were the instruments used to collect data. Results were reported using percentages. The observations in this study were that most Grade 7 pupils perceive the transition to secondary school with fear and anxiety. Many pupils reported feeling sad as the time for the transition to secondary school approached. Thus, Grade 7 pupils' perceptions of the transition was predominantly negative. The uncertainty of what goes on in the new environment and the often much talked about 'difficult subjects' were among the main causes for concern for many of them

The Views of Blind Students Towards Inclusive Education

A ZJER article on The Views of Blind Pupils Towards Inclusive Education in Zimbabwe.This study investigated the views of blind primary school pupils towards inclusive education. The main objective was to assess how people with disabilities themselves view inclusive education. Do they appreciate and accept it? The study was conducted in one primary school in Zimbabwe in November, 2000. Fifty (50) blind pupils were involved. A Likert-type questionnaire (brallied) which required subjects to give reasons for their answers, was the instrument used to collect data. Data analysis was done using the Likert scale analysis procedures typical of altitudinal studies. The study established that the majority of blind pupils (63%) were against inclusive education. Many fell that apart from social and academic rejection, they would not be able to acquire useful skills and knowledge in inclusive settings

Full Length Research Paper - Determination of effective nodulation in early juvenile soybean plants for genetic and biotechnology studies

Symbiotic fixation of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) is a complex physiological process influenced by the interaction of genetic elements in the higher plant species and rhizobia. No standardized, efficient method is available to critically examine the effect of altering the genetic elements in either component by selection and/or genetic engineering. At planting, seeds of a tropical (‘TGX-4E’) and non-tropical (‘Soma’) soybean cultivar were inoculated individually in sand-filled Conetainers® in a greenhouse with each of two strains within two rhizobial types (Bradyrhizobium japonicum and cowpea). Six weeks after inoculation, each plant was classified into one of two categories; vigorous plant with dark green leaves indicating effective nodulation and N2-fixation (+), and stunted plant with chlorotic yellow leaves indicating ineffective nodulation and no N2-fixation (-). The results indicated that this non-destructive method could be used to identify major genetic differences in the soybean and inoculant. Therefore, this method could be used to rapidly identify genetic segregants resulting from selection in plant breeding programs and/or genetic engineering

Public sector soybean (Glycine max) breeding: Advances in cultivar development in the African tropics

Formal public sector soybean breeding in Africa spans over four decades, and it was initiated by the International Institute of Tropical Agricultural (IITA). As the demand of soybean continues to outstrip production, strategic projects such the Tropical Legume (TL) were initiated, in which the main goal was to enhance the productivity of soybean in the farmers’ fields in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the strategies to enhance the productivity of soybean in the farmers’ fields is through developing and deploying improved soybean varieties in the target countries. Through the TL I and TL II projects, a number of varieties were released in the target countries, Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi and Mozambique by employing participatory variety selection (PVS). This review provides highlights of the achievements made by IITA breeding programme and insights of what needs to be done to enhance yield improvement for soybean in Africa using demand-driven breeding approaches