A study of the implementation and management of workforce diversity among teachers at secondary schools in the Mthatha Education District

The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation and management of workforce diversity among teachers at secondary schools in the Mthatha Education District with reference to national and international teachers. The literature reflects issues and theories concerning the implementation and management of workforce diversity in secondary schools. The study also shows the benefits of managing teacher diversity and the challenges in the implementation and management of workforce diversity among teachers in secondary schools. The population of the study comprised of all teachers in the fifty- six public secondary schools in the Mthatha Education District and the sample comprised of five principals, five deputy principals, five heads of departments and five international teachers on whom the case study was base to examine their views about the awareness, implementation and management of teacher diversity in the education system. This sample was drawn from five public senior secondary schools. The selection of the sample was done through the use of a purposive sampling technique. The sampling technique was used because it is not all public secondary schools in the Mthatha Education District where international teachers are found. This, therefore, allowed the researcher to select only those secondary schools at which international teachers were found. The researcher developed an open- ended interview schedule for the face-to-face in-depth interviews on the implementation and management of workforce diversity among teachers at secondary schools in the Mthatha Education District. Themes were drawn from the responses of the participants and analysed. The findings revealed that Principals, deputy principals, school management teams and teachers at all levels lacked the skills and knowledge in designing, implementing and managing teacher diversity policies in secondary schools. The findings revealed that local teachers were resistant and took a xenophobic stance towards the employment and promotions of International teachers in secondary schools. Lastly, Affirmative Action and Employment Equity Acts favour the local teachers and discriminate against the international teachers. Recommendations are made concerning the lack of awareness, skills and knowledge in designing and implementation of teacher diversity policies in secondary schools. Recommendations are also made concerning the Affirmative Action and Employment Equity Acts that influence the non recruitment and selection of international teachers

Effect of Liquidity and Capital on Risk-Adjusted Efficiency of Banks in Emerging Economies: Evidence From Ghana

The performance of the banking industry plays a crucial role in achieving sound and accelerated economic growth. This study aims to estimate the risk-adjusted cost and profit efficiencies of banks in Ghana, to assess the effect of liquidity and capital on the estimated risk-adjusted efficiencies. The study employs the parametric (SFA) frontier over the period 2009 – 2018. The results reveal that increase in bank liquidity results in an increase in both risk-adjusted cost efficiency and risk-adjusted profit efficiency. High levels of bank capital are also associated with increases in both risk-adjusted cost efficiency and risk-adjusted profit efficiency

Analysis of College Education Art Curriculum and Its Impact on Teacher Productivity at Primary Schools. The Case of Northern Ghana

This article examines the art curriculum at the colleges of education that prepares teachers at pre-service to teach creative art at the primary schools in Ghana with a focus on the northern region of the country. The study also assesses pupils’ knowledge and skills in the teaching and learning of creative art and reveals the teachers’ professional competencies of teaching creative art at the primary level. The article argues that the current teaching and learning of art as a subject at the primary schools requires improvement in the use of teaching and learning tools for effective classroom activities. Also, the quality of training received by teachers at pre-service is among factors that influence the current conditions of teaching and learning of creative arts at the primary level. The study reveals a mismatch in the relationship between the colleges of education curriculum and the basic school creative arts subject. The article suggests that the teacher training curriculum in creative arts that prepares teachers for Basic schools in Ghana and the Creative Arts syllabus for schools in Ghana are properly aligned in content knowledge. Adopting the qualitative and quantitative inquiry with descriptive and survey research methods, the instruments used for the data collection were questionnaire and interview. Keywords: Creative arts, art, curriculum, primary, college, education DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-17-15 Publication date:June 30th 202

Prospecting for Groundwater Using the Continuous Vertical Electrical Sounding Method

2-D CVES surveys using the Wenner configuration was carried out in 22 communities in the Tain District, Ghana. This was done with the objectives of assessing the subsurface geology, identify high groundwater potential zones for drilling high-yielding boreholes that could yield sustainable amount of groundwater. The collected resistivity data were converted from the apparent resistivity to 2-D modelsection using the least-square inversion algorithm with the help of Res2DInv software. The 2-D resistivity model-sections produced a high quality structural resolution leading to the demarcation of the layering of various lithological units, weathered layers and identification of important structures such as joints, fractures and faults. Quantitatively, it can be observed that all the drilled wet wells have aquifer zones between 30 m and 60 m within sandstone, siltstone and phyllite granitic environments. The result of the borehole drill logs revealed that the aquifers were within weathered and fractured zones and is in agreement with the models. The results showed that the boreholes yield within the study area varied between a minimum of 15 litres/min to a maximum 800 litres/min and the mean depth for intercepting aquifer was at about 30 m and below. The study revealed that the potential aquifer zones in the study area are mostly as a result of weathering of the overburden and fracturing of the underlying bedrock. The results suggest that the hydrogeology of the study area is highly complex since the development of groundwater is generally due to secondary porosities

Effect of Parboiling on the Quality of Processed Degan Rice (Oryza Spp)

A study conducted to determine the perception of stakeholders in the production of parboiled rice in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana. It also sought to assess the effect of parboiling on Degan processed rice with respect to quality parameters such as physic-chemical and functional properties as well as eating characteristics. During the study a survey and laboratory work were done. Economic analysis of parboiled rice was also done. The analysis of results of the data collected from farmers showed that all (100%) of the respondents were women in the parboiling industry with many years of experience in parboiling. The farmers indicated that parboiled rice has much more foreign matter. The study revealed that parboiling was effective in improving the physic-chemical properties of rice such as head rice yield, percent whole grain, percent adulterants and weight of 1000 grains. Parboiling had varied effect on functional properties. These are swelling power, Water Absorption Capacity (WAC), Oil Absorption Capacity (OAC) and Least Gelation Capacity (LGC).Economic analysis of parboiled rice showed that parboiling has the potential of improving the economic well-being of farmers if combined with new existing technology. It is recommended that improved technology be adopted in the parboiling industry to improve rice quality and subsequently improve financial status of farmers

Testing the validity of academic staff performance predictors and their effects on workforce performance

This study investigated the validity of quality culture (QC) and excellent work culture (EWC) constructs, and their effects on academic staff performance (ASP) mediated by EWC in selected West Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs). The study included 1,068 faculty members from eight HEIs. The findings showed that QC construct is represented by nine separate elements, whereas two factors index both ASP and EWC. Moreover, the findings established evidence of construct reliability and validity in relation to the elements comprised the three constructs. The findings indicated that quality culture and excellent work culture have direct impact on ASP. The findings also showed that excellent work culture exhibits indirect causal effect on academic staff performance. This empirical study analyzed the mediating effect of EWC on ASP, which has not been extensively examined in the context of Malaysian HEIs

Testing content validity of teacher-made test: Profiling teacher perceptions and demographic variables

The content validity of teacher-made tests (TMT) in Malaysian Chinese primary schools was explored in this research. The study used teacher-made tests to analyze the selected Chinese primary schools, which have yet to be thoroughly explored in the context of these school types. It also investigated how well teachers in the sampled schools understand the table of specifications (TOS). The study further examined the extent to which included demographic variables affect the validity of teacher-made tests. A total of 660 questionnaires were distributed randomly to teachers from 21 Chinese primary schools. There were 381 completed questionnaires (58% of total rate) received and analyzed. The findings demonstrated that most teachers have a basic understanding of the TOS and that teacher-made test levels are valid. K-group MANOVA analysis also revealed that work experience and age had a significant influence on teacher understanding. Work experience and age, on the other hand, had no effect on the teacher-made test. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that both teacher understanding and teacher-made tests were unaffected by teacher gender

Implementing critical machine learning (ML) approaches for generating robust discriminative neuroimaging representations using structural equation model (SEM)

Critical ML or CML is a critical approach development of the standard ML (SML) procedure. Conventional ML (ML) is being used in radiology departments where complex neuroimages are discriminated using ML technology. Radiologists and researchers found that sole decision by the ML algorithms is not accurate enough to implement the treatment procedure. Thus, an intelligent decision is required further by the radiologists after evaluating the ML outcomes. The current research is based on the critical ML, where radiologists’ critical thinking ability, IQ (intelligence quotient), and experience in radiology have been examined to understand how these factors affect the accuracy of neuroimaging discrimination. A primary quantitative survey has been carried out, and the data were analysed in IBM SPSS. The results showed that experience in works has a positive impact on neuroimaging discrimination accuracy. IQ and trained ML are also responsible for improving the accuracy as well. Thus, radiologists with more experience in that field are able to improve the discriminative and diagnostic capability of CML.Campus At

Evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function with centrality in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function, {\it C}, with collision centrality in Au+Au interactions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. {\it C} exhibits a strong dependence on collision centrality that is qualitatively similar to that of number correlations previously reported. We use the observed longitudinal broadening of the near-side peak of {\it C} with increasing centrality to estimate the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, $\eta/s$, of the matter formed in central Au+Au interactions. We obtain an upper limit estimate of $\eta/s$ that suggests that the produced medium has a small viscosity per unit entropy.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, STAR paper published in Phys. Lett.