Putting the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle

North-West University Mafikeng Campus researcher and academic, Professor Akim Jasper Mturi, delivered his inaugural lecture on 21 July 2016. The title of his lecture was "Appropriate parental involvement is the 'jigsaw puzzle''.

The lecture was based on research done under the Research Focus Area 'Population and Health' which has identified sexual and reproductive health as the area that still needs more attention so that life can be improved, especially that of young people. The research indicates that teenage pregnancy is a widespread problem which needs to be addressed at an early age by parents and in schools.

Professor Mturi has published over 30 articles in accredited local and international journals, 12 chapters in peer-reviewed books and monographs, co-edited one book (published by Edwin Mellen Press of New York in 2014) and co-authored one International Labour Office (ILO) monograph in 2003.

He currently serves on the Editorial Board of one journal (Population Horizons of the University of Oxford) and has been Guest Editor of various journals.

The lecture was attended by, among others, the Tanzanian Ambassador to South Africa, Her Excellency, Radhia N Msuya, South African government and North-West Provincial Legislature officials, the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela traditional authority and the Mturi family.