Status of professional learning communities in developing countries: Case of Vietnam and Uganda

What is the status of professional learning communities in Vietnam and Uganda? Is there a significant difference between the teaching experience of secondary teachers and how they see the relevance of professional learning communities on professional development in Vietnam and Uganda? The forementioned questions were explored by collecting data from secondary school teachers (n=345) in Vietnam and Uganda through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) were used to analyze the data. The findings depict that involvement of secondary school teachers in professional learning communities and the associated contribution on professional development is ‘moderate’ in Vietnam whilst, it is ‘minimal’ in Uganda. It was also established that significant difference exists between the teaching experience of secondary teachers and how they recognize the relevance of professional learning communities on professional development. The findings suggest that relevant educational policies and adequate funding ought to be considered in order to make professional learning communities vibrant in both Vietnam and Uganda. This is deemed key to enhance secondary school teacher competence which in turn could lead to higher students’ learning outcome in Vietnam and Uganda respectively

The 2021 WHO catalogue of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex mutations associated with drug resistance: a genotypic analysis.

Background: Molecular diagnostics are considered the most promising route to achievement of rapid, universal drug susceptibility testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). We aimed to generate a WHO-endorsed catalogue of mutations to serve as a global standard for interpreting molecular information for drug resistance prediction. Methods: In this systematic analysis, we used a candidate gene approach to identify mutations associated with resistance or consistent with susceptibility for 13 WHO-endorsed antituberculosis drugs. We collected existing worldwide MTBC whole-genome sequencing data and phenotypic data from academic groups and consortia, reference laboratories, public health organisations, and published literature. We categorised phenotypes as follows: methods and critical concentrations currently endorsed by WHO (category 1); critical concentrations previously endorsed by WHO for those methods (category 2); methods or critical concentrations not currently endorsed by WHO (category 3). For each mutation, we used a contingency table of binary phenotypes and presence or absence of the mutation to compute positive predictive value, and we used Fisher's exact tests to generate odds ratios and Benjamini-Hochberg corrected p values. Mutations were graded as associated with resistance if present in at least five isolates, if the odds ratio was more than 1 with a statistically significant corrected p value, and if the lower bound of the 95% CI on the positive predictive value for phenotypic resistance was greater than 25%. A series of expert rules were applied for final confidence grading of each mutation. Findings: We analysed 41 137 MTBC isolates with phenotypic and whole-genome sequencing data from 45 countries. 38 215 MTBC isolates passed quality control steps and were included in the final analysis. 15 667 associations were computed for 13 211 unique mutations linked to one or more drugs. 1149 (7·3%) of 15 667 mutations were classified as associated with phenotypic resistance and 107 (0·7%) were deemed consistent with susceptibility. For rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolones, and streptomycin, the mutations' pooled sensitivity was more than 80%. Specificity was over 95% for all drugs except ethionamide (91·4%), moxifloxacin (91·6%) and ethambutol (93·3%). Only two resistance mutations were identified for bedaquiline, delamanid, clofazimine, and linezolid as prevalence of phenotypic resistance was low for these drugs. Interpretation: We present the first WHO-endorsed catalogue of molecular targets for MTBC drug susceptibility testing, which is intended to provide a global standard for resistance interpretation. The existence of this catalogue should encourage the implementation of molecular diagnostics by national tuberculosis programmes. Funding: Unitaid, Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Ugandan Teachers Epistemological Beliefs and Child-Led Research: Implications for Developing Inclusive Educational Practice

There is a complementarity between Uganda’s aim for ‘education for all’ and the pedagogy indicated as underpinning Uganda’s child-focused thematic curriculum. However, child-focused pedagogies are rare. The case is made that child-led research is an appropriate model for developing inclusive classroom practice. This research is the first to consider the relationship between Ugandan teachers’ epistemological beliefs and child-led research. The findings from questionnaire responses of 187 teachers and educators challenge the argument that Ugandan teachers’ epistemological beliefs are the primary barrier to implementing child-focused pedagogies and indicate that a child-led research initiative would complement the epistemological beliefs of many teachers and offer a potential model for an inclusive pedagogical approach

Professional development status of teaching staff in a Ugandan public university

<p>A study was conducted to determine general professional development activities perceived to be important in enhancing university teaching staff’s job performance, and the extent to which teaching staff participate in these activities in Uganda. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with faculty deans and department heads (n = 20), and a questionnaire administered to university senior administrative staff (n = 90) and teaching staff (n = 126). Deductive content analysis and descriptive statistics techniques were used to analyse qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. It was established that university teaching staff rarely participate in professional development activities. Nevertheless, activities such as accredited university teacher education and training, symposia, workshops, and professional networks, all oriented on contemporary teaching and learning, research and innovation, and community development activities, are perceived to be important in improving teaching staff job performance. Thus, there is a need to make participation in formal and informal professional development activities mandatory for university teachers.</p

Effect of the Collaborative School Inspection Approach on Teacher Instruc-tional Effectiveness in Government-aided Primary Schools of Nakisunga County, Mukono District, Uganda

The study investigated the effect of the collaborative school inspection approach on teacher instructional effectiveness in government-aided primary schools in Nakisunga County, Mukono district, Uganda. Teacher instructional effectiveness was studied in terms of reporting on pupil academic achievements, teacher attitudes, effective planning, attendance and pedagogical approaches. Collaborative school inspection approaches were studied in terms of support supervision, feedback, trust and respect. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey mixed research design which used both quantitative and qualitative approaches on a sample of 178 people that included teachers, head teachers, school inspectors and education officers, all from Nakisunga County, Mukono district. While Quantitative data was collected using self-administered survey questionnaires, qualitative data was collected using interviews and focus group discussions. Data collected quantitatively was analysed using inferential analysis yet qualitative data was analysed by grouping the responses from the head teachers, school inspectors and education officers in themes which were merged with quantitative findings. The findings showed that all the sub-variables of the collaborative school inspection approach were positively significant to teacher instructional effectiveness. It was concluded that the collaborative school inspection approach has impact, on teacher instructional effectiveness. Therefore, it was recommended that because the collaborative school inspection approach has impact on teacher instructional effectiveness it should be used in government-aided primary school inspection activities always and vigilantly because all its sub-variables were positively significant to teacher instructional effectiveness

The 2021 WHO catalogue of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex mutations associated with drug resistance: a genotypic analysis

BackgroundMolecular diagnostics are considered the most promising route to achieving rapid, universal drug susceptibility testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosiscomplex (MTBC). We aimed to generate a WHO endorsed catalogue of mutations to serve as a global standard for interpreting molecular information for drug resistance prediction.MethodsA candidate gene approach was used to identify mutations as associated with resistance, or consistent with susceptibility, for 13 WHO endorsed anti-tuberculosis drugs. 38,215 MTBC isolates with paired whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing data were amassed from 45 countries. For each mutation, a contingency table of binary phenotypes and presence or absence of the mutation computed positive predictive value, and Fisher's exact tests generated odds ratios and Benjamini-Hochberg corrected p-values. Mutations were graded as Associated with Resistance if present in at least 5 isolates, if the odds ratio was &gt;1 with a statistically significant corrected p-value, and if the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval on the positive predictive value for phenotypic resistance was &gt;25%. A series of expert rules were applied for final confidence grading of each mutation.Findings15,667 associations were computed for 13,211 unique mutations linked to one or more drugs. 1,149/15,667 (7·3%) mutations were classified as associated with phenotypic resistance and 107/15,667 (0·7%) were deemed consistent with susceptibility. For rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolones, and streptomycin, the mutations' pooled sensitivity was &gt;80%. Specificity was over 95% for all drugs except ethionamide (91·4%), moxifloxacin (91·6%) and ethambutol (93·3%). Only two resistance mutations were classified for bedaquiline, delamanid, clofazimine, and linezolid as prevalence of phenotypic resistance was low for these drugs.InterpretationThis first WHO endorsed catalogue of molecular targets for MTBC drug susceptibility testing provides a global standard for resistance interpretation. Its existence should encourage the implementation of molecular diagnostics by National Tuberculosis Programmes.FundingUNITAID, Wellcome, MRC, BMGF