The Effects of the Education 1 Project on the Vocational Skills and Prospects of Students at a Secondary School in Swaziland: A Case Study
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Education 1 Project on skills development and prospects of students at a secondary school in Swaziland. The Education 1 Project was an educational initiative by the Swaziland government to establish and implement a more hands-on approach to prevocational education at selected high schools. Descriptive case study research methodology was used to gather and analyze data surrounding the Education 1 Project and to answer the question, “What were the effects of the Education 1 Project on the skills and prospects of students graduating from a secondary school in Swaziland.” The study found that there were no official data available for tracking students once they graduated, which made it difficult to determine if the Education 1 Project was having the desired effects on students. There were responses from the teachers that suggested that they were aware of some students’ accomplishments which they gathered informally from family members and the students themselves. Examination results showed that students were acquiring skills even though the results were not up to the expectations of the teachers and administrators of the school. This they attributed to the aggressiveness of the prevocational program and the large amount of learning matter that was crammed into a short span of time. The skills and prospects of students in prevocational education were also affected by various external factors which included financial support of the program by the government, the quality of teachers, the lack of funds to start businesses, and the lack of collaboration between the education and business sectors in Swaziland.
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- View full dissertation