Integrating Islamic Fintech into Islamic Social Finance to Revive the Going Concern of MSMEs in the COVID-19 Era

This study seeks to propose a model that integrates Islamic social finance and Islamic fintech to revive MSMEs' going concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The study applies content analysis and a multidisciplinary literature review. This study proposes a model that integrates Islamic social finance instruments (such as zakat [Islamic compulsory tax], waqf [Islamic endowment], Islamic microfinance and sadaqat [voluntary charity]) and Islamic fintech platforms (P2P and crowdfunding) that could enable MSMEs to obtain funds to revitalize their going concerns by engaging in various Islamic-based contracts, such as musharakah (equity partnership), murabahah (the cost-plus sale contract), mudarabah (trust partnership), ijarah (lease contract), musharakah mutanaqisah (diminishing equity partnership), qard al-hasan (free interest loan), salam (forward financing transaction), etc. The provision of adequate finance using the proposed integrated model is expected to revitalize the MSMEs' going concerns, which can contribute to the country's economic growth and development. Despite the study's contribution by inventing an Islamic-based model for reviving the MSMEs' going concerns in Nigeria, it is conceptual without empirical validation. Hence, future studies should empirically explore the feasibility of the proposed integrated model. The implications of the findings indicate the need to provide motivational regulations for establishing Islamic fintech companies. There is also a need to provide effective technological applications that ensure the selection of only eligible beneficiaries

AKTIVITAS BELAJAR MAHASISWA PGSD: POTRET KEMAMPUAN MAHASISWA DALAM MENERAPKAN PRODUK, SIKAP DAN KETERAMPILAN PROSES SAINS DIMASA PANDEMI

Penerapan produk, sikap dan keterampilan proses sains dapat membantu proses belajar mahasiswa, baik pada rumpun mata kuliah sains maupun non-sains. Dua aspek tersebut bahkan merupakan bekal yang baik bagi mahasiswa untuk membantunya memecahkan persoalan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Untuk memfasilitasi mahasiswa dalam mengembangkan kemampuan dalam menerapkan sikap dan keterampilan proses sains, dibutuhkan data base terkait kemampuan awal mereka terhadap penerapan dua aspek sains tersebut terutama di masa pandemi Covid-19 ini. Penelitian bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan kemampuan mahasiswa dalam menerapkan sikap dan keterampilan proses sains. Penelitian dilakukan pada mahasiswa PGSD yang telah menempuh mata kuliah Pendidikan Sains yaitu semester V Tahun Akademik 2021/2022. Sampel berjumlah 79 mahasiswa yang dipilih menggunakan teknik purposive sampling. Koleksi data dilakukan selama satu semester perkuliahan dengan menggunakan instrumen berupa lembar observasi, dan dokumen berbentuk karya tulis mahasiswa. Analisis data menggunakan statistik deskriptif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa range nilai akhir mahasiswa sebesar 74.099 dengan nilai minimum 13 dan nilai maksimum 87.099. Mediannya 70.005 dan rata-rata sebesar 65.867 dengan kategori baik. Jika diamati distribusinya, proporsi terbesar adalah nilai kualitatif B+ (30.4%) di mana kategorinya termasuk baik. Kesimpulan dari hasil penelitian ini adalah kemampuan mahasiswa dalam menerapkan aspek produk, sikap dan keterampilan proses sains sudah baik

Implementasi Template Dan Contoh Makalah: Upaya Meningkatkan Keterampilan Menulis Mahasiswa

Perbaikan kualitas pembelajaran yang bersifat berkelanjutan merupakan kunci dalam membekali mahasiswa dari kompetensi yang mereka butuhkan. Salah satu kompetensi yang dibutuhkan adalah keterampilan menulis. Penggunaan template makalah telah terbukti dapat membantu mengembangkan keterampilan menulis mahasiswa. Walaupun demikian, secara rata-rata belum mencapai kategori sangat baik. Pada penelitian ini, kami megimplementasikan dua fasilitas pembelajaran sekaligus yaitu template dan contoh makalah. tujuannya adalah menganalisis keterampilan menulis mahasiswa melalui implementasi kedua fasilitas tersebut. Penelitian dilaksanakan pada mahasiswa PGSD yang memprogramkan mata kuliah Statistika Pendidikan. Sampel terdiri atas 36 mahasiswa yang ditentukan menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Metode pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah metode dokumentasi, di mana makalah yang telah ditulis oleh tiap mahasiswa menjadi instrumennya. Kualitas makalah yang menjadi ukuran dari keterampilan menulis mahasiswa di ukur berdasarkan 21 indikator dari 3 aspek yaitu: (1) bagian awal, (2) bagian inti dan (3) bagian akhir makalah. Data berupa skor yang diperoleh dari tiap indikator kemudian dikonversi menjadi nilai dengan rentang 0 – 100. Untuk mendapatkan keterampilan menulis secara klasikal, nilai makalah dari masing-masing mahasiswa dianalisis secara deskriptif. Statistik deskriptif yang digunakan adalah rata-rata. Adapun untuk mendapatkan gambaran terkait sebarannya, kami melakukan analisis proporsional. Berdasarkan hasil analisis yang telah dilakukan, kami menemukan bahwa rata-rata keterampilan menulis mahasiswa berada pada nilai 78.34 (B+). Sebanyak 52.78% mahasiswa sudah mencapai nilai dengan rentang 81.57 – 93 (A). Sisanya adalah 30.56% mendapat nilai B+, 8.33% mendapat nilai B, 5.56% mendapat nilai C+ dan hanya 2.78% yang mendapatkan nilai E. Dari temuan ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa implementasi dari template dan contoh makalah efektif dalam mengembangkan keterampilan menulis mahasiswa

Implementasi Pendidikan Demokrasi di Sekolah

Penelitian ini bertujuan mengkaji secara lebih komprehensif tentang pelaksanaan pendidikan demokrasi di sekolah. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode telaah pustaka. Jenis data yang digunakan adalah data sekunder. Metode pengumpulan data dengan mengambil data di pustaka, membaca, mencatat, dan mengolah bahan penelitian.  Data-data yang diperoleh dituangkan ke dalam sub bab-sub bab sehingga menjawab rumusan masalah penelitian.  Proses pengambilan data dilakukan dengan 1) memiliki ide umum mengenai topik penelitian. 2) mencari informasi yang mendukung topik. 3) Pertegas fokus penelitian. 4) Mencari dan menemukan bahan bacaan yang diperlukan dan mengklasifikasikan bahan bacaan. 5) membaca dan membuat catatan penelitian. 6) Mereview dan memperkaya lagi bahan bacaan. 7) Mengklasifikasi lagi bahan bacaan dan mulai menulis.  Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis isi. Hasil kajian menyimpulkan bahwa: a) penanaman nilai demokrasi pada level kelas memerlukan iklim kelas yang trasparan dan toleran dalam segala perbedaan, baik sikap maupun pendapat dari siswa; b) nuansa demokrasi dalam kegiatan pembelajaran dapat diwujudkan dengan mengembangkan dan menggunakan model-model pembelajaran semisal model pembelajaran kooperatif, model pembelajaran berbasis masalah (PBM); c) Iklim yang demokratis dalam aspek kelembagaan di sekolah dapat  diakomodir oleh manajemen berbasis sekolah (MBS); d) internalisasi nilai-nilai demokrasi di sekolah tergantung dari kultur sekolah

Relationship between ownership concentration and financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria: Does a turning point exist? / Junaidu Muhammad Kurawa, and Umar Habibu Umar

This study seeks to establish a non-linear relationship between ownership concentration and financial performance of the listed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. The data were extracted from the annual reports and accounts of six (6) sampled DMBs from 2003 to 2014. A panel data regression technique was used to analyse the data collected. The study establishes that the relationship between ownership concentration and the financial performance of listed DMBs in Nigeria changes from negative to positive when the ownership concentration reaches 54.94%. This signifies that the relationship between ownership concentration and financial performance is negative if the concentration is below 54.94%. On the other hand, the relationship is positive if it is concentrated above 54.94%. Hence, it is recommended that the ownership of DMBs should not be concentrated below the cut-off point (54.94%) with the view to earning profits

Ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery results of partial meniscectomy

In an open prospective study the results of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy were reviewed in 188 knees. Group I comprised of 139 (65%) knees with pure meniscus lesions without any ligament laxity, the remaining 49 (35%) knees in group II had anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency in addition to meniscus lesions. In group I, 93% had excellent to good and 7% had fair results by criteria of Tapper and Hoover. In group II, 75% had excellent to good and 25% had fair results. Arthroscopic knee surgery was a good method of identifying patients in group II who required anterior cruciate reconstruction. One hundred (53%) sedentary workers were able to return to work at a mean time of 3 weeks. Patients classified as heavy labour comprised of a group of 40 (21%) were able to return to their occupation in the mean time of 5 weeks. School and college students numbered 28 (14%) were able to go to their institutions in the mean time of 10 days. Twenty (9%) patients were professional or semi-professional athletes who were permitted sports training in 3 weeks and sports participation in 6 weeks on the average. There were no serious complications including wound infection, deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or loss of knee motion. The arthroscopic technique is reliable, cost effective and has high patient acceptance because of low morbidity and rapid return of good function to the knee joint

Comparative Study of Antioxidant Activities of the Leaves and Stem of Ipomoea aquatica Forsk (Water Spinach)

Leaves and stem extracts of Ipomoea aquatic Forsk were analysed for their antioxidant activities. Folin-Ciocalteu and AlCl3 methods were used to quantify total phenolic and flavonoid contents while 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical assay was used to examine the antioxidant activity of the extracts. The respective total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the stem (18.00 ±  1.20 and 20.00 ± 1.40 μg Catechin equivalent, CEQ g-1 DW) show no significant (p > 0.05) difference when compared to leaves (16.00 ± 1.10 and 30.00 ± 2.1 μg CEQ g-1 DW). In DPPH scavenging assay, the reference standard i.e. vitamin C (IC50 = 0.0660μg/ml) had significantly (p<0.05) higher scavenging activity than the stem (IC50 = 35.96μg/ml) which in turn is significantly higher (p<0.05) than the leaves (IC50 = 176.92μg/ml). From the results it can be concluded that stem and leaves of Ipomoea aquatica had similar antioxidants activity.Keywords: Ipomoea aquatica, antioxidant, DPPH Assay, Scavenging activity, phenolic, flavonoi

An Investigation into the Farm Households Consumption Patterns in Punjab, Pakistan

In the present study, the consumption data of paddy and wheat growing farm households were analysed using the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model, incorporating the household composition in addition to the usual price/income variables. Although the general restrictions of demand theory were rejected, the overall results were not seriously out of line of a priori expectations. All the own-price elasticities were negative and most of them were significant. Paddy and wheat were found to be gross complements in consumption whereas meat and pulses emerged as gross substitutes. Dairy products and meat were regarded as luxuries by the sample farm households and expenditure on these items was curtailed in response to any addition to household size. Significant quantitative dietary impacts were found associated with change in the age composition of farm households. A more detailed analysis of consumption behaviour of rural families may be merited; this may explore alternative groupings of consumption goods, additional socio-economic factors or use of panel data.

Evolution of Post Graduate Curricula in Pakistan

Postgraduate medical training started with the apprenticeship model. This system heavily relied on tradition and subjectivity. In the middle of the 20th century, there was a gradual shift to an objective-based structure which had its roots in the works of Ralph Tyler and Benjamin Bloom. As a result, the curriculum became focused on predefined objectives in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. This drive was aimed to standardize the learning criteria across various centers and align the tools for assessment for postgraduate medical students.1In our country, the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) has been the main center of postgraduate medical education since its inception in 1962. With both local and foreign-trained faculty members, it was one of the first centers to start training in Medical Education in collaboration with the World Health Organization in 1979.2 Various supervisor workshops and certifications by the Department of Medical Education helped equip the faculty with the tools required for curricular development.3 Thus new curricula in each discipline were developed and were called “structured training programs”. They were based on the objective approach and largely focused on summative assessments with very few formative assessments.4In the last two decades, new evidence and methods of postgraduate teaching and assessment have evolved in the west.5 Due to technological enhancements in patient care and vast development in the scientific pool of medical knowledge, there was a demand to define outcome-based competencies that strongly align with the demands of the workplace. As a result, competency-based curriculum models were developed which “de-emphasized time-based training and promised greater accountability, flexibility, and learner-centeredness”.1 CANMEDS (Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists) and ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) are two of the most popular systems having a competency-based framework which has been developed and successfully implemented in North America.Competency-based programs differ from objective-based ones in the fact that instead of prescribing how to teach or learn, they focus on the demonstration of various competencies required for practice. A competency-based curriculum must exhibit “teacher-learner relationship and responsibility, workplace-based assessment approach, alignment of competencies with criterion-referenced assessment, and flexible training duration”. 6 The system focuses on the attainment of competencies by the trainee to determine readiness for unsupervised practice rather than the length of their training.The structure of a competency-based curriculum is not based solely on objectives but rather uses defined Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) which align the teaching and assessment at the workplace with the competency frameworks. Another key aspect of this curricular structure is milestones which are based on the skill development framework of Dreyfus and Dreyfus.1 Both these key elements ensure that the trainee has attained the desired level of clinical skill to practice.The teaching of these competencies is often done in a workplace setting. Assessments employ Work Place Based Assessment (WPBA) tools such as Directly Observed Procedural Skills (DOPS) for procedural skills, Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercises (Mini-CEX), and Chart Based Recall (CBR) for clinical reasoning skills and 360-degree feedback for professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills. The system also caters to the extent of differential achievement of learners by offering targeted help to trainees in form of regular formative feedback which is an essential component of WPBAs.7As with other, in vogue ideas of medical education, the College of Surgeons and Physicians Pakistan was the first to develop a competency-based curricular framework nearly a decade ago. It was centered on patient care and involved professionalism, pedagogy, and advocacy as essential competencies to be acquired by the specialists.4,8 One key area where the CPSP fellowship program has developed since then is the development of portfolios 9 in the form of an electronic log (e-log) system for regular monitoring of training. The e-log system also includes reflections by supervisors and trainees which is a step in the right direction.10 Other technological solutions such as learning management systems, mobile applications, simulation, and social media if added could further enhance student learning and engagement.11,12 A close inspection of the current fellowship and membership structured training programs of CPSP reveals that despite the claim of running a competency-based framework, none of the key features of this system like defined EPAs, milestones, and WPBA strategies exist. Also, there is a lack of curricular alignment with the core competencies. So, it is difficult to consider it as a competency-based framework of postgraduate medical education in a true sense.Other medical universities in the country have relatively recently developed their Master of Surgery (MS) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) curricula. Wide variations exist in their induction, teaching & learning, assessment, and evaluation criteria. Also, limited literature is available to study their curricular structural design. Instead of adopting the new competency-based framework, most have chosen to retain the archaic objective-based curricular model. Unfortunately, with no guidelines from the nascent Pakistan Medical Commission, most programs tend to evolve in the light of the Higher Education Commission’s curriculum recommendations which are based on the older objective-based approach.13Rawalpindi Medical University right from its inception had the vision to develop a University Residency Program for post-graduate studies in Medicine, Surgery, and allied disciplines based on ACGME competency-based curriculum. Under this program, we train hundreds of trainees with regular monitoring via workplace-based assessment and 360-degree feedback forms. These are evaluated by the Quality Enhancement Cell in 6 monthly cycles with feedback provided to the trainees, supervisors, and administration. The trainee is also required to log cases and activities with reflections in their logbooks. Each clinical case is also added to their online portal for record and evaluation. These regular formative tools with monitoring and feedback help the trainee assess their weaknesses, supervisors plan their trainee's progress and administration take decisions for improvement. Formative assessments are done at the end of each year comprising of MCQ, SAQ, and OSCE formats. At the end of the program, a comprehensive summative assessment is also conducted to certify competence.Nine years ago, Wasim Jafri14 wrote that “The competency-based model provides an exceptional opportunity for Pakistani postgraduate medical institutes”. We believe that today Rawalpindi Medical University is a pioneer among the medical sector universities in providing this excellent opportunity to its trainees and supports other partnering universities in developing competency-based curricula

Do heavily-unionized companies compensate their CEOs less in periods of financial distress? Evidence from Canadian companies during the financial crisis.

This paper studies the strategic interaction between employee stakeholders, in particular labor unions, and top management, and evaluates the effect of the two parties’ inherent competitive rent-seeking behavior on CEO pay. Using a panel of firms listed on the S&P/TSX composite index, this paper finds that CEO compensation withstood the financial crisis despite lower and even negative corporate performance. Further, heavily-unionized companies were associated with higher CEO pay in terms of non-equity elements such as salary and pension allocations. The presence of unions had no observed effect in reducing bonuses, stock options, and restricted stock units. These findings have implications for the debate on income inequality, and the power of unions to bring about change