Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

Well-established evidence of the ill-effects of exclusionary school discipline, its disproportionate use on students of colour, and association with the “school-to-prison pipeline” has, in the last decade, led to systemic reforms in the United States, which are successfully reducing exclusion and improving outcomes. Few studies, however, have similarly investigated overrepresentation in Australia, with little attention to systemic reform as a result. In this study, we analysed suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation rates in Queensland (QLD) government schools between 2013 and 2019 and found Indigenous students were consistently overrepresented. Suspension incidents proportionate to enrolments increased for all students, but this increase was faster for Indigenous than non-Indigenous students and driven primarily by steep rises in short suspensions during primary school (Preparatory-6). Exclusions increased—again disproportionately—for Indigenous students, chiefly in secondary school (7–12). During 2019, Physical Misconduct had the highest incident rate for both groups; however, Indigenous students were most overrepresented in suspensions for Disruptive/Disengaged behaviours. Further, while Indigenous students were overrepresented in all QLD regions, one region’s Indigenous suspension rate was higher than all others despite no difference in the distribution of Indigenous/non-Indigenous enrolments across regions. The scale and nature of Indigenous overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline incidents in QLD indicate clear need for further research to secure political commitment to systemic inclusive school reform, as well as to produce high-quality evidence capable of guiding that reform.

FAKTOR PENYUMBANG MASALAH PENGAJARAN DAN PEMUDAHCARAAN BAHASA TAMIL DAN CARA PENYELESAIANNYA DI SEBUAH SEKOLAH RENDAH ANTARABANGSA

Tamil language is one of the subjects offered by government schools as well as international schools in Malaysia. This study was conducted to examine the problems faced by students and teachers in learning and facilitation Tamil language in an international school. There are two objectives of the study in this study which is to examine the problems faced by students in an international primary school in learning and facilitation Tamil language and to identify the problems faced by teachers in an international primary school in learning and facilitation Tamil language. This study was conducted in an international primary school in Klang, Selangor. This study was conducted with the qualitative use of hermeneutic methods. Document analysis was used as a research instrument to collect and analyse data using daily lesson plans (RPH). The results of this study indicate that unplanned daily lesson plans, unclear content and inappropriate learning objectives were obtained from document analysis. This study can identify the problems faced by students and teachers should be curbed in an effective way. The problems studied in this study can help identify the solution to conduct effective Tamil language learning and facilitation in international primary schools.

Impact of COVID-19 on Adolescent Online Learning in Bangladesh

In this pandemic circumstance, the Bangladesh government started distance learning using broadcasting and online classes. This is a comparative study exploring the impact of online classes on adolescent learning during COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh. The study conducts a telephonic interview with 10 headteachers of urban and rural government schools through a semi-structured questionnaire. The study uses descriptive and documentary methods for analysis. The study finds the limitations and challenges facing by the teachers and the students to attend online classes. However, online examinations and assignments are more impactful than online classes to engage students and practice lessons but not enough to compensate for the learning gaps. Even parents are not satisfied with these. Many parents admitted their children to madrasah, and many parents want to continue their children's education after reopening the schools.

Relationship Between Peer Attachment and Adolescent Positive Well-Being with Gender as the Moderating Factor in Malaysia

Identifying protective factors that could influence the positive well-being of adolescents is important as positive development view emphasizes the possibility of adolescents developing positive traits based on their strengths, positive qualities, and supportive environments. This study examines the relationship between peer attachment with positive adolescent well-being and the role of gender as a moderator for links between peer attachment with positive adolescent well-being. A total of 400 7th Grade students from government schools in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and state of Selangor were involved in this study. Adolescent positive well-being and peer attachment were measured using the Positive Youth Development Scale and Inventory of Peer and Parent Attachment. The results show that peer attachment was predictor of adolescent positive well-being. The study also found that gender moderated the relationship between peer attachment and adolescent positive well-being. This study provides information on factors that can help the positive development of adolescents. Identifying these factors will provide insight on events or experiences that will increase the occurrence of positive outcomes and reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes.

Teachers’ Perception about Learning with Information and Communication Technologies: Usage & Challenges

We are living in an era of technology where everything demands knowledge, understanding, and handling of digital technology. Technology has renewed all spheres of social and professional lives and in this regard teaching and communication are not exceptional. Effective use of technology for real Communication is widely followed in teaching and teachers need to know the use of ICTs in classrooms for delivering lessons to inculcate sound knowledge and understanding of concepts. It is found that despite the significant impacts of ICTs on teaching and learning teachers are reluctant to use technical aids in the classroom. They report various issues that hamper them to use technology in their day-to-day teaching practices; moreover, a majority of teaching professionals are not convinced that they can make their teaching more and more effective by using technology. The paper aims to find out the CHALLENGES THE teachers face to use ICTs in classrooms and perceptions of teachers about the same. A qualitative research method was used to carry out the study. A well-designed questionnaire comprising of open-ended questions was served to randomly selected serving teachers from government schools of District Khairpur. The responses of the participants were analyzed to identify the challenges faced by the teachers while using ICT during the teaching and learning process. The collected data was analyzed and it was found out that teachers find it difficult to use technology in classrooms because they are not provided appropriate computers, technical support, and professional training to learn to use technology. It was also identified that because of time constraints teachers are unable to use ICTs in their teaching practices. Further, it was explored that teachers believe that teachers have limited perceptions about technology as they hold the view that technology just wastage their time. Based on findings, it was concluded that the integration of ICT tools is highly effective as it makes students more creative, productive, and hard-working as compared to traditionally managed classrooms. Schools administrations should provide not only the technology but also technical assistance to the teachers. Schools administrations need to help teachers to know the importance of ICTs and to use it for a meaningful purpose to improve the standard of education.

Gender Representation in Education: Critical Discourse Analysis of Urdu Textbooks used in Primary Government Schools in Punjab

This research aims to explore the gender equality or lack thereof in the Urdu textbooks taught in Punjab, Pakistan. Gender bias in textbooks is an important but almost invisible and overlooked problem. Five Urdu textbooks taught in primary government schools in Punjab were selected for critical discourse analysis. Both qualitative as well quantitative research methods were adopted. The number of female and male characters, portrayal of domestic and professional roles by both genders, and cosmetic bias was taken into account. In all five books analyzed, 28% characters were women whereas remaining were male characters. Female characters were mostly found in domestic situations with insignificant roles in the stories who did not have a name or an identity except being mothers. The text was highly biased towards the male characters associating valor and strength with men only. Since textbooks play a crucial role in the development of the children, it is important to remove the concealed gender bias in textbooks and acknowledge the changing roles of women in the Pakistani society in order to create a society that treats men and women equally.

Comparative Evaluation of the Nutritional Status and Habits of Students Studying in Private and Government Schools in a Semi-Urban Town in India –Kumbakonam Urban Rural Epidemiological Study - KURES -1

Malnutrition is a universal and an ever-rising problem due to changes in the lifestyle and eating habits among the children. The malnourished children are prone to illness. Hence, we planned to conduct a study in school children, both in Government set up and a private set up, to review their nutritional status and the influencing factors. Two thousand students in the age group of 8-17 years were interviewed for their food habits, asking them to fill up a proforma along with anthropometric measurements. Among the children interviewed 72% were malnourished, but only 0.06% were obese. The nourishment was significantly better in private school children but still 58% were underweight. There was a strong liking for fast food among children from both the groups. The playing time was less than an hour in a majority of students. Conclusion: There is an alarming census of underweight children in a semi-urban Indian town, but obesity is not that alarming, with an incidence rate < 1%. There is an urgent need to promote games among children of all socioeconomic status. A blanket ban on fast food items in the school campus is the need of the hour. Undernourished children form majority of students going to school in India. This includes children attending private paid schools. The incidence of obesity is still so low so that any community level action on the same is presently not needed in India.

Causes of reading and writing difficulties among children with special needs in the lower basic stage from the point of view of their teachers in public schools in Mafraq Governorate: أسباب صعوبات القراءة والكتابة لدى أطفال ذوي الاحتياجات الخاصة بالمرحلة الأساسيّة الدنيا من وجهة نظر معلميهم في ‏المدارس الحكوميّة بمحافظة المفرق

This study aimed to identify the causes of reading and writing difficulties for children of the lower basic stage from the point of view of their teachers in government schools in Mafraq Governorate and to identify the impact of the following variables (gender, years of experience, age, educational qualification), where the descriptive analytical approach was used, and to achieve The aim of the study was to develop a questionnaire consisting of (22) items, it was distributed to (60) male and female teachers, and (50) questionnaires valid for analysis were counted, and their validity and reliability were confirmed by a committee of specialized arbitrators, and after the process of distributing and collecting the questionnaires, they were coded The study showed that the causes of reading and writing difficulties for children of the lower basic stage from the point of view of their teachers in government schools in Mafraq Governorate were the most social reasons, where they were with an arithmetic average (4.09), and then the reasons Biological, where it came with an arithmetic mean (4.002), and then the environmental reasons, which averaged (3.27), and it was found that there are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α≤0.05) in the responses of individuals The study sample is about the causes of reading and writing difficulties in the lower basic stage in government schools in Mafraq Governorate according to the variables (sex, the value of its significance level reached (0.31), age, the value of its significance level reached (0.79), and the educational qualification, the value of its significance level reached (0.90)) and it was found that there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α≤0.05) in the responses of the study sample members towards the causes of reading and writing difficulties in the lower basic stage in government schools in Mafraq Governorate according to the variable (years of experience). The value of the significance level reached (0.53) Based on the results of this study, the researcher made recommendations, the most important of which is the need to train children to repeat reading and writing long words, the need to work on the integration of the child with his classmates in order to increase his abilities in reading and writing.