Preparedness for paid- and self-employment: perceptions amongst Ekiti State University agricultural students, Nigeria

PurposeGraduate unemployment in agriculture is a serious challenge in Nigeria. Literatures suggest two arguments explaining this. First, the skills possessed by graduates are mostly incompatible with the needs of industries; second, universities produce more graduates than required. Focussing on universities as the source of change to address these two arguments, the purpose of the study was to examine the case of Ekiti State University agricultural faculty. The study investigated students' perspectives regarding their motivations for choosing agriculture over other disciplines, training received in critical thinking, innovation and soft-skills and their courage and willingness to undertake self-employment upon graduation.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a qualitative research design to collect and analyse data from a case study. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews with 42 respondents from amongst the Ekiti State University final year B. Agric agricultural students that totalled 108. Seven of the respondents were purposively selected following recommendations from their lecturers due to their bright academic performances. Others were chosen using convenience sampling.FindingsThe study found that students preferred other science disciplines to agriculture and only ended up studying agriculture out of frustration of not gaining admission into their preferred fields. Students generally denied ever undertaking any training in critical and soft skills either as courses on their own or through the teaching methods adopted in other courses. Respondents generally expressed willingness to undertake self-employment but expressed lack of confidence to do so solely based on their little practical exposure and lack of access to basic resources like finance and land.Research limitations/implicationsOnly agricultural students of Ekiti State University were sampled; hence, the results is not generalisable to other disciplines in the university or to all Universities in Nigeria. Convenience sampling was used because access to all members of the sampled population at the same time was not possible due to different timetables for lectures for the various disciplines and non-readiness of some students to be interviewed for lack of interest or for commitment to other engagements.Practical implicationsThe study practically implied that the theoretical training offered to agricultural students of Ekiti State University needs to be balanced with practical exposure, such that students gain enough confidence to practice what they have learnt upon graduation to earn a living.Social implicationsThe study revealed that there is need for curriculum review for agricultural studies at Ekiti State University in a way that will accommodate relevant practical trainings for students to make them suitable for either hired employment or self-employment upon graduation.Originality/valueThe author hereby declares that this manuscript is the author's own work and it contains, to the best of the author's knowledge, no materials previously published or written by another person. The author has no idea of an in-depth study of this nature that has been done to analyse the gap between the training received by agricultural students in Universities and the skills required to make them capable for hired employment or self-employment upon graduation from universities.

Curriculum Mapping of Undergraduate Medical Programmes: Recommendations for Future Directions

Background: Medical schools are expected to churn out all-rounded healthcare professionals who are competent in the prerequisite knowledge and skills necessary to address the everchanging health needs of the society. This is usually made possible through innovation and strategy, one of which involves the continuous review and renewal of all the components of existing teaching and learning plans through a blueprinting process called curriculum mapping. This blueprint allows for curriculum goals development, together with management, reviewing and organizing its contents. As curriculum mapping of medical programmes was in its infancy stage at the time of this research, this study focusses on reporting the perspectives of the curriculum leaders on future directions for curriculum mapping of undergraduate medical programmes in South Africa. Method: Purposive sampling was used in a qualitative study among fourteen academics involved in medical curricula at all eight medical schools. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and analysis was done by thematic analysis. Results: Curriculum planners have specific expectations of curriculum mapping of undergraduate programmes as a possible future strategy to drive curriculum review and renewal in the country. Although some agreement exists about the characteristic features, any mapping platform created should meet the specific institutional requirements that will address their challenges. Conclusion: Finally, a national mandate from the authorities will be required to achieve curriculum benchmarking and collaboration amongst the medical schools to standardize undergraduate medical programme outcomes.

INFLUENCE OF THE PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL POLICE SERVICE IN PREVENTION OF ORGANIZED CRIMES IN MOMBASA COUNTY, KENYA

This paper uses data collected for an MA Thesis on influence of the Performance of National Police Service in Prevention of organized Crimes in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study was necessitated by continued rise of criminal gangs despite police service efforts to contain the problem. The study was guided by three specific objectives, but for this paper first and second objectives will be discussed. First, the examined the influence of resource capacity on the performance of national police service in prevention of organized crimes in Mombasa County. Secondly, the study examined the influence of motivation on the performance of national police service in prevention of organized crimes. Thirdly, the last objective assessed the influence of external environment on the performance of National Police Service in prevention of organized crimes in Mombasa County, Kenya. The survey utilized Expectancy theory and Crime Pattern Theory and adopted a descriptive research design employing a mixed method paradigm. The study sample size comprised 306 National Police Service officers (NPS); Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers, Kenya Police service (KP), and Administration Police (AP) officers both senior and junior. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis derived from the study objectives. On the other hand, quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics. According to the findings, 17% of the police officers still undertake operations without intelligence briefing, and that despite the availability of criminal intelligence. Besides, access to criminal intelligence was still a major challenge to 45% of the officers while inter-agency coordination was a rare part of the fight against organized crime to 56% of the officers who were not involved. The findings also revealed that despite the importance of training towards the prevention of organized crime, 33% of police officers did not have access to these trainings. Furthermore, 53% of the officers, cited lack of recognition and motivation that could go a long way in raising performance of the police officers. The study makes two major recommendations; special attention to training and curriculum review that addresses the demands of emerging global security challenges. Secondly, officer’s welfare remains a thorny issue which can potentially stifle any crime prevention initiative. Welfare issues of concern such as merit and fairness in promotions, rewards and other incentives, and better compensation were said to be an integral part of any serious police reform agenda.

Assessment of the Level of Knowledge of Climate Change of Undergraduate Science and Agriculture Students

Introduction of climate change (CC) courses in universities is critical for helping future generations and leaders in recognizing the global challenges of CC and finding ways for adapting with it. People's knowledge of CC can influence success of any planned CC mitigation and adaptation programs and activities. Thereupon, it is vital for environmental planners and researchers to conduct regular assessments of this knowledge to determine need for curriculum reform, if any. This study was conducted to assess the level of CC knowledge of undergraduate physical science and agricultural science students in Jarash University, Jordan. The study used specifically-designed Climate Change Knowledge Test (CCKT) as the data collection tool. Population of the study was undergraduate science and agriculture students enrolled in the Faculty of Agriculture and Science. The study sample consisted of 285 students, comprising 103 science students and 182 agriculture students. The results indicate that the sample students have high levels of knowledge of the nature, causes, and effects of CC. However, on the average, a higher number of the sample students posses knowledge of effects of CC (n = 223, % = 79.3%) than its nature (209, 73.5%) and causes (190, 66.9%). Additionally, it was found that the female students have higher levels of overall CC knowledge than their male peers and that the agriculture students possess higher levels of CC knowledge than their science peers. These results emphasize the need for curriculum review and reform to ensure equipping the university graduates with comprehensive knowledge of CC.

Review of Single National Curriculum with Perspective of the Education of Children with Visual Impairment at Primary Level in Punjab Pakistan

Purpose: The Single National Curriculum (SNC) is one of the basic items of manifesto of ruling party in Pakistan. The academic capability of Children with Visual Impairment (CWVI) is usually considered as that of non-disabled students due to their good cognitive skills. Directorate of Special Education Punjab adopted the same curriculum for CWVI. This study is an effort to identify the standards, benchmarks and SLOs which are difficult to accomplish for CWVI. It was a qualitative study by method and curriculum review/document analysis technique was applied to study the SNC. The complete curriculum of seven key learning areas at early childhood level and following six subjects of English, Urdu, Mathematics, General Knowledge, Islamiat and General Science were studied at primary level. The data was retrieved from the website of National Curriculum Council, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Islamabad, Government of Pakistan. Collected information was coded, major themes were derived and interpreted. Results revealed that a large number of standards, benchmarks and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) were easy to accomplish for CWVI as non-disabled children but many standards, benchmarks and SLOs were not easy to accomplish for CWVI due to their visual limitations and lack of sufficient need based support. The study recommended that proper adaptations, modifications and accommodations should be made for CWVI especially to attain the geometry, science and geography related standards, benchmarks and SLOs including adaptations proposed by Directorate of Special Education Punjab. Pictorial representations and visual tasks should be substituted with some other learning tasks for CWVI.

Decolonising the retail business management curriculum in the higher education sector

This article critiques the retail business management curriculum as currently offered in the Higher Education (HE) sector. The study used an exploratory qualitative approach, which involved conducting telephone interviews with a purposively selected sample of 25 participants conversant with the phenomenon studied, retail management practitioners, students and curriculum review experts. This was augmented by secondary literature. The study found out that by and large the retail business management (RBM) curriculum that is currently rolled out in the HE sector is largely based on Western epistemologies. The knowledge economy that is consumed by the recipients of the RBM curriculum in the HE sector is mainly from American and European academics and that is at the expense of the local or indigenous knowledge. It was found out, that the majority of the curriculum recipients do not identify with the current curriculum because it is divorced from their lived experiences that include their culture in particular their languages, beliefs and values. The study avers that indigenous knowledge systems were left out in the process of the RBM curriculum development and that partly explains its alienation from the lived realities of the local students and academic staff. The study therefore recommends that the current RBM curriculum needs to be effectively decolonised and the starting point for this decolonisation process is the involvement of all stakeholders in the curriculum development process. Secondly, the use of diverse educators to reflect the country’s racial mix is recommended. The study also recommends the convening of all stakeholder curriculum review engagements, the use of a local knowledge economy and local languages in teaching and learning of the RBM curriculum.

School Strike 4 Climate: the intersection of education for sustainable development, education for global citizenship and the Australian Curriculum

In June 2020, an Australian Curriculum (AC) review was announced, particularly regarding content crowding in primary years, flexibility and deep understanding of core concepts. The language of the announcement highlighted again the ‘competing-priorities’ discourse that suggests a disjuncture between focusing on fundamental knowledge and skills of literacy and numeracy and providing opportunities to develop broader conceptual understandings and skills inherent in the pedagogies of education for global citizenship (EGC) and education for sustainable development (ESD). By contrast, the School Strike 4 Climate rallies exemplified students’ integration of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes from a variety of disciplines and broader learning experiences embedded within the AC with the cross-curriculum priorities, particularly sustainability, and the general capabilities. This article claims that the School Strike 4 Climate rallies highlight the interconnection between EGC and ESD and the AC. It will argue that the inquiry-based, pedagogical approaches of EGC and ESD are powerful integrators offering teachers the opportunity to take cross-disciplinary approaches to planning, connecting multiple learning areas from the AC with real-world projects and issues. It is suggested that, far from crowding the curriculum, such integration frees up space and offers opportunities for the deep conceptual understanding the curriculum review seeks.

Literature Reading and Writing Proficiency in Class II Elementary School Students Through Online Learning

This study aims to describe the development of reading and writing literacy skills for second-grade students of SD Islam Al-Azhar 13 Rawamangun, East Jakarta. This research is a case study research that utilizes observation, interviews, document studies, and tests as data collection techniques. The development of reading and writing literacy for elementary school students in grade II begins with the emergency curriculum review process, syllabus and lesson plans design, learning implementation, and ends with an evaluation. The results of reading learning activities which consist of three activities of reading aloud reading texts, reading comprehension, and reading poetry texts indicate a very good level of students' reading skills. Writing lessons focused on writing simple poems according to pictures and writing simple texts according to pictures using punctuation marks and capital letters also showed excellent student skills. Thus, it is concluded that the online learning conducted by Al-Azhar Islamic Elementary School 13 Rawamangun to improve students' reading and writing literacy skills has been effective with various supporting factors.