Access,poverty and learning achievement for primary school leavers in Kenya: analysis of evidence from 47 counties

To what extent, if at all, did the introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003 have positive equity effects, in terms of both access and achievement. Access is based on the number of candidates sitting the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination and the KCPE score is used to measure achievement levels. The study uses data that reflects Kenya’s 47 devolved governance counties. A quantitative measure of poverty in all 47 counties was then entered as an independent variable of regression analysis, and a negative association with KCPE performance noted (high poverty levels associated with low KCPE scores). Also noted was a contrast between counties showing high enrolment impact and improved KCPE scores, and those showing high enrolment impact and lower KCPE scores. Counties in the former group are located almost entirely in arid and semi-arid areas, those in the latter group in the coastal region.     

Access to undergraduate education is an unresolved burden in Ghana: A qualitative approach

Higher education is a means by which human capital is mostly developed and awareness is created in people to think of themselves as active citizens willing and able to have influence in public life, and with the critical capacity to weigh evidence before speaking and acting. The rationale behind the paper is to address the low access to higher education in Ghana, and to emphasise the need to deal with the issue, if Ghana wants to maintain its middle-income status and be heading towards a developed country. Therefore, the paper re-examines the challenges of undergraduate education access in Ghana by intentionally selecting some educationists and engaging them in an interview. Financial challenges, infrastructural deficiency and inadequate lecturers are found to be some of the challenges. The contributions of the paper to knowledge include development of educational access conceptual framework. It is recommended that funding arrangements be pursued for students, technologically mediated distance education be effected and more research graduates be produced to augment the teaching capacity base.     

The existence of school‐related stress in two grammar schools in Northern Ireland: contributing factors and moderation

Recent educational policies have altered scholastic experience. It is the contention of the authors that contemporary school experience may therefore, for some individuals, be distressing. This study is concerned with the identification of stress‐related behaviours of sixth‐form pupils within female single‐sex, selective, scholastic environments. The sample consisted of 420 girls drawn from two comparable schools. The study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods. Administration of a questionnaire at three intervals within one academic year permitted sustained reflection upon responses. The qualitative questionnaire findings permitted generation of themes, later investigated through focus groups. SPSS was used to analyse responses to scaled questions. The keeping of a research diary served to illuminate meaning and to capture anecdotal evidence, which is so easily lost within a busy school environment. In addition, the opinions of a number of relevant professionals were sought. The study concluded that some members of the sample population encounter demands emanating not only from assessment incidents, but also from a range of other sources inherent to the system of sufficient magnitude, duration and intensity to engender school‐related stress. Within the study the ways in which school‐related stress may present are identified; these include, for example, physical effects, subjective effects, effects upon work and effects upon relationships. An evaluation of current relevant support mechanisms is offered and recommendations for change are made.     

Freshman Learning Communities in Criminology and Criminal Justice: An Effective Tool for Enhancing Student Recruitment and Learning Outcomes*

Freshmen Learning Communities (FLCs) or Freshmen Interest Groups (FIGs) recently emerged on the landscape of higher education as an innovative means of improving educational outcomes. Building around a cohort‐based pedagogical model, FLCs use thematic foci, block scheduling, and faculty collaboration to ease the transition into the first‐year college experience. This paper outlines the logic and structure of a criminology/criminal justice‐based FLC. It details how pedagogical variations such as writing across the curriculum and web‐based design can be included. A large body of input and output data is considered that measures how students respond to the FLC experience.     

Peace as an event,peace as utopia: a re-imagining of peace and its implications for peace education and development

This paper aims to provide a new approach to peace in order to contribute to a theoretically informed approach to peace education and development practice. Arguing that liberal peace can be counter-productive and can actually betray peace, I offer an alternative approach in order to contribute to thinking on peace for educators and development practitioners. Introducing the theory of peace that I developed in my recent Ph.D., I explore how utopian and post-structural theory conceptualises peace as an open-ended promise, facilitating alternative thinking about peace and how to engage with it. I then discuss the implications this has for praxis and finish by looking at how the work of translating peace is an important aspect of peace education and development.     

Implementing Free Primary Education Policy in Malawi and Ghana: Equity and Efficiency Analysis

Malawi and Ghana are among the numerous Sub-Saharan Africa countries that have in recent years introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) policy as a means to realizing the 2015 Education for All and Millennium Development Goals international targets. The introduction of FPE policy is, however, a huge challenge for any national government that has experienced declining or slow economic growth and heavily relied on charging fees to parents and other sources to finance the education system. It follows, therefore, that the approach taken in implementing the FPE policy has implications for equity and efficiency in the education sector. Malawi and Ghana have differently implemented FPE policy. In this article we assess the impact of the implementation approach taken by each of the two countries on equity and efficiency in their education systems.     

Networking resources,owning productivity: a post-development alternative in Mindanao?

This paper explores the practices of one small non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Mindanao working innovatively to challenge power and interests by linking resources to local communities who control their productivity. While this may seem like social capital, I suggest that the agency over production, and the deeply political and ideological nature of the recipient communities, calls for a different reading. The regard for the contextual and contestational politics suggests that a radical alternative is emerging. I use post-development theory to frame the analysis of this example, posing the question: Is this practice a radical alternative to the internationally framed global development discourses, or are we witnessing the reproduction of these discourses in new forms?