THE QUALITY OF EVENING EDUCATION PROGRAM AT JIMMA TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE (JTTC), IN OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

The central objective of the study was to investigate the quality of evening continuing education program at JTTC. Data for this study were collected from students and instructors of four existing evening program in the college; registrar officer was also a major data source. In addition, information from direct class observations and students’ academic records were used as data sources. For triangulation purpose, interview guide, questionnaire, focus group discussion guide, observation checklist and document analysis form were, accordingly, used as instruments for data collection. And, the collected data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods; though qualitative method was dominantly used. The results of the study showed that the dropout rates in all the departments were in large proportion, especially in the department of Civics. The major reason for the dropout was found to be academic dismissals. Furthermore, student respondents described instructors’ lack of subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills, negative attitudes towards evening students, unpunctuality and lack of sufficient educational resources as major problems that had worked against their successful learning. They also added inconvenient teaching-learning atmosphere, timing of the evening program, personal and occupational problems as major obstacles to their academic performances. On the other hand, teacher respondents attributed the challenges to lack of guidance and counseling services, students’ poor educational background, some students’ lack of interest in learning, lack of reference materials in Afan oromo and ICT services. It was stressed that the quality of teaching-learning in particular and evening education program at the college, in general, was under threat. Ideas were further discussed and implications about quality in evening continuing education program at the college were underlined

Psychosocial Conditions and Resilience Status of Street Children in Jimma Town

BACKGROUND: Traditional research and practices focused on an investigation of risk factors to handle psychosocial problems street children faced while surviving on the street. However, more recently, attention has been given to how knowledge can be developed in the area to devise interventions that reflect the promotion of resilience as a means of achieving positive outcomes for the children. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychosocial conditions and resilience status of street children in Jimma Town.METHODS: Explanatory sequential research design was employed. Out of 246 teenager street children, 137 were selected using simple random sampling. Questionnaire, interview guide and FGD probes were used in data collection. Mean and standard deviation, multiple regression analysis and Man Whitney U T-test were used to analyze quantitative data; while discourse analysis was used to analyze qualitative data.RESULTS: The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that anxiety significantly predicted resilience status, b=.623, t (109)=8.418, p˂.001. Anxiety also explained a significant proportion of the variance in resilience status, R2=.388, F (112) = 70.86, p ˂.001. Further, the result revealed that street children had slow growing resilience status in which boys were more resilient than girls.CONCLUSION: Street children in Jimma Town faced various psychosocial challenges and had low resilience status. Thus, Jimma Town Women and Children Affairs Office ought to work to build resilience status of street children, in collaboration with different stakeholders in and around the town

Street Children’s Drug Abuse and Their Psychosocial Actualities Synchronized with Intervention Strategies in South West Ethiopia

Today’s children in developing countries are growing up in an increasingly stressful circumstance. As consumption of substances is increasing, the age of beginning is falling. Hence, this research examined street children’s drug abuse and their psychosocial actualities synchronized with intervention strategies. Explanatory sequential research design was employed. A total of 150 street children and four key informants were selected through simple random sampling lottery method and purposive sampling technique respectively. Questionnaires, interview guides, FGD probes and observation checklist were employed as tools of data collection. The result of the study portrayed that sniffing glue and gasoline were becoming the drugs of choice for most children living on the street. Further, street children faced various psychological and social strains from absence of meeting their basic social needs and services to certain disorders like depression, anxiety, and stress. Government bodies’ interventions were limited and inconsistent that only under goes informal education that could not bring considerable change; it lacks solidity and incompatibility with the number of street children runway over a time in the study area. In conclusion, most of the street children in South west Ethiopia were at adversary peak of drug abuse and psychosocial challenges. Thus, South-West areas Women and Children Affairs Offices, Labor and Social Affairs Offices and NGOs working on these matters ought to take these issues into greater consideration and act accordingly. In collaboration with professionals, they also need to work on drug free child sensitive preventive and rehabilitation counseling and other psychosocial support

Symptoms and Underlying Factors of Psychological Distress among Inmates in Bonga Town Correctional Center, Kaffa Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia

Mental disorders occur frequently in the context of incarceration. Imprisonment may lead to the development of mental illness, especially psychological distress. The main purposes of this study were to investigate symptoms and underlying factors of psychological distress among inmates of Bonga Town correctional center.  Institution based cross-sectional study design was employed and 327 inmates from February to March 2017 were considered for this study. Systematic sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data was collected by using a standardized self-reported questionnaire. Analysis was done by SPSS version 20. Multiple regression was conducted to identify associated factors. Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine gender difference on symptoms of psychological distress.  The finding of this study revealed symptoms of psychological distress (being tired, being nervous, being hopeless, being restless, and feel depressed) prevail among inmates of Bonga Town correctional center. The level of psychological distress according to Kessler scale ranges from mild to severe and fell under moderate level of distress (36.69%). There was significant gender difference on the symptoms of psychological distress. Hence, female inmates were more distressed than male inmates. Bonga correctional center communities should work cooperatively with Bonga G/Tsadik Shawo hospital to help inmates who were at risk.

Effects of home-based play-assisted stimulation on developmental performances of children living in extreme poverty : a randomized single-blind controlled trial

Background: Children living with foster families in a resource-limited setting such as Ethiopia are at risk of developmental problems. It is not yet clear whether intensive home-based developmental stimulation assisted by play can reduce these problems. The main objective of this study was to examine the effects of play-assisted intervention integrated into basic services on the developmental performance of children living with foster families in extreme poverty. Methods: A randomized single-blind (investigator) controlled trial design was used. The study was conducted in Jimma, South West Ethiopia. Using computer-generated codes, eligible children of 3-59 months in age were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 39) and control (n = 39) groups at a 1:1 ratio. Children in the intervention group received home-based play-assisted stimulation in addition to the basic services provided to children in both groups. The intervention consisted of an hour of play stimulation conducted during a weekly home visit over the course of six months. Personal-social, language, fine and gross motor outcomes were assessed using Denver II-Jimma, and social-emotional outcome was obtained using an adapted Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional (ASQ: SE). Information about sociodemographic characteristics was collected using a structured questionnaire. Anthropometric methods were used to determine nutritional status. The effects of the intervention on the abovementioned outcomes over the study period and group differences in change over time were examined using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE). Results: Statistically significant intervention effects were found for language (P = 0.0014), personal-social (P = 0.0087) and social-emotional (P < 0.0001) performances. At the midline of the study, language (effect size = 0.34) and social-emotional (effect size = - 0.603) benefits from the play-assisted stimulation had already been observed for the children in the intervention group. For language, the intervention effect depended on the child's sex (P = 0.0100) and for personal-social performance, on family income (P = 0.0300). Conclusions: Intensive home-based play-assisted stimulation reduced the developmental problems of children in foster families in the context of extreme poverty. Longer follow-up may reveal further improvements in the developmental performance of the children

The relationship of undernutrition/psychosocial factors and developmental outcomes of children in extreme poverty in Ethiopia

Background: Extreme poverty is severe deprivation of basic needs and services. Children living in extreme poverty may lack adequate parental care and face increased developmental and health risks. However, there is a paucity of literature on the combined influences of undernutrition and psychosocial factors ( such as limited play materials, playground, playtime, interactions of children with their peers and mother-child interaction) on children's developmental outcomes. The main objective of this study was, therefore, to ascertain the association of developmental outcomes and psychosocial factors after controlling nutritional indices. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was used to compare the developmental outcomes of extremely poor children (N = 819: 420 girls and 399 boys) younger than 5 years versus age-matched reference children (N = 819: 414 girls and 405 boys) in South-West Ethiopia. Using Denver II-Jimma, development in personalsocial, language, fine and gross motor skills were assessed, and social-emotional skills were evaluated using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ: SE). Nutritional status was derived from the anthropometric method. Independent samples t-test was used to detect mean differences in developmental outcomes between extremely poor and reference children. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to identify nutritional and psychosocial factors associated with the developmental scores of children in extreme poverty. Results: Children in extreme poverty performed worse in all the developmental domains than the reference children. Among the 819 extremely poor children, 325 (39.7%) were stunted, 135 (16.5%) were underweight and 27 (3.3%) were wasted. The results also disclosed that stunting and underweightness were negatively associated with all the developmental skills. After taking into account the effects of stunting and being underweight on the developmental scores, it was observed that limited play activities, limited child-to-child interactions and motherchild relationships were negatively related mainly to gross motor and language performances of children in extreme poverty. Conclusion: Undernutrition and psychosocial factors were negatively related to the developmental outcomes, independently, of children living in extreme poverty. Intervention, for these children, should integrate home-based play-assisted developmental stimulation and nutritional rehabilitation

Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)—giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life—is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2018 across 94 LMICs mapped to policy-relevant administrative units (for example, districts), quantify subnational inequalities and their changes over time, and estimate probabilities of meeting the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) of ≥70% EBF prevalence by 2030. While six LMICs are projected to meet the WHO GNT of ≥70% EBF prevalence at a national scale, only three are predicted to meet the target in all their district-level units by 2030

Adaptation and standardization of a Western tool for assessing child development in non-Western low-income context

Abstract Background Due to lack of culturally relevant assessment tools, little is known about children’s developmental profiles in low income settings such as Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to adapt and standardize the Denver II for assessing child development in Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia. Methods Culture-specific test items in Denver II were modified. After translation into two local languages, all test items were piloted and fine-tuned. Using 1597 healthy children 4 days to 70.6 months of age, the 25, 50, 75 and 90 % passing ages were determined for each test item as milestones. Milestones attainment on the adapted version and the Denver II were compared on the 90 % passing age. Reliability of the adapted tool was examined. Results A total of 36 (28.8 %) test items, mostly from personal social domain, were adapted. Milestones attainment ages on the two versions differed significantly on 42 (34 %) test items. The adapted tool has an excellent inter-rater on 123 (98 %) items and substantial to excellent test-retest reliability on 119 (91 %) items. Conclusions A Western developmental assessment tool can be adapted reliably for use in low-income settings. Age differences in attaining milestones indicate a correct estimation of child development requires a population-specific standard