Exploring Senior Phase teachers' competencies in supporting learners with specific learning difficulties: Implications for inclusive education

Teaching learners with specific learning difficulties requires competent teachers who can provide learning support. Competencies such as identifying learning difficulties, assessing learners, designing interventions such as curriculum differentiation and facilitating referral systems are crucial. However, Senior Phase teachers in South Africa seem to be challenged when it comes to providing learning support. Consequently, learners do not meet the desired learning outcomes. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore Senior Phase teachers' competencies in supporting learners with specific learning difficulties in four mainstream schools. Methods: A qualitative research approach and phenomenological research design were used. Eighteen teachers who were members of the school-based support teams, including learning support educators, were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through individual and focus group interviews, the analysis of support forms and field notes. A thematic data analysis was used to generate findings. Results: The thematic data analysis revealed discrepancies relating to participants' competencies in identifying language difficulties, short-term memory problems and contextual barriers. Also, participants differed in collaborating with peers, social workers, and the district-based support teams. Furthermore, some participants were able to design intervention programs and facilitate internal and external referral processes. Conclusion: The study concludes that teachers have different competencies in providing learning support. Therefore, the Department of Basic Education should provide a clear practical learning support strategy in the Senior Phase mainstream schools as well as continuous professional development for teachers couple with monitoring. Contribution: It is envisioned that the study will contribute to understanding teachers' competences in providing learning support for learners with specific learning difficulties in the senior phase. The study advocates for collaborative continuous professional teacher development focusing on interventions programs to support learners with specific learning difficulties in the mainstream schools

Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-saharan Africa

Objective To develop a decision-support tool to help policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa assess whether intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) would be effective for local malaria control. Methods An algorithm for predicting the effect of IPTi was developed using two approaches. First; study data on the age patterns of clinical cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria; hospital admissions for infection with malaria parasites and malaria-associated death for different levels of malaria transmission intensity and seasonality were used to estimate the percentage of cases of these outcomes that would occur in children aged 10 years targeted by IPTi. Second; a previously developed stochastic mathematical model of IPTi was used to predict the number of cases likely to be averted by implementing IPTi under different epidemiological conditions. The decision-support tool uses the data from these two approaches that are most relevant to the context specified by the user. Findings Findings from the two approaches indicated that the percentage of cases targeted by IPTi increases with the severity of the malaria outcome and with transmission intensity. The decision-support tool; available on the Internet; provides estimates of the percentage of malaria-associated deaths; hospitalizations and clinical cases that will be targeted by IPTi in a specified context and of the number of these outcomes that could be averted. Conclusion The effectiveness of IPTi varies with malaria transmission intensity and seasonality. Deciding where to implement IPTi must take into account the local epidemiology of malaria. The Internet-based decision-support tool described here predicts the likely effectiveness of IPTi under a wide range of epidemiological conditions