HEADTEACHERS’ SUPPORT SUPERVISION AND ENHANCEMENT OF UPE TEACHERS’ TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS IN KIBAALE DISTRICT: A CASE STUDY OF KIBAALE TOWN COUNCIL, UGANDA

The research investigated the influence of headteacher support supervision in enhancing teachers’ teaching effectiveness in UPE Schools in Kibaale Town Council, Kibaale District. The study focused on identifying the supervisory activities carried out by headteachers to enhance teachers’ effectiveness in teaching in UPE schools and also to determine the extent to which headteachers’ support supervision of teachers influences teachers’ effectiveness in teaching in UPE schools in Kibaale Town Council, Kibaale District. The study sample size was 98 respondents, of which 85 respondents were teachers and 13 headteachers from UPE schools in Kibaale Town Council, Kibaale District. The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional survey design, which enabled the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The findings were presented descriptively using frequency tables, graphs and percentages. The study employed purposive and simple random sampling techniques with a descriptive analysis. The study findings revealed that, despite the challenges headteachers face, their supervisory activities and support positively influence teachers’ effectiveness in teaching in UPE schools of Kibaale Town Council. Therefore, the study recommended that the Ministry of Education and Sports allocate enough resources to the schools to ensure that headteachers conduct their supervision work effectively. Also, the Ministry of Education should organize refresher training to equip headteachers with more skills for conducting teacher supervision in UPE schools of Kibaale Town Council.  Article visualizations

TEACHERS’ CHALLENGES AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION IN HOIMA DISTRICT: A CASE STUDY OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HOIMA CITY, UGANDA

This study investigated the influence of headteachers’ leadership styles on the quality of education in government-aided primary schools in Karugutu sub-county, Ntoroko District. The study was guided by the following objectives: to establish the influence of effective communication on the quality of Education in primary schools and to assess the impact of delegation on the quality of Education in primary schools in Karugutu sub-county, Ntoroko District. The study adopted a case study research design. The sample comprised government-aided primary schools. The sample for this study was 132 respondents, including 80 long-serving teachers, 40 senior teachers, 10 headteachers, and 2 Education Officers. Survey questionnaires and oral interview guides were the main tools used in data collection. Data was coded manually and later analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using descriptive statistics, mainly percentages and content analysis. The results revealed that headteachers’ leadership styles influence the quality of primary education. Headteachers rarely did support supervision. This indicated a high degree of their job abandonment, leading to low grades. The study, however, also revealed that headteachers’ delegation of duties improves teachers’ quality of work. This allows them to make decisions and complete tasks in areas in which they have direct knowledge. It also revealed that most institutions did not have well-established communication strategies. It was recommended that the headteachers incorporate a collective management approach in their teacher management scale broadly. This study recommended refresher courses for headteachers, strict supervision and measures to reduce workload for headteachers by the Ministry of Education and Sports.  Article visualizations

CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM ENROLMENT AND RETENTION OF GIRLS IN SCHOOLS OF SOUTH SUDAN: A CASE STUDY OF YAMBO COUNTY, WESTERN EQUATORIA STATE, SOUTH SUDAN

The main objective of the study was to determine the influence of transfer programs on the enrolment and retention of girls in schools in Yambio Western Equatoria State, South Sudan. It focused on the effect of cash transfer usage, cash transfer conditionalities, monitoring, and evaluation on the enrolment and retention of girls in schools in Yambio Western Equatoria State, South Sudan. The researcher uses a qualitative research approach to study and analyse data. The research uses triangulation whereby they use both narrative and content analysis was used to analyse the data collected. The study used 147 respondents, including parents and students’ beneficiaries of the cash transfer program. The study findings revealed that beneficiaries of the cash transfer programs used the money to buy scholastic materials and livestock, to support the provision of food items, and to buy candles and paraffin, among others of which are key in enabling and facilitating enrolment and retention of girls in schools. Study findings also revealed that conditions put in place have enabled the beneficiaries of the cash transfer grants to use the money for their intended purposes. The study later unveiled that monitoring and evaluation of cash transfer programs was key in assessing the performance of the cash transfer programs and thus provided guidance for the effective performance of the cash transfer programs. It was recommended that parents and guardians ensure that they buy scholastic materials, that they provide adequate meals for children, and that they ensure food security, among others. The study also recommended that there was a need to train parents on the purpose of the cash transfer program in relation to keeping girls in school to prevent parents from sending girls to school with the sole purpose of securing cash transfer money. The study also recommended putting in place specialised counsellors to provide guidance to girls sufficiently to appreciate the relevance of education and maintain the education pathway alongside the cash transfer programme.  Article visualizations

STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT ROLES AND PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION SCHOOLS IN MOYO DISTRICT: A CASE STUDY OF MOYO TOWN COUNCIL

This study investigated stakeholder management roles and the performance of Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools in Moyo District. The study sought to examine the role of the District Education Office in the performance of UPE schools, to find out the extent to which headteachers contribute to the performance of UPE schools and to assess the contribution of parents in the performance of UPE schools in Moyo Town Council. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study used 92 respondents selected using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Data was analysed descriptively and thematically. The findings revealed that the District Education Office's role is to mobilize resources, pay school fees through a capitation grant, train, employ and pay teachers, and construct classrooms, among others. The findings also revealed that, although the government certainly put some effort into advancing education for all by introducing UPE through providing education funds, many shortfalls still exist in terms of equity and quality of the provided education. In addition, headteachers play important roles in the supervision of lesson plans, schemes of work, content delivery, teachable tools and class tools, which are very important in improving performance further despite their low involvement in decision-making; parents have the mandate of providing scholastic materials, school uniforms and basic requirements such as the feeding of their children during school time. The study recommended that there is a need for a deliberate effort by the government to encouraging the parents of their triple role in supporting their children in schools, there is also a need for a proper needs assessment prior to the allocation of available funds, such that, the few available funds are allocated to where there is more need; this will help to improve the delivery of education services. Lastly, there is a need to ensure that headteachers regularly perform supervision roles so as to instill commitment and hard work, which would, in turn, lead to improved teachers’ and pupils’ performance in UPE schools. Parents should, therefore, give positive encouragement to their children to perform better academically.  Article visualizations

TEACHER MOTIVATION AND LEARNERS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN THE SELECTED UGANDA PEOPLES’ DEFENCE FORCES FOUNDED PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN CENTRAL UGANDA

The study sought to establish the impact of teachers’ motivation on learners’ academic performance in the selected Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) schools in Central Uganda. Assessing the impact of financial motivation, indirect financial benefits/allowances, and non-financial rewards on pupils’ academic performance in the selected UPDF-founded primary schools had three specific objectives, namely financial motivation, indirect financial benefits/allowances and non-financial rewards. The study was based on a correlational design. Altogether, 144 teachers and 10 UPDF-founded primary school administrators were involved. These were sampled using simple random and purposive random sampling techniques. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview guide. The hypotheses were analysed using Pearson’s correlation and thematic analysis methods. Findings revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between motivation and learners’ academic performance in the selected UPDF-founded primary schools in Central Uganda. The study concluded that financial and non-financial motivations, once provided, significantly relate to learners’ academic performance in the selected UPDF primary schools in Central Uganda. It is recommended that to enhance the academic performance of learners in the selected UPDF-founded primary schools, the MoDVA supported by the MoES, should create avenues of generating adequate finances internally and or externally to enhance teachers’ salaries, allowances and accommodation as one of the strategies to boost learners’ academic performance. School administrators together with stakeholders, should create avenues for recognizing teachers’ efforts, including but not limited to appreciating them during meetings and offering them extra responsibilities while at school.  Article visualizations

Suicidal behaviours among Ugandan university students: a cross-sectional study

Background: Suicide remains the leading cause of death among university students often resulting from multiple physical and psychological challenges. Moreover, suicidal behaviours among students appear to have increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to some studies. Objective: To explore the prevalence and associated factors for suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts among university students in Uganda. Methods: Cross-sectional study data were collected from May to September 2021 from 540 undergraduate university students in south-western Uganda (363 males, mean age 23.3 years). Questions from the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were used to assess suicidal ideation, while other bespoke questions were used to assess suicide plans and attempts. The survey also investigated the suicide attempt/plan method, location of the suicidal activity, and reason for not enacting the suicide plan. Three independent regression analyses were used to determine the factors associated with different forms of suicidal behaviours. Results: The prevalence of past-year suicidal behaviours was 31.85% for suicidal ideation, 8.15% for suicide plans, and 6.11% for suicide attempts. Having a chronic physical medical condition increased the likelihood of having all forms of suicidal behaviours. Suicidal ideation was associated with having difficulty paying university tuition fees. However, being in the fifth year of university education, and feeling satisfied with current academic grades reduced the likelihood of suicidal ideation. Individuals feeling satisfied with academic performance appeared to be a protective factor against having suicide plans. Suicide attempts were associated with having a history of sexual abuse and having difficulty paying university tuition fees. The most common method used for attempted suicide was a drug overdose, and the most common location for attempted suicide was their homes. Conclusion: University students have prevalent suicide behaviours especially among students with a chronic physical medical condition, a history of sexual abuse, and problems paying university tuition fees. Based on the present study, for students at risk, universities should provide appropriate interventions such as life skills education and suicide prevention techniques

Prevalence and factors associated with depression and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted psychosocial well-being and mental health of students across the world. Although students are vulnerable to depression and suicidal ideation, few studies have been conducted in Uganda. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation, and associated factors among undergraduate university students in Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduates [N = 540; 363 males; mean age = 23.3 (± 2.64) years] recruited from four universities using an online questionnaire that explored sociodemographic factors, depression, and other associated factors. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess depression, and Item 9 was used to assess suicidal ideation in the past 2 weeks. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with depression and suicidal ideation. Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe depression was 20% (n = 108) (cut-off: 10/27 based on the PHQ-9), and the prevalence of past-2-week suicidal ideation was 13.89% (n = 75) (cut-off: 1/3 based on the PHQ-9 Item 9). About half of the individuals who screened positive for depression had suicidal ideation. Factors associated with depression were: having relationship issues [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13–2.81, p = 0.012], and having a history of sexual abuse (aOR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.10–3.84, p = 0.023). Factors associated with reducing the risk of depression were: satisfaction with current academic performance (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.32–0.79, p = 0.003), and being in the fifth year of academic study (aOR = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.03–0.73, p = 0.018). Factors associated with suicidal ideation were: smoking cigarettes and/or marijuana (aOR = 4.83, 95% CI = 1.10–21.12, p = 0.037), and having financial tuition constraints (aOR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.08–3.16, p = 0.024), However, satisfaction with current academic performance reduced the likelihood of suicidal ideation (aOR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.23–0.70, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Approximately one-fifth of undergraduate university students were moderately to severely depressed, especially those who had relationship issues and those with a history of sexual abuse. Suicidal ideation was common among smokers and those having financial tuition constraints. Therefore, it is recommended that the university authorities implement measures to provide psychological support for the students with problems concerning financial tuition constraints, relationships, and sexual abuse. Also, all students with depression should be screened for suicidality

Partial-breast radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery for patients with early breast cancer (UK IMPORT LOW trial): 5-year results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial

Background: Local cancer relapse risk after breast conservation surgery followed by radiotherapy has fallen sharply in many countries, and is influenced by patient age and clinicopathological factors. We hypothesise that partial-breast radiotherapy restricted to the vicinity of the original tumour in women at lower than average risk of local relapse will improve the balance of beneficial versus adverse effects compared with whole-breast radiotherapy. Methods: IMPORT LOW is a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial done in 30 radiotherapy centres in the UK. Women aged 50 years or older who had undergone breast-conserving surgery for unifocal invasive ductal adenocarcinoma of grade 1-3, with a tumour size of 3 cm or less (pT1-2), none to three positive axillary nodes (pN0-1), and minimum microscopic margins of non-cancerous tissue of 2 mm or more, were recruited. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive 40 Gy whole-breast radiotherapy (control), 36 Gy whole-breast radiotherapy and 40 Gy to the partial breast (reduced-dose group), or 40 Gy to the partial breast only (partial-breast group) in 15 daily treatment fractions. Computer-generated random permuted blocks (mixed sizes of six and nine) were used to assign patients to groups, stratifying patients by radiotherapy treatment centre. Patients and clinicians were not masked to treatment allocation. Field-in-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy was delivered using standard tangential beams that were simply reduced in length for the partial-breast group. The primary endpoint was ipsilateral local relapse (80% power to exclude a 2·5% increase [non-inferiority margin] at 5 years for each experimental group; non-inferiority was shown if the upper limit of the two-sided 95% CI for the local relapse hazard ratio [HR] was less than 2·03), analysed by intention to treat. Safety analyses were done in all patients for whom data was available (ie, a modified intention-to-treat population). This study is registered in the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN12852634. Findings: Between May 3, 2007, and Oct 5, 2010, 2018 women were recruited. Two women withdrew consent for use of their data in the analysis. 674 patients were analysed in the whole-breast radiotherapy (control) group, 673 in the reduced-dose group, and 669 in the partial-breast group. Median follow-up was 72·2 months (IQR 61·7-83·2), and 5-year estimates of local relapse cumulative incidence were 1·1% (95% CI 0·5-2·3) of patients in the control group, 0·2% (0·02-1·2) in the reduced-dose group, and 0·5% (0·2-1·4) in the partial-breast group. Estimated 5-year absolute differences in local relapse compared with the control group were -0·73% (-0·99 to 0·22) for the reduced-dose and -0·38% (-0·84 to 0·90) for the partial-breast groups. Non-inferiority can be claimed for both reduced-dose and partial-breast radiotherapy, and was confirmed by the test against the critical HR being more than 2·03 (p=0·003 for the reduced-dose group and p=0·016 for the partial-breast group, compared with the whole-breast radiotherapy group). Photographic, patient, and clinical assessments recorded similar adverse effects after reduced-dose or partial-breast radiotherapy, including two patient domains achieving statistically significantly lower adverse effects (change in breast appearance [p=0·007 for partial-breast] and breast harder or firmer [p=0·002 for reduced-dose and p < 0·0001 for partial-breast]) compared with whole-breast radiotherapy. Interpretation: We showed non-inferiority of partial-breast and reduced-dose radiotherapy compared with the standard whole-breast radiotherapy in terms of local relapse in a cohort of patients with early breast cancer, and equivalent or fewer late normal-tissue adverse effects were seen. This simple radiotherapy technique is implementable in radiotherapy centres worldwide.We acknowledge support from Cancer Research UK (grant number C1491/A6035), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cancer Research Network (CRN), National Health Service Research Scotland, Health and Care Research Wales, and the National Institute of Health Research Royal Marsden/ Institute of Cancer Research Biomedical Research Centre. CEC is supported by the Cambridge National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre. IMPORT LOW is sponsored by The Institute of Cancer Research, London

Atlas of prostate cancer heritability in European and African-American men pinpoints tissue-specific regulation.

Although genome-wide association studies have identified over 100 risk loci that explain ∼33% of familial risk for prostate cancer (PrCa), their functional effects on risk remain largely unknown. Here we use genotype data from 59,089 men of European and African American ancestries combined with cell-type-specific epigenetic data to build a genomic atlas of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heritability in PrCa. We find significant differences in heritability between variants in prostate-relevant epigenetic marks defined in normal versus tumour tissue as well as between tissue and cell lines. The majority of SNP heritability lies in regions marked by H3k27 acetylation in prostate adenoc7arcinoma cell line (LNCaP) or by DNaseI hypersensitive sites in cancer cell lines. We find a high degree of similarity between European and African American ancestries suggesting a similar genetic architecture from common variation underlying PrCa risk. Our findings showcase the power of integrating functional annotation with genetic data to understand the genetic basis of PrCa