The Level of Contraceptive Knowledge among Female University Undergraduates in Gitega, Burundi. A Cross-sectional Study.

Background Modern contraceptives (MC) refer to any family planning method used to prevent pregnancy. Knowledge about fertility control is an important step towards access to and use of an appropriate contraceptive method in a timely and effective manner. In Burundi, the utilization rate among sexually active adolescents (15–19) is very low despite the reported 11% high fertility rate among these groups. Methodology A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted among 340 female undergraduates at Gitega Universities. The study period was from June 2019 to October 2021.  The Leslie Fischer's formula was used to calculate the required sample size. A structured self-administered questionnaire consisting of 15 items was used to collect data relevant to the study. Data was entered and carried out using IBM Statistical packages for Social Science (SPSS) Statistics v23. Descriptive statistics were summarized. A Chi-square test was used to assess the association between different variables Results A total of 340 female students were studied.  68% were aged 25-29years.  The majority of the respondent 290 (85.3%) were unmarried. 198(58.2%) were single and 92(27.1%) were engaged. 41.2% were in the second year of study and 139 (40.9%) in year 3 of study.  The majority of female students (88.5%) were aware of contraceptives and the majority (67.9%) knew the correct meaning of contraception. Conclusion Despite the knowledge of modern contraceptive methods amongst female undergraduates, the utilization of modern contraception is low. The low utilization of FP may be linked to the negative perceptions and beliefs around family planning that is not well-accepted, especially among young people. Recommendations Provide high-quality contraceptive services that help female students overcome the personal and cultural barriers they face by providing care that protects their rights to voluntary, informed, and confidential contracep­tive choice

STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NYAMASHEKE DISTRICT, RWANDA

The study is entitled “Staff Development and Curriculum Implementation of Secondary Schools in Nyamasheke District, Rwanda”. This research was conducted with the purpose of analyzing the impact of Staff development on Curriculum implementation in secondary schools of Nyamasheke District. The study had three specific objectives. Firstly, it was designed to analyze the status of training related to Staff development in schools of Nyamaheke District. The second objective was to find out the challenges faced by schools of Nyamasheke District in curriculum implementation. Finally, the third objective was to analyze the relationship between staff development and curriculum implementation. The study established the relationship between independent variables (training; mentoring; coaching) and dependent variables (teaching methods and content coverage). The target population was made up of head teachers, teachers, and students from secondary schools of Nyamasheke District. The number of those schools targeted by this study was 10 secondary schools. The population was 5’425 people composed of 10 head teachers, 181 teachers, and 5.234 students. The respondents purposively sampled were 250 people composed of 10 head teachers, 160 teachers, and 80 students. Four boys and four girls were selected from every school for the purpose of gender balancing in the study. Data were collected using questionnaires and observation checklists and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques; data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences presented in tables. The study found that Staff development and Curriculum implementation have been more and more effective since 2016 according to Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC): 90% of teachers have been trained on the new curriculum since 2015; 80% of head teachers are bachelor holders in education and 20% of them are post-graduate diploma holders in education. The main challenge is that new documents applied to the new curriculum remain very few. Indeed, 30% of schools do not have well-equipped school laboratories with modern materials and SPSS has been used to analyze different data. The study concluded that there is hope that Curriculum implementation will succeed in the future. The research recommended that the Ministry of Education should help schools to equip all science and computer laboratories. The District Education Officer (DEO) and the school management were also advised to plan much training about new Curriculum implementation. The successful Curriculum implementation will benefit all stakeholders in education and the results of national examinations will be interesting in the future.  Article visualizations

A study on the practices and challenges of Distance Training Programme (DTP) under Kigali Institute of Education (KIE)

This article is built upon the findings from the dissertation report conducted in Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) and Rwamagana Distance Training Programme (DTP) centres during the whole academic year of 2011/2012. The researchers were interested to learn in depth about the practices under DTP programme. It was found out that the DTP programme relies mostly on print materials supplemented by week-end tutorials and face-to-face sessions. The ICT supported learning and assistance modes are not yet integrated and a number of challenges were highlighted.Résumé Cet article est construit sur base des conclusions du projet de recherche accompli dans les centres de l’enseignement à distance (DTP) de l’institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Kigali (KIE) et Rwamagana tout au long de l’année académique 2011/2012. Les chercheurs étaient intéressés d’apprendre en profondeur à propos des pratiques au sein de ce programme de DTP. Il a été découvert que le programme de DTP utilise fortement l’imprimé complété par les classes de travaux dirigés de week-end et les séances face- à -face. L'apprentissage et l’assistance des apprenants sur base des TIC ne sont pas encore intégrés et un certain nombre de défis ont été relevés.Key words: Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), Distance Training Programme (DTP), Distance Education (DE), Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

Traditional Vs Smart Electricity Metering Systems: A Brief Overview

Electricity meters are devices for electricity consumption measurements, which have been used and are still in use today with modern technologies. In some places, traditional electricity meters are replaced with smart electricity meters for more accuracy, efficiency, features, privacy, security and visibility in electricity measurements. Literature review was used in this study to compare traditional analogue electricity meters with digital electricity meters. Therefore, the achievements and challenges of 12 countries around the world (2 countries on each continent except Antarctic), which adopted smart electricity metering solutions, were also explored. The paper considered consumers electricity meters and not power grid meters. It was shown that deploying smart metering solutions improve grid reliability, enhance revenue management, reduce electricity losses, address billing and credit control difficulties, promote energy efficiency, improve services to customers, postpone construction of new power generation plants, reduce power theft and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  However, smart electricity metering solutions are not adopted worldwide because of: ageing and outdated infrastructures, inadequate resources, lack of integrated communication platforms, cost of deployment, transition from legacy systems, management of the vast amounts of data, compatibility of elder equipment, lack of standards and interoperability and changes in regulatory protocols and policies. Keywords: Traditional metering, Smart metering, Smart electricity meters, smart grid, Traditional electricity meter

Bilateral Trade Analyses Between China and East African Community Countries

China had held trade and economic relationships with foreign nations including African countries and members of East African Community (EAC) for a long time. This paper analyses the bilateral trade relationships between China and countries, currently members of EAC (Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan) from 1980 to 2016. Data from International monetary Fund database (Data set: Goods, value of exports, freight on Board, US Dollars) were gathered and analysed using Excel Data analyses tool.  In the context of this paper, Imports stand for trade from China to EAC countries and Exports stand for trade from EAC countries to China. Analyses and results show high exports trade during:  1980-1993 and 1999-2003 for Kenya; 1994-1998 and 2004-2012 for Tanzania; 2013-2016 for South Sudan.  Analyses also show astronomically very high imports in recent years for Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya, running into Billions of US Dollars. Only South Sudan has recorded positive trade surplus against China, because of its strong oil exporting advantage, while the other EAC countries have very high negative trade imbalances with China. It is strongly recommended that value addition to export products of each EAC member country, would improve the bilateral trade relationships between China and the EAC. Keywords: China; East African Community, Exports; Imports; Trad

Spatio-temporal Analysis of Urban Growth and Its Effects on Wetlands in Rwanda: The Case of Rwampara Wetland in the City of Kigali

This study aimed at analyzing the spatio-temporal patterns of urban growth and its effects on Rwampara wetland, located in the City of Kigali,  Rwanda. First, the study was based on the application of remote sensing technology, where 4 Landsat images (1987, 1999, 2009 & 2018) were  classified using maximum likelihood classification algorithm. This helped in analyzing the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) trends in the study area. Secondly, it used the existing LULC data for the years 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 in order to investigate the overall changes in LULC in Kigali City. Finally, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from local people and decision-makers about their past and future management strategies of Rwampara wetland. In this regard, 30 local communities (mainly natives from the study area), 15 local government authorities at sector and district levels as well as 4 senior government authorities in the central administration were interviewed. The findings revealed that over the past 4 decades, urban growth in Kigali City has rapidly increased at the expense of resource degradation in Rwampara wetland. Specifically, there has been an increase of about 77% of the built-up area over the last 31 years (1987-2018) which has led to the decrease of the wetland surface area from 24 ha in 1987 to only 7.7 ha in 2018. The results also revealed that demographic factors (i.e. a high population growth rate and high population  densities) were mainly responsible for urban growth and degradation of wetland resources in the area under investigation. Keywords: urban growth, wetland, wetland resources, wetland degradation, wetland managemen

Organic Geochemistry of Peat Deposits in southwest Rwanda

Rwanda hosts million tons of peat deposits and that of western province is of great importance as it close to Kivu Lake. The discovery of methane gas in Kivu Lake has attracted investors in methane gas utilization as source of power supply and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Researchers identified Kivu Lake and adjacent area as an area of interest for hydrocarbon exploration. However, organic geochemical prospecting for hydrocarbon and energy content assessment is inadequate for the identified areas. The study aimed at determining the organic geochemistry of peat deposits in southwest, Rwanda. Forty (40) subsurface peat samples (1 to 10 m depth) were collected, air-dried and pulverized and screened. Five (5) samples with high organic matter content were subjected to biomarkers analysis using GC-GCMS. The n-alkanes distribution comprised mainly n-C11 to n-C 37. The Pr/Ph ratios (3.3-10.4, the waxiness index (0.09-0.87), CPI (3.6-7.8), OEP (3.5-6.0), C29 steranes (63.0–100.0%), C28 (0.0–28.0%), C27 (0.0–18.0%) and C27/ C29 sterane ratios (0.0-0.28). The ββ/ (ββ + αα) and 20S/ (20S + 20R) are 0.5 and 0.46 respectively. The C30 -moretane/ C30 -hopane ratios ranged from 1.56 to 2.42, while the oleanane index ranged from 0.07 to 0.26. The Ts/ (Ts + Tm) ratios ranged from 0.13 to 1.05. The dominance of C-29 sterols and C29/C27 sterane ratio which ranged from 3.5 to 100 indicating derivation from terrigenous higher plant material. The Pr/Ph ratio (>3) reflect the oxic to sub-oxic environmental condition during peat deposition. The peat deposits in Western Province, Rwanda are very rich in organic matter of mainly terrestrial precursor deposited in dry and cold climate