An Evaluation of Computer Aided Learning (BRAC-CAL) in Secondary Schools in Bangladesh.

BRAC initiated Computer Aided Learning (CAL) programme, the first ever in Bangladesh, to introduce ICT based materials in teaching-learning in 2004 Along with digital contents of Science, English and mathematics of secondary level, this programme provided basic ICT and content delivery training to the teachers of programme schools. A qualitative evaluation following the Realist Evaluation framework was designed to evaluate the programme mechanism, context and outcome. Data were collected from six secondary schools selected purposively. Findings showed that both teachers and students enjoyed the CAL materials and also believed that those materials had changed classroom scenario by improving learners’ attention and participation in classroom activities. However, significant difference was not observed between CAL and non-CAL classrooms. Teachers struggled to organise collaborative learning tasks such as group and pair works. Students also had limited participation in teaching-learning process. Irregular electricity supply sometimes hampered use of CAL materials. Furthermore, students had limited access to these materials. Bearing this context the recommendations were to focus more on teachers’ pedagogic improvement and to create more scopes for students’ self use of these materials

Negotiating healthy trade in Australia: health impact assessment of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Drawing on leaked texts of potential provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, this health impact assessment found the potential for negative impacts in the cost of medicines, tobacco control policies, alcohol control policies, and food labeling. Overview The Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) has been working with a group of Australian academics and non-government organisations interested in the health of the Australian population to carry out a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations. In the absence of official publicly available drafts of the trade agreement, the health impact assessment drew on leaked texts of potential provisions and formulated policy scenarios based on high priority health policies that could be affected by the TPP. The HIA found the potential for negative impacts in each of the four areas under investigation: the cost of medicines; tobacco control policies; alcohol control policies; and food labeling. In each of these areas, the HIA report traces the relevant proposed provisions through to their likely effects on the policy scenarios onto the likely impact on the health of Australians, focusing particularly on vulnerable groups in the Australian community. The report makes a number of recommendations to DFAT regarding the TPP provisions and to the Australian Government regarding the TPP negotiating process

Bail and remand for young people in Australia: a national research project

Abstract Funded and endorsed by the Australasian Juvenile Justice Administrators, this is one of the first national scale research reports into the bail and remand practices for young Australians. A young person can be placed in custody on remand (ie refused bail) after being arrested by police in relation to a suspected criminal offence, before entering a plea, while awaiting trial, during trial or awaiting sentence. Although custodial remand plays an important role in Western criminal justice systems, minimising the unnecessary use of remand is important given the obligations Australia has under several UN instruments to use, as a last resort, youth detention of any kind. This research identifies trends in the use of custodial remand and explores the factors that influence its use for young people nationally and in each of Australia’s jurisdictions

The Canadian ABS Market: Where Do We Go From Here?

The asset-backed securities (ABS) market suffered a major setback during the financial crisis that began in 2007. Its role in the broader market collapse has been well documented, but the need to restore a healthy ABS market is equally clear. Indeed, North American policymakers have readily acknowledged that this market must play a major role in the global economic recovery and policymakers have recently moved beyond addressing the urgency of restarting the ABS market to considering its reform. An analysis of current reform proposals guides suggestions for a policy approach that reflects Canadian market realities. Specifically, it would be prudent in the Canadian context to impose new disclosure requirements for all public market medium-term note issuance.Financial Services, asset-backed securities (ABS), ABS market reforms, Canadian ABS market, global economic recovery

Beam Loss Monitors

This lecture covers the fundamental aspects of the measurement of beam losses including their use for beam diagnostic and safety issues. The detailed functionality and detection principle of various common beam loss monitors are also presented, with a focus on their intrinsic sensitivity.Comment: 39 pages, contribution to the CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Beam Instrumentation, 2-15 June 2018, Tuusula, Finlan

Laws for fiscal responsibility for subnational discipline : international experience

Fiscal responsibility laws are institutions with which multiple governments in the same economy -- national and subnational --can commit to help avoid irresponsible fiscal behavior that could have short-term advantages to one of them but that would be collectively damaging. Coordination failures with subnational governments in the 1990s contributed to macroeconomic instability and led several countries to adopt fiscal responsibility laws as part of the remedy. The paper analyzes the characteristics and effects of fiscal responsibility laws in seven countries -- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, and Peru. Fiscal responsibility laws are designed to address the short time horizons of policymakers, free riders among government units, and principal agent problems between the national and subnational governments. The paper describes how the laws differ in the specificity of quantitative targets, the strength of sanctions, the methods for increasing transparency, and the level of government passing the law. Evidence shows that fiscal responsibility laws can help coordinate and sustain commitments to fiscal prudence, but they are not a substitute for commitment and should not be viewed as ends in themselves. They can make a positive contribution by adding to the collection of other measures to shore up a coalition of states with the central government in support of fiscal prudence. Policymakers contemplating fiscal responsibility laws may benefit from the systematic review of international practice. One common trait of successful fiscal responsibility laws for subnational governments is the commitment of the central government to its own fiscal prudence, which is usually reinforced by the application of the law at the national as well as the subnational level.Debt Markets,Banks&Banking Reform,Subnational Economic Development,Public Sector Economics,Access to Finance

Technical and further education institutes: 2014 audit snapshot

This report comments on the financial results, trends and risks arising from audits of TAFE financial and performance statements, and the financial statements of the 16 entities they control. Summary This report comments on the outcomes of the 2014 financial audits of the 12 technical and further education (TAFEs) institutes and their controlled entities. It also comments on performance reporting and risk management at the TAFEs, being two key areas of governance within TAFEs. The TAFEs whose financial reports are complete and commented on in this report had a combined net deficit of $75.4 million for 2014. This result follows a combined net deficit of$15.1 million in 2013. Our indicators of financial sustainability risks show short-term challenges at six TAFEs, and longer-term risks emerging for the whole sector as spending on asset replacement and renewal is decreasing. Victoria\u27s TAFEs have undergone a period of structural change since 2012 when the then government altered its funding model. The agility of TAFEs to respond to these changes and associated challenges has varied, and not all have responded in a timely and/or financially sustainable way. While some steps have been taken by the sector to respond to the structural changes, bigger steps are needed by TAFE boards and the Department of Education & Training to turn around the financial decline within the sector