Review on Higher Diploma Training Experiences, Quality Teaching and Its Challenges in Mizan_Tepi University, Ethiopia

The purpose of this review is to examine the existing practices of quality teaching in Mizan_Tepi University.  Specifically, it is to discuss on how the knowledge, experiences and skills acquired from higher diploma program training is linked to quality teaching-learning. Higher diploma program training is effectively undertaking in Mizan_Tepi University. About 572 university academic staffs have been completed this training program within the last ten years. However, the impact of this training on the effective teaching of academic staff is not conducted yet. For this matter researches that have been done by different universities on this regard has been reviewed and compared with the real practices. Session observations of higher diploma trained academic staff classrooms, focus group discussion with the program candidates and teaching experiences were used as a base for this review. In general, the long period of time teaching experiences in the university and frequent session observations made indicates that the real practice of teaching and learning situation in Mizan_Tepi university looks like similar with the traditional teaching approach in which students are considered as passive listeners.  Most teachers failed to make their lesson active and increase students’ engagement by blaming the mismatch between the contents of the subject in terms of its scope and the modular teaching approach. In practice it is observed that instructors are unused this skills and experiences that they have gained from higher diploma training in spite of the real use of it to facilitate students’ better learning. Some instructors with being less reflective of themselves, they attribute every failure to students though the program is supposed to help the realization of reflectiveness of teachers based on the constructivist teaching approach. Student engagement is most powerful in the process of quality teaching. To make such culture happen first teachers expected to believe that students learn better when they become active participant and create an environment which gives an opportunity to engage into learning. And also students must take responsibility for their learning and work hard to achieve the desired objectives. Lastly, the reviewer strongly recommends the academic community that to realize the usage of knowledge, skills and experiences gained from the training there has to be genuine focus, concern and commitment towards the quality teaching in the University. Keywords: Higher Diploma Training Experiences, Quality of Teaching DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-10-11 Publication date: April 30th 2019

Ethnic Tension Among Students and the Role of Leaders in Ethiopian Public Universities: Experiences and Reflections

Ethnic tension in this paper is used to discuss about the disagreements, the hatred, the conflicts, the distrusts, the fears and tensions which are there among University students who are gathered together for education purpose from different ethnic groups/nations and nationalities during their academic life. The practices are undertaking in Ethiopian Public Universities. Having about a nine-year experience of staying within different universities as a student and mostly as a university Instructor, I have experienced different challenges and practices during this long time stay in Universities regarding these ethnic based tensions, hatred and conflicts. Generally, from personal experiences and observations these tensions are caused by historical, political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and institutional related problems.  Some among the many outputs of these tensions/conflicts are like loss of life, destruction of resources, disturbance of educational programmes and practices. It is believed that Human Resource managers have a lion share in stabilizing and preventing these devastating issues that deteriorates the generations’ national integrity, unity, love and affection. It is also assumed that it is up to the parents, teachers, managers and government who are supposed to develop good citizen, tolerance and mutual understanding, free and fair thinking and democratic culture among these students. Beside to this the Human resource managers are the frontier in educational institutions is solving these problems and producing standard manpower for companies and for the nation in addition to their business strategies. Keywords: Ethnic Tension, Ethnic Conflict, Organizational Leaders, Experiences and reflection

Produksjon av biodiesel fra Jatropha curcas L. frø fra forskjellige agro-klimatiske soner i Etiopia: frøbehandling, oljeekstraksjon og optimalisering av biodieselproduksjon ved bruk av heterogene katalysatorer

Energy is basic for development and its demand increases due to population growth, urbanization, and the improvement of living standards in most parts of the world. Nowadays, the energy sector faces dual challenges, the need to meet the ever increasing energy demand and at the same time the concern for environment, particularly, reducing the carbon emissions. Fossil fuels are the main sources of energy and they will continue to dominate the other energy sources although they have negative impacts on the global climate and are non-renewable. The negative effects on the global climate and the uncertainty of the petroleum reserves has increased interests to search for alternative sources of energy which are renewable and have less pollution potential and carbon emission. One of such alternative sources of energy is the biodiesel, which is ecofriendly, renewable, biodegradable and nontoxic. Biodiesel can be produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, waste oils and microalgae. Production of biodiesel from edible vegetable oils resulted in food vs fuel debate, and thus, nowadays production of biodiesel from the oil of non-edible crops such as jatropha seeds is preferred. Jatropha seed oil has been considered as a promising biodiesel feedstock as it is non-edible due to the presence of a toxic compound (the phorbol ester) in it and the oil content of the seed is high. The oil contents of jatropha seeds and seed kernel vary from 20-60% and 40-60%, respectively. The primary objective of the present thesis is to determine the oil contents of different jatropha seed collections and optimize biodiesel production using reusable and low cost heterogenous catalysts. For this purpose, the thesis attempted to identify the suitable conditions for jatropha seed drying for oil extraction in order to determine the oil contents of different jatropha seed collection. Some physco-chemical properties of the oils were also evaluated to determine whether the oils could be used for biodiesel production or not. Moreover, to search for low cost and more sustainable methods of biodiesel production, renewable alcohols and reusable and low cost heterogenous catalysts were used to produce biodiesel at different reaction conditions, and to optimize the reaction process. The present PhD thesis is based on six scientific papers that systematically presented interrelated research activities that included the investigation of different biodiesel feedstocks and various oil extraction methods, techniques of seed drying for oil extraction, extraction of oil from different jatropha seed collections and biodiesel production using renewable alcohols, and reusable and low cost heterogenous catalysts. The research activities in this thesis are interrelated and stepwise activities, and the results obtained from the preceding works were used as the bases and/or inputs for the next activities. Accordingly, the research work was started with the review of the state of art of relevant literature to evaluate the advantages and limitations of using different biodiesel feedstocks and oil extraction methods from different oil sources in general, and from plant seeds in particular (Paper I). From a thorough examination of the literature reports, it was understood that oils from non-edible crops such as jatropha was identified as a promising feedstock for biodiesel as using such oils does not compete with human consumption. Moreover, jatropha seeds have high oil content and the plant has great adaptation potential to various climates. Solvent extraction method was also selected for oil extraction from the seeds due to its efficiency in oil extraction and its simplicity and affordability. The experimental part of the study began with drying a selected jatropha seed collection at storage conditions for oil extraction as the moisture in a seed can affect the oil yield and the quality of the oil. The pretreated crushed seeds and non-pretreated whole seeds were dried at five different temperatures (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 oC) to identify the temperature and the pretreatment that could reduce the seed moisture to its minimum (Paper II). From this experiment, it was concluded that drying the whole seeds of jatropha at 80 oC for 2880 minutes produced the dried seed with suitable residual moisture (0.34%) for oil extraction. The moisture ratios calculated from the systematically recorded moisture loss from the drying seeds indicated above were adjusted to four semi-theoretical drying mathematical models (Lewis, Henderson and Pabis, Page and Avhad and Marchetti models) to determine the model that best fitted to the experimental drying kinetics of the seeds (Paper III). Among the employed mathematical models, Avhad and Marchetti model showed the best fitting to the experimental data. In Paper IV, after drying the seeds using the previously determined techniques, thirteen different jatropha seed collections were extracted with a Soxhlet extractor using hexane as solvent and cotton or thimble as filter to determine the seed collection that could give the largest percentage of oil. The physco-chemical properties of the sample from mixed oil (a mixture formed from oils from thirteen jatropha seed collections) and oil of Chali seed collection were also determined in order to use these oils for biodiesel production. Moreover, the heat contents of the de-oiled seed residues were determined as using such residues as an energy source can contribute to a reduction of the biodiesel production costs. In the extraction with cotton, Dana seed collection gave the largest oil yield (48.29%) while in the extraction with thimble, the largest oil yield (45.79±0.54%) was obtained from Chali seed collection. The results from the physco-chemical analyses of both oil samples suggested that the oils can be used for biodiesel production. Furthermore, since the average gross calorific value of the de-oiled jatropha seed residues after oil extraction was found to be about 19.64 MJ kg-1, the residues can be used as the source of heat. Two transesterification reactions were performed to produce biodiesel using renewable alcohols and reusable heterogenous catalyst at different reaction conditions to optimize the reaction processes. In the first reaction, the mixed oil (mixture of oils extracted from thirteen different seed collections) was reacted with ethanol using Amberlyst A26 (OH), anion ion exchange resin, at various reaction temperature, ethanol: oil molar ratio and catalyst percent to optimize the oil conversion and biodiesel yield (Paper V). From this study, it was found that the reaction temperature highly affected the reaction process. The maximum oil conversion (38.12%) and ester yield (36.81%) were experimentally obtained at an optimum temperature of 55 oC, alcohol: molar ratio of 35:1 and catalyst amount of 15%. Based on results obtained from the first experiment, it was suggested that upscaling of the oil conversion and biodiesel yield by using an integrated reaction factors, as well as reducing the amount of alcohol employed is needed. In the second transesterification reaction, glycerol enriched non-calcined calcium oxide was employed to catalyze the reaction of the oil of the Chali seed collection (Chali oil) with butanol at different temperatures and butanol: oil molar ratio by employing a constant amount of catalyst (15%wt) and glycerol (15%wt of the catalyst) (Paper VI) to optimize the process. From this study, it was found that the reaction temperature significantly affected the reaction process (p ≤ 0.05). Moreover, the maximum oil conversion of 98.16% was predicted to be obtained at the optimum temperature of 87.35 oC and butanol: oil molar ratio of 9.13:1. The maximum butyl ester yield of 95.79 % was also estimated to be found at the optimum temperature of 90.48 oC and butanol: oil molar ratio of 13.24:1. Furthermore, the butyl ester yield of 95.64% was experimentally obtained at the predicted optimum conditions for the ester yield. From the results of the second reaction, it was suggested that glycerol enriched non-calcined commercial calcium oxide can be used as a good alternative catalyst for biodiesel production using butanol.Energi er grunnleggende for all utvikling og etterspørselen øker på grunn av befolkningsvekst, urbanisering og forbedring av levestandarden i de fleste deler av verden. I dag står energisektoren overfor doble utfordringer, behovet for å imøtekomme det stadig økende energibehovet og samtidig bekymringen for miljøet, spesielt for å redusere karbonutslippene. Fossilt brensel er de viktigste energikildene, og de vil fortsette å dominere over de andre energikildene, selv om de har en negativ innvirkning på det globale klimaet og ikke er fornybare. De negative effektene på det globale klimaet og usikkerhetene omkring petroleumsreservene har økt interessen for å søke etter alternative energikilder som er fornybare og har mindre forurensningspotensiale og karbonutslipp. Biodiesel er en slik alternativ kilde til energi; den er miljøvennlig, fornybar, biologisk nedbrytbar og ikke-giftig. Biodiesel kan produseres fra vegetabilske oljer, animalsk fett, avfallsoljer og mikroalger. Produksjon av biodiesel fra spiselige vegetabilske oljer resulterte i mat vs drivstoffdebatt, og i dag foretrekkes nå produksjon av biodiesel fra olje som kommer fra fra ikke-spiselige vekster, slik som jatrophafrø. Jatropha har blitt sett på som et lovende råstoff for biodiesel, ettersom oljen er ikke spiselig på grunn av tilstedeværelsen av en giftig forbindelse (phorbolesteren), og oljeinnholdet i frøet er høyt. Oljeinnholdet i jatropha frø og frøkjernen varierer fra henholdsvis 20-60% og 40-60%. Hovedmålet med den herværende oppgaven er å bestemme oljeinnholdet i forskjellige jatrophafrø innsamlet i Etiopia og optimalisere biodieselproduksjon ved å bruke gjenbrukbare og rimelige heterogene katalysatorer. Med dette formålet forsøker avhandlingen å identifisere egnede betingelser for tørking av jatrophafrø for å ekstrahere olje, for deretter å bestemme oljeinnholdet i de forskjellige jatrophafrøkildene. Noen fysisk-kjemiske egenskaper av oljene ble også evaluert for å bestemme om oljene kunne brukes til biodieselproduksjon. For å finne de laveste kostnadene og mer bærekraftige metoder for biodieselproduksjon, ble dessuten fornybare alkoholer og gjenbrukbare og rimelige heterogene katalysatorer brukt til å produsere biodiesel ved forskjellige reaksjonsbetingelser, og for å optimalisere reaksjonsprosessen. Den nåværende doktorgradsavhandlingen er basert på seks vitenskapelige artikler som systematisk presenterte sammenhengende forskningsaktiviteter som inkluderte utredning av forskjellige biodiesel råstoff og forskjellige oljeekstraksjonsmetoder, teknikker for frøtørking for oljeekstraksjon, ekstraksjon av olje fra forskjellige jatrophafrøsamlinger og biodieselproduksjon ved bruk av fornybare alkoholer, samt gjenbrukbare og rimelige heterogene katalysatorer. Forskningsaktivitetene i denne avhandlingen henger sammen og trinnvis, og resultatene oppnådd fra de foregående arbeidene ble brukt som baser og / eller innspill til de neste aktivitetene. Følgelig ble forskningsarbeidet startet med en gjennomgang av den aktuelle teknikk for relevant litteratur for å evaluere fordelene og begrensningene ved å bruke forskjellige biodieselråstoff og oljeekstraksjonsmetoder fra forskjellige oljekilder generelt, og fra plantefrø spesielt (Artikkel I). Fra den detaljerte gjennomgangen av litteraturen ble det antydet at oljer fra ikke-spiselige avlinger som jatropha er identifisert som et lovende råstoff for biodiesel ettersom bruk av slik olje ikke konkurrerer med matproduksjon direkte. Dessuten har jatrophafrø høyere oljeinnhold, og planten har stort tilpasningspotensial til forskjellige klima. Oppløsningsmiddelekstraksjonsmetode ble også valgt for oljeekstraksjon fra frøene på grunn av dens effektivitet i oljeekstraksjon og dens enkelhet og rimelig kostnad. Den eksperimentelle delen av studien ble startet med tørking av en valgt jatrophafrøsamling etter lagring. Lagringstilstand før oljeekstraksjon kan ha betydning for oljeutbyttet og kvaliteten på oljen, siden fuktigheten i et frø påvirker dette. De forbehandlede knuste frøene og ikke-forbehandlede hele frøene ble tørket ved fem forskjellige temperaturer (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 oC) for å identifisere temperaturen og forbehandlingen som kunne redusere frøfuktigheten til sitt minimum (Artikkel II). Fra dette eksperimentet ble det konkludert med at tørking av hele frøene av jatropha ved 80 oC i 2880 minutter ga det tørkede frøet med passende restfuktighet (0,34%) for oljeekstraksjon. Fuktighetsforholdene beregnet ut fra det systematisk registrerte fuktighetstapet fra tørkefrøene som er angitt ovenfor, ble justert til fire semi-teoretiske tørkende matematiske modeller (Lewis, Henderson og Pabis, Page og Avhad og Marchettis modeller) for å bestemme hvilken modell som passet best til forsøket tørkingskinetikk av frøene (Artikkel III). Av de anvendte matematiske modellene viste Avhad og Marchetti-modellen seg best tilpasset til eksperimentelle data. I Artikkel IV ble tørrinnsamling av jatrophafrøekstrakt med Soxhlet-ekstraktor ved bruk av de tidligere optimale teknikker, og ved å anvende heksan som løsningsmiddel, og bomull eller fingerbøl som filter, for å finne den frøsamlingen som kunne gi den største prosentvise oljen. De fysisk-kjemiske egenskapene til prøven fra blandet olje (en blanding dannet av oljer fra tretten jatrophafrøsamlinger) og olje fra Chali-frøsamlingen ble også analysert for å bruke disse oljene til biodieselproduksjon. Videre ble varmeinnholdet i frørestene etter oljeutvinning bestemt fordi bruk av slike rester som energikilde kan bidra til med å redusere de totale investeringskostnadene for biodieselproduksjon. I ekstraksjonen med bomull ga Dana-frøsamlingen det største oljeutbyttet (48,29%), mens i ekstraksjonen med fingerbøl ble den største mengden olje (45,79 ± 0,54%) oppnådd fra Chali-frøsamlingen. Resultatene fra den fysisk-kjemiske analysen av begge oljeprøvene antydet at oljene kan brukes til biodieselproduksjon. Siden de gjennomsnittlige brutto brennverdiene av jatrophafrørestene etter oljeekstraksjon var ca. 19,64 MJ kg-1, kan restene brukes som varmekilde. To transesterifiseringsreaksjoner ble utført for å produsere biodiesel ved bruk av fornybare alkoholer og gjenbrukbar heterogen katalysator ved forskjellige reaksjonsbetingelser for å optimalisere reaksjonsprosessene. I den første reaksjonen ble den blandede oljen (blanding av oljer ekstrahert fra tretten forskjellige frøsamlinger) omsatt med etanol ved bruk av Amberlyst A26 (OH), anionionbytterharpiks, ved forskjellige reaksjonstemperaturer, etanol: olje-molforhold og katalysatorprosent for å optimalisere oljeomdannelse og biodieselutbytte (Artikkel V). Fra denne studien ble det funnet at reaksjonstemperaturen påvirket reaksjonsprosessen sterkt. Maksimal oljeomdannelse (38.12%) og esterutbytte (36.81%) ble eksperimentelt oppnådd ved en optimal temperatur på 55 oC, alkohol: molforhold på 35:1 og katalysatormengde på 15%. Basert på resultater oppnådd fra det første eksperimentet, ble det antydet at oppskalering av oljekonvertering og biodieselutbytte ved bruk av integrerte reaksjonsfaktorer, samt reduksjon av anvendt alkoholmengde er nødvendig. I den andre omesterifiseringsreaksjonen ble glyserolanriket ikke-kalsinert kalsiumoksyd anvendt for å katalysere reaksjonen fra oljen fra Chali frøsamlingen (Chali olje) med butanol ved forskjellige temperaturer og butanol: olje (i et molært forhold) ved å bruke en konstant mengde katalysator (15% vekt) og glyserol (15 vekt% av katalysatoren) (Artikkel VI) for å optimalisere prosessen. Av denne studien fant vi at reaksjonsprosessen ble betydelig påvirket av reaksjonstemperaturen (p ≤ 0,05). Videre ble den maksimale oljekonvertering på 98,16% forventet å være oppnådd ved en optimale temperatur på 87,35 oC og et butanol: olje-molforhold på 9,13:1. Det maksimale butylesterutbytte på 95,79% ble også beregnet til å bli oppnådd ved en optimal temperatur på 90,48 oC og butanol: olje-molforhold på 13,24:1. Vi viste eksperimentelt et butylesterutbyttet på 95,64% ved de forutsagte optimale betingelsene for esterutbyttet. Av resultatene fra den andre reaksjonen er det mulig at glyserolanriket ikke-kalsinert kommersielt kalsiumoksyd kan brukes som et god alternativ katalysator for biodieselproduksjon ved bruk av butanol.EnPe/Norad project entitled “Research and Capacity Building in Clean and Renewable Bioenergy in Ethiopia

Assessment of feed resources and determination of mineral status of livestock feed in Meta Robi District,West Shewa zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The study was carried out in Meta Robi district, West Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional State to identify the types and sources of feeds, constraints in feed production, transportation, utilization and supply, estimate annual feed produced, maintenance requirement, annual feed balance and determine the mineral status of natural pasture and soil samples. Secondary data sources and field observations, key informants discussions and semi-structured questionnaire interview were employed to generate data. The district was stratified into upper, mid and lower altitudes and a total of 90 respondents (upper=30, mid=30 and lower=30) were randomly selected and interviewed individually. Samples of feed and soil were collected from three altitudes during the dry and wet seasons and their mineral concentrations were determined. The results of the study indicated that the major feed resources were grazing of natural pasture (58.9%), wheat straw (42.4%), barley straw (30%) and hay (21.1%). During the dry season, 90% of the respondents feed their animal crop residues, hay (58.8%) and stubble grazing (56.1%). Natural pasture was the major feed source during the wet season. Most respondents (46.7%) had their own natural pasture lands, 86.7% produced crop residues from their crop land whereas only 25.6% were producing improved forages. The major constraints related to livestock feed were shortage of grazing land, absence of feed processors and retailers, shortage of technologies in feed production and lack of awareness of the respondents. The total maintenance DM of feed requirement of the animals per year in the district was 388,859.8 tons while the actual DM of feed production was 212,047.15 tons. The total DM of feed produced per year fulfilled the maintenance requirement of the animals only for 6.54 months of the year. Concentrations of most minerals in the soil were above the critical level of plant growth and most macro minerals in the feed were below the requirement of dairy animals while micro minerals were above the requirement of dairy animals except Mn. Alternative feed production technologies such as development of improved forages, efficient feed utilization technologies (eg. provision of chopper) and natural pasture land improvement measures should be taken. To compensate the mineral deficiency of natural pasture, improved forages with better yield and mineral contents should be provided for livestock. Provision of common salt and/or locally available natural soil as mineral source should be encouraged

Prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women and its differences across relevant subgroups in rural Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

Background - Maternal undernutrition is one of the commonest public health problems in many low- and middle-income countries where generally more than 20% of women are undernourished. It is more common in rural areas due to unclear factors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of undernutrition in general and in subgroups and determine risk factors among pregnant women in rural Ethiopia. Methods - A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from April 30 to May 30, 2019 on 550 pregnant women who were randomly selected from six districts in southern Ethiopia. Trained and experienced nurses measured undernutrition using mid-upper arm circumference and collected other data. We used multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression to identify factors associated with undernutrition among pregnant women. Results - The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was 38% (95% CI: (34.2–42.3). The odds of undernutrition was higher among women who got pregnant previously (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.02–2.71), who had a history of miscarriage (AOR: 3.18; 95% CI: 1.77–5.70), who practiced food taboos (AOR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.47–3.39), and who did not get any nutritional counseling during pregnancy (AOR: 2.97; 95% CI: 1.79- 4.95). The prevalence of undernutrition was higher among pregnant women who had multiple risk factors and the difference was statistically significant (p  Conclusion - Undernutrition is a highly prevalent problem among rural Ethiopian pregnant women, especially with those who avoid food, do not get counseled, and had two or more pregnancies and a history of miscarriage. Improving the integration of nutrition programs with routine healthcare services and encouraging a multi-sectorial intervention strategy would help to reduce maternal undernutrition in the country

Assessing the practices of technical and vocational education and training curriculum design and development in Ethiopia

The general objective of the study was to assess the existing practices and major factors affecting the design and development of Ethiopian TVET curriculum and explore considerations to be taken to design and develop TVET curricula that befit Ethiopia. The purpose of the study was to explore and understand the meanings TVET practitioners and stakeholders of Ethiopian TVET programme credited to the practices of TVET curriculum design and development in Ethiopia. Hence, the study employed qualitative research approach in phenomenological design and was undertaken within the interpretive paradigm to understand the lived experience of the curriculum designers, developers and implementers in Ethiopia. Accordingly, three regional states of Ethiopia were selected and one government-run TVET college from each regional state, i.e. a total of three TVET Colleges were taken as sample representatives for the study using purposive and convenience sampling methods. The study was delimited to the practices of curriculum design and development of the building construction fields of study. This is because firstly, it is impossible to encompass all available TVET fields of training in the study; secondly, building construction technology sector is one of the those sectors which much focus is given to by the government of Ethiopia and thus is the training fields found in abundance in the country. Two data gathering tools were mainly used to gather information in this study. These were interviews and document review. Therefore, the researcher first reviewed different related literature and strategic documents to understand the background of the problem and to see what has been done in reference to the problem. Accordingly, working and policy documents such as TVET strategies, guidelines, manuals, legislation, curriculum frameworks and guides, as well as Education Sector Development Programmes and other written documents and related literature to TVET curriculum design and development that were available at federal, regional and TVET college levels were reviewed and analysed. Other countries experiences visa-a-vis TVET curriculum design and development were also reviewed and used as sources of information. The interviews were held with curriculum development officials at the Federal TVET Agency and sampled Regional TVET Agencies as well as principals, heads of department and trainers from sampled TVET colleges that were providing training in the fields of building construction works. The interview participants were two TVET curriculum development officials from Federal TVET Agency, three TVET curriculum development officials from three sampled regional TVET Agencies, three TVET college principals from three sampled TVET colleges, three heads of department of building construction work fields from three sampled TVET colleges, and three trainers of building construction work fields from three sampled TVET colleges. Accordingly, it could be investigated from the study that the way outcome based TVET system is perceived and eventually executed and the processes and steps that were followed in order to design and develop TVET curriculum in Ethiopia had impact on present TVET curriculum developed . Besides, the way other countries’ experiences were espoused and adapted led to inappropriate curriculum design and development approach. Moreover, the Ethiopian TVET System following only one Curriculum development approach for designing and developing TVET curriculum for all trades, blue and white collar work-related-vocational education and training resulted in non-beneficial TVET curriculum. It was also noted from the study that the wrong perception of stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities in curriculum development activities led to TVET curriculum development with improper training content selection and unfair training time allotment, which in greatly impact on the TVET curriculum implementation and training delivery. Therefore, the study suggested that the curriculum that addresses individual, societal and employers’ needs should be designed and the labour market demand analysis needs to be undertaken before OS mapping is designed. In doing so, it is recommended that Ethiopia should benchmark itself against best practices of various developed and developing countries which have succeeded in outcome-based TVET system and when TVET system is adopted from other countries, it should be with tangible reasons and justifications. Furthermore, it is recommended that attention should be paid to practical training programmes and a combination of practice and theory time should be provided for all course types. In addition, the environmental situation of the country and the degree of importance of each unit of competence for employment and self-employment need to be considered.Educational StudiesPh. D. (Comparative Education

Mathematical modelling of the drying kinetics of Jatropha curcas L. seeds

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L) seed contains non-edible oil, which is suitable for biodiesel production. The present research focused on the mathematical modelling of the drying kinetics of Jatropha seeds at a storage moisture content. The non-pretreated seeds (whole seeds) and pretreated seeds (crushed seeds) were dried at five different air temperatures (313, 323, 333, 343 and 353 K) in a standard heating furnace. The moisture loss from the seeds was systematically recorded, converted to moisture ratio, and fitted to four semi-theoretical drying mathematical models: Lewis, Henderson and Pabis, Page and Avhad and Marchetti models. The fitness of the models were compared using the coefficient of determination (R2), chi-square test (X2 ), root mean square error (RMSE), mean bias error (MBE), and mean absolute error (MAE). It was found that an increase in the air temperature caused a reduction in the drying time of both the whole and crushed seeds. From the tested models, the Avhad and Marchetti model showed the best fitting to the experimental data with R2 varied from 0.9914 to 0.9969 and 0.9908 to 0.9917 for all tested temperatures for the whole seeds and crushed sees of Jatropha, respectively. The Avhad and Marchetti mode showed superior fit to the experimental data at the drying temperature of 313 K with R2 of 0.9969 for the whole seed, and at 333 K in case of crushed seeds for which the R2 value was 0.9917. The activation energy values of 33.53 and 32.885 KJ mol−1were obtained for the whole and crushed seeds, respectively when the best-fitted model was used.publishedVersio

Physical activity and survival in chronic comorbidity among adult HIV patients in Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study

Background - Antiretroviral therapy enables people living with HIV to live long lives, and these advances have transformed HIV infection from an acute to a chronic disease. Many non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, are influenced by physical inactivity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of physical activity and survival in chronic co-morbidity among adult people living with HIV in Ethiopia. Methods - An institution-based prospective cohort study of adult people living with HIV was conducted between 2019 and 2021. We included 422 people living with HIV at baseline. After the baseline visit, 364 patients without hypertension or diabetes, were followed up for two years. Nine trained nurses used a pre-tested, structured questionnaire to collect data during routine care consultations in three hospitals in southern Ethiopia. STATA version 15 was used to analyze the data. To estimate the survival probability of developing chronic comorbidities, a Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used. A Cox proportional hazards model was fitted to identify the predictors of the development of chronic comorbidities. Result - In the current study, 39% of the participants were found to have a low level of physical activity. Those who had self-management skills to maintain physical activity (p = 0.023), considered physical activity an important aspect of their HIV management (p = 0.003), and regularly attended social support groups (p = 0.002) had significantly higher levels of physical activity. The risk of chronic comorbidity increased over time, with a rate of 10.83 chronic comorbidities per 1000 persons per month. Lack of regular exercise [AHR: 2.04; 95% CI: (1.03, 5.13)], low physical activity [AHR: 2.01; 95% CI: (1.03, 7.89)], BMI greater than 25 kg/m2 [AHR: 2.74; 95% CI: (1.31, 5.12)] and low fruit and vegetable intake [AHR = 2.57; 95% CI: (1.28, 6.49)] were all associated with the development of chronic comorbidity. Conclusion - The prevalence of physical inactivity is high in the study population. A physical activity program for people living with HIV should be considered, and the promotion of self-management skills should be integrated into HIV care programs

The Potential and Limitations of Grasslands for Livestock Production in West Shoa Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Ethiopia holds the largest livestock population in Africa estimated at about 54 million heads of cattle, 25.5 million sheep, 24.06 million goats, 0.92 million camels, 4.5 million donkeys, 1.7 million horses, 0.33 million mules, 54 million chicken and 4.9 million beehives (CSA, 2012). Despite the huge livestock population, the productivity of livestock in general is low and compared to its huge resource its contribution to the national economy is below expected. Among the major problems affecting livestock production and productivity in Ethiopia, feed shortage in terms of quantity and quality is the leading problem (Alan et al., 2012). The major feed resources in Ethiopia are natural pasture (grasslands) and crop residues with varying proportion among the different zones of the country. The role of natural pasture grazing as a major livestock feed resource is diminishing from time to time due to shrinking grazing land size (Yayneshet, 2010). Yet, the potential and limitations of the grasslands in the different zones are not studied and properly documented. Thus, the objective of this study is to assess the potentials and limitations of the vast grasslands found in west Shoa zone of the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia where the LIVES project is currently operating

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from various parts of Gladiolus candidus, Ranunculus multifidus, Artemisia abyssinica and Crinum abyscinicum

ABSTRACT. The essential oil compositions of Gladiolus candidus, Ranunculus multifidus, Artemisia abyssinica and Crinum abyscinicum were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The principal components in the leaves, stems and rhizomes of G. candidus were eudesmol, 1-naphthalenepropanol and oleic acid, respectively. α-Terpineol, alloocimene  and p-menth-2-en-1-ol from leaves, bulbs and roots were respectively the major constituents of C. abyscinicum. The aerial part of R. multifidus furnished p-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol. Linalool and terpinenol were identified as the major constituents of A. abyssinica. The essential oils were evaluated for their antibacterial activity. Essential oil from leaves of G. candidus displayed zone of inhibition (IZ) of 15.1±0.3 and 16.7±0.9 mm against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. Leaves essential oil of C. abyscinicum exhibited IZ of 17.9±1.1 and 15.6±1.1 mm against E. coli and P. aeruginosa, respectively, whereas essential oil from aerial part of R. multifidus displayed IZ of 18.8±0.8 and 19.4±0.6 mm against S. aureus and S. pyogens, respectively. At the same concentration, ceftriaxone showed IZ of 15.1±0.1, 16.2±0.8, 14.3±0.9 and 16.1±2.5mm against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and S. pyogens, respectively. The findings presented herein support the ethnobotanical uses of these plants against bacteria.     KEY WORDS: G. candidus, R. multifidus, A. abyssinica, C. abyscinicum, Antibacterial activity, Essential oil   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2022, 36(4), 865-878.                                                              DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v36i4.12                                                     &nbsp