UNAM Gā-aisib Repository

The UNAM Gā-aisib Repository serves as a central platform to preserve and showcase the university's scholarly output.

Gā-aisib, a term from the local Khoekhoegowab language meaning “wisdom".
 

Recent Submissions

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Assessment of provisional taxpayers compliance with tax laws: A case for Oshakati office
(University of Namibia, 2020) Amakutuwa, Akaktofel; Chirimbana, Moses
The purpose of the study was to make an assessment of the provisiona l taxpayers· compliance with tax laws at the Oshakati Inland Revenue Offi ce. The study seek answer to the fo llowing resea rch questions; (I ) What is the level of compliance to tax laws among the provisional tax payers registered with the IRD Oshakati Office? (2) What are the fac tors that influence provisiona l taxpayers' compliance with tax laws among the provisional taxpayers registered with the fRD Oshakati Office? (3) What strategies can be used to mitiga te on the compliance with tax laws among the provisiona l tax payers registered with Oshakati Office? The study utili zed a mi xed method to co llect data from employees fo r lRD Oshakati Offi ce and the taxpayers for IRD Oshakati Offi ce. The quantitati ve dimension of the study used a stratified random sampling strategy to select 3 76 taxpayers who completed a closed ended que tionnaire and a purposeful sampling strategy through the use of an in-depth face to face interview was used to select data from 14 empl oyees fo r Oshakati Inland Revenue. The findings of the study show that the level of compliance to tax payment by tax payers at the Oshakati Inland Revenue office is 36.9% which is less than 50%. In addition, the study also found out that the attitudes of the taxpayers have effect on their compliance to tax payment at the IRD Oshakati Office. The study a lso fo und out that the level o f compliance of the taxpayers relate to their income. Those who earn more, are more compliant than those who earn less. The study also fo und out that the level of governmental accountability and transparency detem1ines their level of compliance to the payment. More so, the study a lso unveiled that the level of educa tion, understanding public responsibility towards the benefits of paying taxes influence an individua l's decision to be compliant with tax laws. Based on the findings above, the study recommended the need to educa te the genera l publi c on the importaJJCe of complying with tax laws, and that the taxpayers need to be given a total ownership and autonomy understand that they are the ones who keep the government revenue run and economically functional. The study also recommended that there should be a li ve broadcast and campaigns to a lert the general public of their legitimate role in being compliant to paying their taxes
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An analysis of the impact of the exchange rate on export perfomance in Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2019) Amadhila, Orodesia; Mugano, Gift
The purpose of the study was to analyse the effect of the exchange rate on export performance in Namibia. Furthermore, the researcher was to investigate if there is a relationship between the exchange rate and export performance. The objectives of the study were to examine whether there is a long run relationship between real effective exchange rate and export performance in Namibia, to determine the casual relationship between real exchange rate and export performance in Namibia as well as to suggest policies for the mitigation of the impact on the domestic economy. The theories on which this paper was based are Marshal-Lerner Condition, Exchange Rate Pass-Through and The Balance of Payments theory. To investigate the existence of a long run relationship between exchange rate and export performance in Namibia, the Engle-Granger two-step estimation technique was employed. The technique entails the determination of the long term co-integration relationship through testing for stationarity of the residuals using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test. The study revealed that the variable exchange rate negatively affects export performance and that the coefficient is statistically significant. From the regression estimation it can be concluded that the theoretical proposition of the relationship between exchange rate and export performance is confirmed in the case of Namibia. A currency depreciation results in more exports while a currency appreciation results in a reduction in exports. Therefore, policy recommendations of the study included employing strong financial tools to hedge against change in the international market, such as: Accept the risk and transfer it through pricing, A void or minimise costly commodities, seek natural hedges and manage the risk through contracts
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Analysis of the accuracy of GNSS inferred precipitable water vapour against that from a 210 GHz WVR at the H.E.S.S. site
(Oxford University Press, 2025) Frans, Lott; Backes, Michael; Falcke, Heino; Venturi, Tiziana
The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) site and the Gamsberg Mountain have been identified as potential sites for the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT). The AMT is poised to observe at millimetre and possibly at submillimetre wavelengths. At these wavelengths, precipitable water vapour (PWV) in the atmosphere is the main source of opacity during observations and therefore needs to be accurately assessed at the potential sites for the AMT. In order to investigate the PWV conditions for the AMT, identical Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations were installed and used to assess the PWV at the two potential sites. In this study, the accuracy of those PWV measurements by the GNSS stations was assessed by comparing the H.E.S.S. installed GNSS station PWV measurements to that from a 210 GHz Water Vapour Radiometer (WVR) also installed at the H.E.S.S. site. A correlation of 98 per cent and an offset of 0.34 mm was found between the GNSS station and the 210 GHz WVR PWV data when on-site pressure and the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory (NGL) weighted mean temperature (⁠ ⁠) were used to calculate the GNSS station PWV data. In comparison, the offset reduces to 0.15 mm when on-site derived and pressure were used to calculate the GNSS station PWV. The results show that the GNSS station with on-site meteorological data can be used with high accuracy to reliably determine the PWV conditions at the H.E.S.S. site
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A comparative analysis of GNSS-inferred precipitable water vapour at the potential sites for the Africa Millimetre Telescope
(Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2025) Frans, Lott; Backes, Michael; Falcke, Heino; Venturi, Tiziana
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a network of antennas across the globe currently used to image supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at a frequency of 230 GHz. Since the release of the image of M87 in 2019 and, subsequently, that of Sgr A in 2022 by the EHT collaboration, the focus has shifted to dynamically imaging SMBHs. This has led to a search for potential sites to extend and fill in the gaps within the EHT network. The Gamsberg Mountain and the High-Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) site are both located within the Khomas highlands and have been identified as potential sites for the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT). Precipitable water vapour (PWV) in the atmosphere is the main source of opacity and noise from atmospheric emissions when observing at millimetre to sub-millimetre wavelengths. This study aims to establish the PWV content and the atmospheric transmission at 86, 230, and 345 GHz at the AMT potential sites using Global Navigation Satellite System derived PWV data. Results show both sites have potential for observations at 86 and 230 GHz, with 345 GHz possible at the Gamsberg Mountain during winter. The overall median PWV of 14.27 and 9.25 mm was calculated at the H.E.S.S. site and the Gamsberg Mountain, respectively. The EHT window had PWV medians of 16.62 and 11.20 mm at the H.E.S.S. site and Gamsberg Mountain, respectively. Among the two sites, the Gamsberg Mountain had the lowest PWV conditions, therefore making it the most suitable site for the AMT
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Predicting the feasibility of data collection for disability-related research in Sub-Saharan Africa
(ScienceDirect, 2024) Adigun, Olufemi Timothy
This study presents the findings of an investigation into the feasibility of data collection for disability-related research in sub-Saharan Africa. Three research questions were raised and answered in the study. Data were collected from 164 respondents from 8 countries within the sub-Saharan African region. Five respondents were also purposively selected for a semi-structured interview. The qualitative data collected was thematically analysed while the quantitative data was descriptively and inferentially analysed. Findings in the study revealed the possibility of conducting disability-related research seamlessly within sub-Saharan African countries. However, there are a myriad of challenges that face the conducting of disability-related research in the region. Attitude towards disability had the highest likelihood of predicting the availability and accessibility of data for disability research. The study concluded that societal attitude had a strong influence on the conducting and productivity of disability-related research in sub-Saharan Africa. Valuable recommendations were offered based on the findings
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Hearing health in Lesotho: An investigation into knowledge, understanding and attitude towards hearing loss
(Universal Journal of Public Health, 2024) Adigun, Olufemi Timothy; Otekalu, Olumide; Oluji, Chidi Topaz; Tijani, Faisat Adekilekun
This study investigated hearing health in Lesotho based on the knowledge, understanding and attitudes of Basotho people in tertiary institutions towards hearing loss and hearing aid users. The Health Belief Model framed the study. Data generation in the study was achieved through a mixed method approach using both a closed-ended structured questionnaire administered to 272 participants and a semi-structured interview with 6 respondents who were randomly selected from the 272 participants who responded to the closed-ended questionnaire. Data generated were analysed using descriptive (frequency count, simple percentage, mean and standard deviation), and inferential statistics (Chi-square) at p < 0.05. Also, a thematic analysis was used to analyse the transcribed semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that participants had a good understanding and knowledge of hearing health in relation to the implications of excessive noise and wax in the ear which may lead to hearing difficulties, as well as the need for ear checks at accredited ear clinics/centres; however, they still engage in risky hearing healthcare behaviours. Participants also had a higher negative attitude towards hearing loss as a condition but necessarily towards individuals with hearing loss. An association was identified between knowledge about hearing health and hearing in the study. Another association was recorded between gender and attitude towards persons with hearing loss and hearing aid users. Appropriate recommendations were made with respect to the findings
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The role of K-12 educational leadership practices to promote effective teaching and learning
(American Scholars Press, 2025) Mbangula, Daniel K.
One of the main pillars of society is education, and the quality of education is impacted by the quality of educational leadership. Principals and other school administrators are examples of educational leaders who impact and change learning environments. This study aims to clarify how effective leadership can improve teaching and learning, encourage student engagement and well-being, and eventually result in better learning outcomes. This study employed a systematic review of the secondary data on educational leadership practices. The findings demonstrated that improved teaching performance was significantly predictable given a transformational leadership and a positive school culture. The findings also provide insight into ways to enhance school culture and educational leadership to put policies into place that will improve student outcomes. These results give school administrators important new information about how important school culture is to attaining teaching excellence
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Fostering self-directed learning in blended learning environments: A constructivist perspective in higher education
(Wiley, 2024) Adigun, Olufemi Timothy; Mpofu, Nhlanhla; Maphalala, Mncedisi Christian
Higher education (HE) is considered to be the apex of all educational endeavours. Therefore, it is expected that student in various institutions of higher learning should be self-motivated for individualized synchronous and asynchronous learning. Lamentably, it seems that such expectation within the HE spaced is yet to be achieved. While stakeholders in HE are in search for an approach to ensure that students have sufficient self-directed learning (SDL) capacities needed for blended learning (BL), this article advance and propose the use of the constructivist framework to foster SDL to ensure that students develop their own understanding of learning, its meaning according to the context, and the ways to acquire it using BL as a mediator. Using the constructivist theory as a theoretical lens, we proposed the use of a three-ring-drag-in approach as a model to fostering SDL among students in various institutions of higher learning. We, therefore encourage the adoption or adaptability of the three-ring-drag-in approach as it promise to address and resolve the concerns and agitation of enthronement of SDL among students within the HE spaces
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Research 4.0 and the ontological turn: Implications for researching the radical alterity of witches’ familiars in the twenty-first century
(Brill, 2025) Nhemachena, Artwell
Drawing on the term ‘Research 4.0’ to describe research that relies on twenty-firstcentury convergent technologies that are defining industry 4.0, including human sensory enhancements, this paper interrogates the ontological turn to interface spirituality and technology. Drawing on fieldwork in Zimbabwe, this paper contends that Research 4.0 enhances relational fieldwork, which is an aspect of the ontological turn, but it cautions that African ontologies should not be mistaken for relational ontologies that presuppose that humans and nonhumans are on the same ontological plane. The paper contends that with the human enhancements that come with Research 4.0 it would be possible to consider research on both human subjectivities and nonhuman umwelts, including those of animal familiars. And when humans begin to share genomes of nonhuman witches’ familiars, in chimera-hood, it becomes possible to study the visible and invisible of quantum anthropology in ways that obviate the pitfalls of the speculative turn
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Learning mathematics through parental support during COVID-19 pandemic: Teaching of Junior primary learners in Namibia
(University of Western Cape, 2024) Shikwaya, Renate Olga; Khuzwayo, Bhekumusa
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unexpected and sudden educational changes for everyone involved, including learners, students, teachers, education officers, policymakers, guardians and parents. Global associations have focused on their reactions in emergencies by using elective methods of instruction. The usual face-to-face teaching and learning techniques were supplanted by homeschooling and e-learning. Everyone involved in education had to adjust to creative strategies. Most studies focused on teachers' and students' difficulties, barriers and new challenges. However, parents were also given a new role, especially in the junior primary phase (Pre-primary to Grade 3), as they were expected to assist by supporting their children's school subjects, including mathematics. The critical problem explored was the backlog in learners' understanding of mathematics concepts caused by learning inequalities during the COVID-19 lockdown. During the COVID-19 lockdown, parents had to support their children throughout the learning process—the current study aimed to investigate how parents have been crucial in supporting their children's mathematics learning at home. The study was guided by the central question of how junior primary learners learnt mathematics during the COVID-19 lockdown when supported by parents. The study used a qualitative exploratory case study design. A purposive convenient sampling was used to identify research participants. Participants were eighteen (18) Junior Primary teachers and thirty (30) parents in the Khomas Region. Questionnaires were constructed and administered to eighteen (18) teachers from three (3) schools in the Khomas region to explore how learners learnt mathematics at home during the lockdown. Furthermore, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty (30) parents about their experiences supporting their children with mathematics at home. Thirty (30) learners' mathematics workbooks were reviewed to analyse their progress in learning mathematics as their parents supported them at home. The anticipated contribution of the study is to identify and document effective strategies parents use to support their children’s mathematics learning at home, offering recommendations for Namibian policymakers and educational practitioners to better support parents as co-educators, especially during crises. It contributes to curriculum development by incorporating parental involvement as a critical component in early mathematics education and informs teacher training programs on engaging and collaborating with parents. Additionally, the study adds to the existing body of research on the impact of parental involvement in education, particularly in emergency remote learning.