For adequate mitigation and adaptation measures, it is essential to have detailed analysis of droughts patterns. This study determined the i) occurrence and severity of droughts ii) drought recurrence frequencies and iii) drought trends across different agro-ecological zones in the Kingdom of Eswatini for the period 1981 to 2018. A Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) computed from long-term precipitation data measured from six meteorological stations was used to determine drought occurrence and severity. Python software (Version 3.6) was applied on the SPI values to predict the recurrence of drought events over time in years. The SPI showed that in the Highveld, 42% of the droughts were moderate, 32% were severe and the remaining 26%, which all occurred post 1980 were extreme (SPI -2.34 to -2.82). The Middleveld had an even proportion of drought categories (29–35%). The Lowveld recorded 62% of moderate, 8% severe and 30% extreme droughts of which 70% occurred post 2000. Moderate droughts were found to recur every 4–5 years while extreme droughts are expected every 13–21 years. These findings are essential for mitigation and adaptation measures geared towards the adverse effects of droughts.

This paper is concerned with the issue associated with final-year Natural Science pre-service teachers’ lesson design abilities. This paper reports how the implementation of a lesson study approach served as an intervention to support the lesson preparation abilities of pre-service teachers during a work-integrated learning (WIL) process. The case study generated rich qualitative data from multiple sources such as e-mail communications, WhatsApp responses, video capturing, and focus group team discussions. Couched within the critical emancipatory theory, the study found that the planning and preparation of innovative and inclusive Natural Science lessons are inseparably associated with the collaborative practices and interaction that existed among the team of pre-service teachers. The accommodative and engaging nature of the lesson study sessions empowered pre-service teachers to share their diverse subjective experiences and contextual ideas, which were pivotal to the generation of knowledge and design of Natural Science lessons. Consequently, the lesson study approach not only affected the pre-service teachers’ lesson design abilities but also better positioned them for the WIL experience.

This paper explores the value of indigenous games in the teaching and learning of word problems in Grade 4 mathematics. In particular, the paper explains how the moves of *kgati (skipping rope) can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics word problems. Participatory action research (PAR) methodology was used to generate data so as to enable participants to work collaboratively, freely and with confidence. Participants of this study were Grade 4 learners, a head of department, two Grade 4 mathematics teachers, a life skills teacher, a mathematics subject advisor, four parents and three members of the local royal family. The study seeks to answer the question: To what extent can learners use knowledge of the kgati (skipping rope) game to enhance the learning of mathematics word problems? Community cultural wealth (CCW) theory was employed as a lens that acknowledges the huge wealth of knowledge that participants bring from their homes into the classroom. These forms of capitals include aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial and resistant capital which relate to the knowledge learners bring from home and use to tap into word problems. Critical discourse analysis was used to analyse the words of the research team to reach their deeper meanings. The results of the study indicate that learners can interpret, convert and link their indigenous knowledge with mathematics and improve their understanding of mathematics concepts when indigenous knowledge is incorporated. Incorporating kgati moves to learn word problems significantly improved learners’ creativity and imagination. The study further suggests that learners work better when given opportunities for interactive and collaborative activities that relate to their daily practices.

The concept of imperfect market structures enables learners to develop mathematical and graphing skills that are needed for them to be critical thinkers and to be able to solve problems faced in their daily lives. It also provides opportunities for learners to acquire economic knowledge, which enables them to make informed economic decisions on economic events and issues they will experience as they enter the world of business and work. In spite of the importance of imperfect market structures in cultivating these skills and knowledge, learner academic achievement in economics, particularly where mathematical and graphing skills are concerned, has been regrettably poor in most countries around the globe. Hence, this qualitative study investigated the opportunities to learn mathematical and graphical skills in imperfect market structures in three selected Grade 12 economics classes. The study intended to investigate what it is that teachers do in the name of teaching and learning of mathematical and graphing skills and the reasoning behind their actions. Opportunities to Learn (OTL) is the conceptual framework which was used to determine what teachers do in the classroom that enables learners to make sense of imperfect market structures. Using the case study approach, the study was operationalised by three conveniently selected economics teachers in the Galeshewe township in South Africa. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each of the three teachers before they conducted their classes which the researcher observed. The findings of the researcher show that little or no opportunities to learn are provided in an imperfect market structure class.

The aim of the study is to analyse how gender as a variable continues to have an impact on the performance of learners in