Addressing the Factors Inhibiting Students’ Participation in Classroom Interactive Teaching and Learning in Jimma University, Ethiopia

This action research was conducted in 2007 with these aims: to discover the stressors to active students’ participation in classroom; attempt solving the identified stressors immediately; and to design some mitigating measures for both short term and long term solutions. Although Ethiopian Ministry of Education stresses the need for employing interactive teaching methods, this has been frustrated due to number of problems. The glaring ones are: unpreparedness of teachers to change their teaching methods; the reluctance of students to comply as they are used to teacher-centered methods and culturally encapsulated in male-chauvinism; students’ poor English language background and absolute poverty and so on. There are also problems of policy conflicts; insufficient learning and teaching materials; noises; and so o, all combined to inform this research-design. With patience and continuous enlightenment of the students and application of more students’ centered methods, there were noticeable changes toward the desired attitudes. A matrix mapping out the problems, what was done to instantly address each of the problems, assessment of the effectiveness of the measures adopted and concise suggestions for further re-enforcement of desired learning behaviour were given. The key concepts are: Action Research; Inhibitors of Learning and Teaching; Interactive Teaching Methods; Classroom Management; and Gender Issues

Protecting the Endangered Biodiversity in The Gilgel-Gibe Rivers Basins Ethiopia: Need for Multi-Disciplinary Approaches and Enlightenments.

The major objectives of the survey were: To ascertain the degree of endangering the biodiversity in the basins; to inform the professionals and farmers how their activities contribute to environmental degradation; to encourage the communities to initiate mitigating measures to arrest environmental degradation; to influence the farmers, fuel-wood dealers and brick industrialists to be aware of environmental protection laws; to fight desertification; to be conscious of environmental degradation; and to conserve the ecosystem in the basin. Scope and Population included the Forest workers in the various Wareda sharing the basin, farmers on the banks of the river, and the patrons of the flora and fauna there for commercial purposes - fuel and Lumber Dealers using Trucks; Block Industries; Local fishermen and hunter - in the Gilgel and Gibe basins. Interviews and focused group discussions [the number of respondents per group ranged between 8 and 15 depending on the mobilization of the community leaders] were conducted in 20 settlements 20 km on the banks up the Gilgel river and 20 settlements from Gibe Dam up river were covered. The findings reveal that the basin is a major food basket in Ethiopia, and arable and animal farming have been going on there since time immemorial with the gradual consequence of environmental degradation in many forms. The project concluded with submission of suggestions like the need for government to embark on awareness campaign to enlighten farmers and professionals on the need to conserve natural resources, obey the environmental protection laws, and need for grants for indepth researches on the impact of human activities on the biodiversity of basins. The flora and fauna in the basins are already endangered. Perhaps, tree planting and other methods that can forestall the imminent erosion and desert incursions are a desideratum. Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management Vol. 1 (1) 2008: pp. 56-6

Waste Management Problems in Jimma, Southern Ethiopia.

The major objective of the project was to design an approach to the problem of indiscriminate and nonclearance of generated wastes in the slums in Jimma town. The project, therefore, aimed to orient Jimma inhabitants to be hygienic, and to encourage the community to participate in setting up mitigating measures against environmental pollution through interface consultations using focused Group Discussions and In-depth Interviews. The scope of the project was limited to the more-slum wards in Jimma town. The findings were conspicuous, that speed of urbanization of Jimma town since ten years back became faster than the previous years, but a subsistence-urbanization. Subsistence urbanization is characterized by increase of the settlement in terms of scale and pace without corresponding increase in sanitation, infrastructures and without mitigating measures to address urban violence. The Wareda has been clearing the wastes where they placed the dustbins. It has also a number of town center cleaners. However, much of the cleaning of the streets and disposing of the wastes are individuals' efforts. The project encouraged more individual and group/community and professional effort in the cleaning of their nearest environments, and to earmark disposal units in the streets/wards. The Wareda was advised to increase distribution of dustbins and to embark on enlightenment. The generated animal and household wastes are good research materials for environmental scientist interested In studying what are generated, the chemical contents of the wastes and their impact on the immediate environment. The key concepts in this study are: Generation of domestic wastes and waste disposal; Urban pollution controls cum Waste Management.Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies of Management Vol. 1 (2) 2008: pp. 8-1

Saratanya (House Servant) in Ethiopia and ‘Ya'yan Magajiya (Errand Children) in Nigeria

Saratanya is the name for House Servant all over Ethiopia, whereas ‘Ya'yan Magajiya is the nomenclature for servants of Matrons operating canteens and brothels in Nigeria. The servants in these systems are exploited by their employers and most often treated as if they are slaves. In addition to labour exploitation, the systems are conduits for commercial sex networking, drug pushing and human trafficking. Earlier studies attributed the systems to poverty. It is argued that at this age of recognition of fundamental human rights, both the community leaders and the governments should ensure that the fundamental human rights of servants are observed by their employers. African Research Review Vol. 2 (1) 2008: pp. 213-24

Paradox of African Capital Cities: Case Study of global capitalism and urban poor in Lagos and Abuja Capital Cities in Nigeria.

The Western and Asian methods of studying African capitals suffer from conceptual and methodological problems. The Arabs and colonialists asserted that the beginning of history in Africa started with the coming of Arabs, and that the formation of African elites and urban development were mainly the initiatives of colonial governments. Europeans and Arabs created the notion that African Capitals became internationally significant only with the colonial policies and economy, which in turn enriched and empowered Africans. They did not focus on the much benefits Arabs and colonial governments, the Multi-National Corporations [MNCs] and European private businessmen derived there from the capitals. They over-emphasized the social mobility of the poor and progress of the elite in the cities. Considering the extent of the capitalist activities, African capitals served more the interest of the international communities. Thus, it is equally important to examine for whom the capitals exist. African Research Review Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 1-1