PENCEGAHAN DAN UPAYA MENGATASI TINDAK PERUNDUNGAN DI SEKOLAH DASAR

Bullying events or more popularly known as bullying should not be tolerated. Teruma if it occurs in the school environment as a place to learn academic knowledge and character education. Family members, the community environment, and the school environment are three important elements in the educational success of children. This will be the opposite if the place that should be the shelter of the child does not provide safety and comfort in daily social interactions. No matter how small the disturbances experienced by children in the learning process will have an impact on achieving the main goals of education. Bullying often occurs in children and adolescents. Both bullies and victims of bullying need to get a quick response from policymakers. This is a positive reaction that must continue to be carried out so that pleasant learning conditions and provide a sense of calm can be felt thoroughly by students. Involving social agencies is very influential in preventing and overcoming bullying in schools

The Utilization of Experience in the Noble Leadership of Secondary Schools in Nandi County: A focus on Principal’s Integrity

Experience or what others consider as knowledge or mastery of events through involvement in or exposure in the course of time, is an important practical wisdom gained from encounters in school. Following cases of corruption and integrity concerns in Nandi Secondary schools, this study focused on the experience of the principal as an attribute of his religiosity and Leadership. How does experience affect a principal’s religiosity and his/her leadership style? The study was anchored on Tony Bush’s Leadership theory of Leadership and guided by ex- post facto research design. The target population was principals, teachers and student leaders of secondary schools in Nandi County. Stratified and simple random sampling was used to sample schools, teachers and prefects. The study used three data collection methods, questionnaire, interview schedule, and content analysis guide. Experts were consulted to determine the content validity of instruments. Reliability was determined by use of Cronbach’s alpha that yielded 0.687. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using t-test and analysis of variance. To determine relationship between experience and both religiosity and leadership style, ANOVA tests was carried out. Experience was shown to have a positive effect on principal’s religiousness and leadership styles. Good leadership and improved religiosity goes with long experience in the profession. Principals should meet a minimum requirement in experience (among other requirements) to be allowed to run a school. The findings of the study may assist in drafting a better principals’ policy for appointment

School Leadership: Role of Age and Gender in the Principal’s Religiosity

This study explored the principals’ age and gender as factors in his religiosity and leadership. Concerns have been raised on the leadership of secondary schools in Nandi County. Lack of good leadership in sub county, county and even extra county schools has lead loss of property in these schools and if this is allowed to continue, some schools may be forced to close down. Would a principal’s religiosity help? Is religiosity affected by age and gender? Ex- post facto research design guided the research whose target population was principals, teachers and student leaders of secondary schools in Nandi County. Stratified and simple random sampling was used to sample schools, teachers and student leaders. The study used three data collection methods; questionnaire, interview schedule, and content analysis guide. Experts were consulted to determine the content validity of instruments. Reliability was determined by use of Cronbach’s alpha technique giving a value of 0.715 and Hypotheses 1&2 on age and gender were tested using t-test and analysis of variance. To determine relationship between religiosity and both age and gender, t- tests was carried out. The findings showed that one’s religiosity did no change with age, but it depended on gender. Female principals would be preferred in relation to integrity concerns. Principals should meet a minimum requirement in terms of education, experience and level of religiosity to be allowed to run schools. The findings of the study may be applied in drafting a better policy on principals’ appointment

Mobile Technologies for Enhancing Distance Learning in Tanzania: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study on m-learning was designed for two purposes. The first purpose was to identify the extent to which the Open University of Tanzania uses mobile phone to communicate with the distance learners on administrative and academic matters. The second purpose was to identify the distance learners’ capacity to afford mobile phones, their level of mobile phone usage and the learners’ envisaged opportunities and challenges in mobile phones use for enhancing learning. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in data collection and analysis. Results showed that (a) The Open University of Tanzania rarely uses mobile phone to contact students; (b) while mobile phones are affordable and hence are accessible to majority of learners the type and capacity of the mobile phones owned cannot accommodate extensive pedagogical use; (c) running costs for large scale use of mobile technology may prove unsustainable for the majority of learners whose disposable income is low and this constitute a hurdle for large scale pedagogical use; and (d) the student-student and student-tutor mobile communication for academic and administrative issues is relatively low. The efficacy of mobile technologies for pedagogical purposes is discussed in relation to the need for blending teaching and learning strategies in ODL and further research.Keywords: Open and distance learning, mobile phone, e-learning, m-learnin

Enhancing Open and Distance Learning Capacity Building in SADC Region: The Role and Influence of SADC Centre of Specialisation in Open and Distance Learning in Teacher Education

Following the decolonisation and the disintegration of apartheid in the African continent, the new African leadership looked upon higher education as a panacea for socioeconomic development of the continent. This called for the African leadership to transform higher education from an “elite” to “mass” education. The new realities of independence in the SADC region necessitated the need to widen access and equity in higher education. This need led to the launching and signing of SADC Protocol on Education and Training in 1997 by the Heads of States. The Protocol recognises ODL as a vehicle for expanding access and equity in higher education for non-conventional learners and trainees. This paper examines the role and the influence the SADC Centre of Specialisation in ODL plays in enhancing and buttressing the achievement of the spirit and the aspirations of the SADC Protocol on Education and Training.Key words: Open and distance learning, SADC, Centre of Specialisation in Open andDistance Learning

TEACHER PREPAREDNESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION IN BOMET COUNTY, KENYA

Childhood education is crucial in the life of a child because it lays the foundation of intellectual and physical development. The government policies and research theories emphasizes plenty of instructional resources that are well sourced, managed, selected and used for the purpose of quality ECDE Curriculum implementation. The purpose of this study was geared towards the analysis of the teacher’s preparedness, attitudes and use of the instructional resources in ECDE centers in Kenya. The research was based on the theory of curriculum innovations. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and was carried out in Bomet Municipality Zone, Bomet County. Simple random and stratified sampling techniques were used to select respondents who comprised of a target population of 84 head teachers and 180 pre-school teachers to get the sample size of 25 head teachers and 54 pre-school teachers from the selected ECDE centers. Data was collected using questionnaires, observation checklists and an interview schedule. The instruments for data collection were piloted to validate the tools and determine their reliability. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, this included frequencies and percentages. Data was presented in the form of graphs, charts, and tables. The study provides useful information for the education policy makers to produce relevant learning resources and course books for the ECDE teachers. The Government of Kenya (GoK) can use the findings to consider funding the pre-school education and improve teacher preparedness and attitudes towards the use of instructional resources. Teachers can use the findings to adjust and improve their teaching methodologies in the use of instructional resources. The major findings of the study showed that teachers were prepared in the use of IR; however, the status of the available materials in the centers was either inadequate, obsolete, dilapidated or unsuitable for use.  Article visualizations

Relationship Between Parental Marital Status and Levels of Self-Esteem Among Undergraduate Students in Public Universities in Kenya: A Case of University of Kabianga

Kenyan universities have experienced a growing phenomenon of student’s unrest, drug abuse, deaths, relationship break ups, exam malpractice among others, which pose serious challenges in the growth and development of the students. Feelings of self-worth develop very early in childhood, thus parents and guardians play a great role in determining what the child thinks about him or herself. Self-esteem of children from either single or married parent families is important as it has a direct impact on the child’s behavior in school. This study investigated the influence of parental marital status on students’ self-esteem in universities. Causal-comparative research design guided the study. The target population included 840 fourth year students from the University of Kabianga. Proportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling was utilized to identify a sample size of 271 male and female students. Data was collected by use of a questionnaire. The study established a statistically significant difference (t2.386= 115.788, p < 0.05) between parental marital status and the level of self-esteem among undergraduate students in University of Kabianga. Students from married parent families recorded higher level of self-esteem to students from single parent family. The study concludes that parental marital status has a positive relationship on undergraduate students’ self-esteem in universities. The study also recommends strategies to improve students’ levels of self-esteem. The students should seek and train for self-esteem based counseling even when they are not encountering serious problems. University student counselors to develop SE special counseling programs and activities on psychological and psychosocial issues Keywords: Self-Esteem, Parental Marital Status DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-33-12 Publication date: November 30th 202

Evolution of HIV Training for Enhanced Care Provision in Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities

Background: Healthcare worker capacity building efforts over the past decade have resulted in decentralisation of HIV prevention, care and treatment servicesObjective: To provide an overview of the evolution of HIV training in Kenya, from 2003 to dateData sources: Various Government of Kenya publications, policy documents and websites on training for HIV service delivery. Publications and websites of stakeholders, donors and partners as well. Journal articles, published peer reviewed literature, abstracts, websites and programme reports related to training for HIV treatment in Kenya and the region. Personal experiences of the authors who are trainers by mandate.Data selection: Data related to training for HIV treatment in Kenya and the region on websites and publications were scrutinised.Data extraction: All selected articles were read.Data synthesis: All the collected data together with the authors’  experiences were used for this publication.Conclusion: Accelerated in-service capacity building efforts have contributed to the success of decentralisation of HIV services. Pre-service HIV training provides an opportunity for sustaining the gains made so far, in the face of declining donor funds. Implementation of the proposed harmonized HIV curriculum in the setting of devolved healthcare provides an opportunity for partnerships between stakeholders involved in pre-service and in-service HIV training to ensure sustainability

Production efficiency and economic potential of different soil fertility management strategies among groundnut farmers of Kenya

This paper provides the economic evaluation of different soil fertility replenishing technologies (use of inorganic fertilizers, organic manure, and rhizobium inoculant) that were tested during field studies and recommended to groundnut farmers. Data on soil fertility technologies used by households, groundnut yields, and resource use and farm and farmers characteristics were collected through administration of a questionnaire to a sample of 332 farmers from three districts of western Kenya. The data was analyzed to determine whether adoption of the technologies would increase household incomes and production efficiency. Benefits and costs of each technology were computed through the use of budgets. Technical and allocative inefficiencies are investigated by fitting a Cobb-Douglas production function. The technical efficiency of the farmers varied between 0.56 and 0.69 while labor allocative efficiency varied between 0.81 and 0.93. Farmers applying organic fertilizers only were technically more efficient but had lower potential yield compared to farmers who applied inorganic or a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers. Use of inorganic fertilizers lead to a benefit cost ratio of up to 3:1. Organic manure had the lowest benefit-cost ratio (2.2:1) even when compared with that obtained when farmers did not apply any fertility replenishing input resulting from high cost of labor required to use this technology. There is a high potential for farmers to increase their groundnut yields and incomes by improving on production efficiency and by fertilizing their groundnut farms. Key words: Cost-Benefit ratios, Groundnuts, Kenya, Production efficiency, Production functio

Pozzolanic characteristics of municipal solid waste ash

Earth as a building material has been used over the years in the construction industry. However its strength characteristics have been inadequate. Therefore, stabilizers are used to enhance its strength. Where conventional stabilizing agents like cement and lime have been used, they have considerably increased the cost of construction. It is with this backdrop that this paper describes the pozzolanic characteristics of municipal solid waste ash (MSWA) and its use as a stabilizing agent. The total elemental concentration in the MSWA was determined by use of Total X‐ray Florescence method, while the laser particle analysis method was used to determine the particle size distribution of the ash. X‐ray Diffractometer method was used to measure the level of molecular compounds including the oxides of silicon, aluminium and iron. The Total X‐Ray Florescence (TXRF) analysis indicated that the ash contained high levels of calcium (220,240 mg/kg) and mercury (23.76 mg/kg). According to the Canadian Public Health guidelines, this concentration of mercury exceeded the acceptable limit of 23 mg/kg. Calcite was the main oxide (57.6%) with its glass halos occurring between 20° to 50° two‐theta. The total amounts of SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 were less than 70%, categorising the ash as Class F pozzolana meaning that MSWA was not self‐cementing. Laser diffraction particle size analysis showed that the ash was mainly composed of particles finer than 0.002 mm (55.82%), with its probability distribution function depicting a bimodal curve. The municipal solid waste (MSW) had a high loss of ignition (83.49%), an indication that it contained high amounts of un‐burnt carbon. Despite the low quartz (SiO2) content as compared to that of pozzolana cement, MSWA had high calcite (CaCO3) content enabling it to contribute to bonding effect of the ash. From the study, it is recommended that MSWA has to be used as a bonding agent and not as a cementing ash. Also the ash has to be finely ground prior to use as a pozzolanic material in soil stabilization, so as to increase both its filler and bonding effect.Key words: bonding effect, municipal solid waste ash (MSWA), pozzolan