EFFECT OF CAREER ADVANCEMENT ON RETENTION OF SCIENCE TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KISUMU COUNTY, KENYA: A MIXED METHOD APPROACH

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of career advancement on retention of science teachers in public secondary schools in Kisumu County, Kenya. Embedded research design was adopted for the study. Target population included 905 respondents which comprised 221 principals and 684 science teachers from 221 public secondary schools in Kisumu County. Stratified, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were employed to sample 277 respondents who included 68 principals and 209 science teachers from 68 public secondary schools. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used to collect data. Validity of the data collection instruments was determined through expert judgment whereas reliability was ascertained through internal consistency method using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient formula. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0 facilitated analysis of quantitative data. Descriptive statistics, namely; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation were used to analyze quantitative data while thematic approach was used to analyze qualitative data. Regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between career advancement and retention as well as to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that career advancement had a statistically significant effect on retention; training (β =.134, p = 060 > .05); career path (β = .062, p = .382 > .05) and promotion (β = .257, p = .000 < .05). Specifically, promotion had statistically significant effect on retention of science teachers. The study concludes that career advancement especially promotion has statistically significant effect on retention of science teachers in public secondary schools in Kisumu County. Article visualizations

Rising under-5 mortality in Africa: who bears the brunt?

OBJECTIVES: To identify the socioeconomic and geographical groups in which the recent under-5 mortality increase observed in several African countries was most pronounced, and to explore the contribution of a number of proximate determinants of under-5 mortality. METHODS: Time trends in under-5 mortality were assessed with Cox Proportional Hazards regression analysis, using Demographic and Health Surveys data for Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'lvoire, Kenya and Zimbabwe for the late 1980s - 1990s. We tested for differences in time trends between socioeconomic and rural/urban subgroups, and described the inequalities in time trends in living conditions, malnutrition and health care use. RESULTS: Under-5 mortality increased substantially (ranging from 25% to 71% in 10 years) within the five countries. In Kenya, the increase was the largest among children born to less educated mothers (test for difference between educational groups: P = 0.074) and in rural areas (P = 0.090). In Cameroon, the increase was the largest among the higher educated (P = 0.013), and in Zimbabwe among the higher educated (P = 0.098) and in urban areas (P = 0.093). For Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, we did not observe statistically significant differences between educational and rural/urban subgroups. The decline in skilled delivery attendance in Zimbabwe and Kenya was similar among the less and higher educated. The decline in immunization coverage during the mid-1990s in Zimbabwe was the largest in the group with the highest mortality increase, but in Kenya it was as large among the less and higher educated. Whereas in Kenya the increase in malnutrition was the largest in the group with the highest mortality increase, this was not the case in Zimbabwe. CONCLUSIONS: The recent increase in under-5 mortality in some African countries was highly concentrated in specific population subgroups. Exactly which groups were most affected was highly variable. It cannot be assumed that lower socioeconomic groups are always most vulnerable. Strategies to halt the under-5 mortality increase should be based on disaggregate information for individual countries

Myosin-IIA Heavy-Chain Phosphorylation Regulates the Motility of MDA-MB-231 Carcinoma Cells

In mammalian nonmuscle cells, the mechanisms controlling the localized formation of myosin-II filaments are not well defined. To investigate the mechanisms mediating filament assembly and disassembly during generalized motility and chemotaxis, we examined the EGF-dependent phosphorylation of the myosin-IIA heavy chain in human breast cancer cells. EGF stimulation of MDA-MB-231 cells resulted in transient increases in both the assembly and phosphorylation of the myosin-IIA heavy chains. In EGF-stimulated cells, the myosin-IIA heavy chain is phosphorylated on the casein kinase 2 site (S1943). Cells expressing green fluorescent protein-myosin-IIA heavy-chain S1943E and S1943D mutants displayed increased migration into a wound and enhanced EGF-stimulated lamellipod extension compared with cells expressing wild-type myosin-IIA. In contrast, cells expressing the S1943A mutant exhibited reduced migration and lamellipod extension. These observations support a direct role for myosin-IIA heavy-chain phosphorylation in mediating motility and chemotaxis