Conference Agenda

Problem Statement and Purpose

Corruption governance is a common problem faced by all countries in the world, And it is a long-term, complex and arduous systematic project. In this systematic project of corruption governance, how to view the anti-corruption function of integrity education for public officials scientificially? How to conduct integrity education for public officials in line with national conditions effectively?

The paper aims to reveal the anti-corruption function of integrity education for public officials and explore systematic paths for doing a good job in integrity education for public officials. This is conductive to encouraging public officials to maintain the original intention of integrity and serving the people, and to promoting public officials to continuously provide more and better public services for society.

Methodology

This paper applied qualitative and quantitative approaches, analyzing the anti-corruption function of integrity education for public officials, and exploring the systematic path to better carry out anticorruption education for public officials

Findings

To conduct integrity education for public officials is the inherent requirement to the comprehensive promotion of not daring to corrupt, not being able to corrupt and not wanting to corrupt. This approach enhances the consciousness of public officials not wanting to corrupt and the awe of not daring to corrupt. In recent years, China's integrity education for public officials has been fruitful and has grown clear features, such as the determination of responsibility, the wide range of objects, the university of channels, the richness of content and the diversity of methods.

Proposals

First, pay more attention to integrate education for the "key minority" of leading cadres. Second, pay more attention to integrate education during the "key period" of public officials, such as entry, promotion and retirement. Third, pay more attention to integrity education of public officials in "key areas" such as finance, state-owned enterprises, energy, medicine and infrastructure projects. Fourth, pay more attention to integrity education of "key materials" such as advanced examples, typical cases, new laws and regulations.

References

Fang Ting. Corruption governance: concept, path and method [M]. Beijing: China Fangzheng Press, 2023.

Li Hui. Research on corruption abroad: history, shape and methods [M]. Beijing: China Fangzheng Press, 2019.

Lu Yongxiang, Wang Lifeng. Research on the Function of Integrity Education of the Supervisory Committee: Setting Basis, Implementing Subject and Preventive Function [J]. Henan Social Sciences. 2020(3):42-50.

Problem Statement and Purpose

A conversational chatbot, ChatGPT, introduced in November 2022, was one of the first artificial intelligence technologies of its kind to be made public in an easily understandable manner, and consequently, it quickly grew in popularity among higher education students. Despite facing challenges that include copyright issues, bias, fairness, excessive reliance by students, and concerns over data privacy and security, there is a belief that ChatGPT will become an integral part of higher education. Consequently, some educational practitioners recommend engaging students with ChatGPT rather than prohibiting its use. Namely, ChatGPT offers numerous benefits, including real-time feedback and guidance to help students stay on track and overcome challenges. Its accessibility across multiple platforms like websites, apps, and messaging services promotes flexible learning. Additionally, it provides personalized support tailored to individual goals and can enhance the use of open educational resources, potentially improving student employability. Therefore, it is believed that ChatGPT can be harnessed to enhance skills development, thereby improving student employability. Accordingly, this paper aims to examine the determinants of ChatGPT acceptance among public administration students, with a focus on perceived employability. Based on the adjusted technology acceptance model, other determinants, such as output quality and ease of use, are also considered.

Methodology

The empirical analysis is based on a sample of about 162 students enrolled in public administration study programmes at the Faculty of Public Administration at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. The collected data are analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling techniques. Firstly, descriptive statistics are calculated using SPSS to assess student perceptions of the potential of ChatGPT in developing employability skills. Secondly, structural equation modeling is performed using AMOS to examine the relationships between the perceived potential of ChatGPT to improve employability, as well as perceived value, output quality, ease of use, and actual use of ChatGPT.

Findings

The results reveal that students perceive ChatGPT as a valuable tool for enhancing employability. The results also indicate that the perceived potential of ChatGPT to develop hard and advanced digital skills positively affects its perceived value, while its potential for developing soft and basic digital skills positively influences perceived employability. Interestingly, the perceived potential of ChatGPT to develop advanced digital skills negatively affects perceived employability, with this impact turning positive when students view ChatGPT as a valuable tool for enhancing these specific skills. Finally, perceived employability and other examined determinants proved to be relevant in the context of ChatGPT acceptance.

Proposals

Based on the results, some proposals to address the problem can be suggested. First, educational institutions should incorporate ChatGPT into curricula as a supplementary tool to foster both hard and soft skill development, promoting critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Second, training programs for students and faculty are essential to effectively use ChatGPT, focusing on its functionalities and the critical evaluation of information provided by artificial intelligence. Finally, a hybrid learning environment that combines ChatGPT with traditional teaching methods can prevent student over-reliance on artificial intelligence, ensuring a balanced educational experience that leverages both human interaction and artificial intelligence assistance.

References

Saif, N., Khan, S. U., Shaheen, I., ALotaibi, F. A., Alnfiai, M. M., & Arif, M. (2024). Chat-GPT; validating Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in education sector via ubiquitous learning mechanism. Computers in Human Behavior, 154, 108097.

Cotton, D. R., Cotton, P. A., & Shipway, J. R. (2024). Chatting and cheating: Ensuring academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 61(2), 228-239.

Boubker, O. (2024). From chatting to self-educating: Can AI tools boost student learning outcomes?. Expert Systems with Applications, 238, 121820.

Problem Statement and Purpose

Problem statement: The persistently high levels of unemployment among youth graduates in SA remain one of the most urgent socioeconomic problems affecting the South African government. In SA, the unemployment rate, especially among youth graduates, is among the highest globally. In the 2022 State of the Nation Address, the Free State Premier cautioned that these conditions are likely to worsen in the future and have already intensified because of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Free State Provincial Government (FSPG) has taken extensive measures to allocate unemployed youth graduates into the Public Service Internship Programme (PSIP).

Purpose: The Public Service Internship Programme as an alternative to address Graduate Unemployment in the Free State has provided 3067 unemployed youth graduates with the opportunity to acquire work experience through the PSIP from 2018 to 2021. Despite several efforts from the public service, challenges continue to hamper the effective implementation of the PSIP (Motene, 2017; Mehlape, 2018). Therefore, this paper aims to discuss some of these challenges that hamper the effective implementation of the PSIP in the FSPG. The period under investigation was the 2018 to 2023 intake of youth graduate interns into eight provincial public service departments. This paper will highlight some of these challenges.

Methodology

The study employed a qualitative approach and a descriptive case study design. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and semi-structured interviews were used as qualitative research instruments. FGDs were conducted with a sample of 89 unemployed youth graduates, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 28 supervisors responsible for human resource development and supervision of the unemployed youth graduates and implementing the PSIP in the FSPG. This paper will report on the FGDs conducted with 89 unemployed youth graduates.

The target population of the research study was 115 unemployed youth graduates who were enrolled in the PSIP in the FSPG between 1 April 2018 and 30 March 2023 and 31 supervisors who served in the FSPG during this time. To be eligible for selection, unemployed youth graduates had to be graduates who entered the programme with an undergraduate degree qualification on NQF Level 7. For this study, ethical considerations relating to the protection of participants through informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity of the participants were prioritized. To conduct the research ethically, this research study did not falsify any information, facts, or other individual’s work without acknowledging (plagiarising) or accurately reporting on the research study’s findings.

Findings

The research found that the PSIP in the FSPG still faces various challenges. These include lack of mentorship and coaching, a need for more monitoring and evaluation of the PSIP, insufficient budget allocations for the programme to incorporate more graduate interns into training interventions and increase stipend payments for graduate interns. It is essential that the FSPG creates an induction programme for the PSIP. This induction will include the internship programme policy, the stipends to be provided, contract agreements, performance expectations, and communication channels that the graduate interns can use to raise concerns and challenges experienced during the PSIP.

Proposals

The FSPG and other stakeholders need to realise the importance of the PSIP in career development, succession planning of the departments, and experiential learning. The study findings may assist the FSPG in identifying the challenges affecting the implementation of the PSIP to make the programme more effective towards experiential learning for unemployed youth graduate interns. The study also makes recommendations to the FSPG on how to address some of the pressing challenges affecting the PSIP. The PSIP can assist the development of a capable, development-oriented state and a professional public service.

References

Anjum, S. 2020. Impact of internship programs on professional and personal development of business students: A case study from Pakistan. Future Business Journal, 6(1):2-106.

Gobeil, J. (2022). The investigation and development of experiential learning theory in primary and secondary education (PhD thesis). University of Saskatchewan. Available at: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/13740 [Accessed 10 February 2024].

Hora, M.T, Lee, C., Chen, Z. and Hernandez, A. 2021. Exploring online internships amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021. Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions.

Madubela, A. 2022, March 29. Another record high as 7.9-million people remain jobless in South Africa. Mail & Guardian. Available at: https://mg.co.za/business/2022-03-29-another-record-high-as-7-9-million-people-remain-jobless-in-south-africa/ [Accessed 17 March 2024].

Problem Statement and Purpose

The South African Constitution, 1996 and other relevant education policy frameworks pronounce that all learners should have equal access to quality teaching and learning. This is not the case in some rural areas, especially in the Eastern Cape Province due to past imbalances. South African history confirms this reality. The research critically analysed this region where vast rural areas pose persistent challenges to quality education, particularly school infrastructure, drawing on relevant philosophical principles. It grapples with widespread underperformance in schools with most visible disparity in provisioning suitable Rural School Physical Infrastructure (RSPI). It investigated the impact of RSPI provision on the performance and rights of learners from rural areas facing disadvantages and being exposed to inadequate school facilities.The implication: net effect of austerity measures, gaps in policy implementation, geospatial challenges, and a lack of maintenance planning adversely impacting sustainable service delivery negating quality education and training preparedness for school learners. Theorised within the Theory of Change Framework, the purpose was to investigate underlying factors having an impact on delivery of RSPI, learners’ performance and rights, and foreseeable mitigating strategies to turn the situation around. Focus was on four constructs: learner performance, learners’ rights, provision of adequate resources and learners’ safety.

Methodology

Guided by the interpretive paradigm, the qualitative research being exploratory obtained primary data regarding the impact of infrastructure provisioning on learners’ overall performance. The constructs guided the empirical study whereby participants’ insights were validated through these empirical investigations qualitatively understanding their feelings, perceptions and behaviours deemed suitable for the research. Utilising a matrix data analysis, themes were identified and categorised from collected data. Ontological and epistemological beliefs were integrated, serving as foundational premises for significant interpretive frameworks capturing lived experiences that focused on understanding the feelings, perceptions and behaviours of participants using thematic and content analysis to deductively explore responses.

Findings

It was found that whilst all learners should have equal access to quality teaching and learning, due to past imbalances, the province is classified as an underperforming. Learners from rural areas are deprived of basic infrastructure such as access to Internet connectivity, and do not benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution informing a global information society. Furthermore, a direct impact on three constructs of infrastructure, performance and learners’ rights for meaningful knowledge exists, and this calls for institutional assessment of, and amendment to the existing schools’ infrastructure policy in the province regarding provisioning of additional resources as a fundamental priority.

Proposals

Conceptually and contextually, the research delved into physical infrastructure in rural schools, examining the state of school buildings, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other infrastructural facilities gauging deeper understanding of the challenges faced, advocating improvements in physical infrastructure provision to enhance educational outcomes provincially. The research calls for renewed focus on the stakeholders’ role in the provision of the RSPI for economic and social growth whilst contributing to societal responsiveness. A key recommendation is the importance of implementing Norms and Standards for Infrastructure policy directive as prescribed improved and sustainable alternative service delivery options for good public administration practices and education.

References

Republic of South Africa. 1996. The Constitution. Pretoria: Government Printers.

Republic of South Africa. 2013. Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure. Government Gazette number 10067.

South African Human Rights Commission Annual reports 2016/17. 2017.