The Millennium Development Goals: Prospects for Gender Equality in the Arab World

This study is an assessment of the Millennium Development Goals in the Arab world with Egypt as a case study. The analysis focuses on access to primary education, gender equality, and women empowerment in the Arab world with special emphasis on Egypt. The study found that most Arab countries are on the right track toward achieving most of the MDGs by 2015. However, discriminatory social norms, laws, and practices are still at the heart of gender inequality in the Arab world, and therefore need to be further incorporated in the MDGs to advance a more egalitarian developmental approach

The Role of Women in the Arab World: Toward a New Wave of Democratization, or an Ebbing Wave Toward Authoritarianism?

The Special Issue is devoted to examining the role of Arab women in the ongoing uprisings and revolutions sweeping the Arab world over the past two years. It covers case studies of women in Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, the Sudan, and other countries in the region. Two major questions are going to be addressed: how influential were Arab women in the “Arab Spring” of uprisings, and to what degree are Arab women’s rights to equality and freedom going to be attained and respected after the creation of new regimes, such as in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Syria, which are the countries that are undergoing the most political change thus far

EX ANTE NON-MARKET VALUATION FOR NOVEL PRODUCT: LITERATURE REVIEW

This paper provides a critical review of the literature on non-market valuation methods to estimate the welfare impact of novel products; it is the first study to assess both observed data- and perception-based methods as non-market valuation methods. Observed databased methods include budgets, regression, mathematical programming, and simulation. Perceptions-based methods include the contingent valuation method, choice-based conjoint analysis and experimental methods. Findings imply that the preferred observed data-based method to estimate the ex ante economic impact of a new technology on the welfare of the farm household is a combination of simulation and mathematical programming. The preferred perceptionbased method for estimating the ex ante impact of a novel product on the welfare of an economic agent is represented by experimental methods. Findings also imply that observed-data based methods and more specifically mathematical programming are more popular for estimating the ex ante farm-level economic impact of a new technology. On the other hand, perception-based methods are more popular for estimating the economic impact of a novel product for consumers.Staff working papers, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Internet publications, Purdue University

Egypt's upcoming parliamentary elections: weakened parliament, weakened parties

According to the roadmap for political transformation announced in July 2013, Egypt’s parliamentary elections should have taken place six months after the constitutional amendments. Yet, since then, they have been postponed several times. They are now scheduled for March and April 2015. Until recently, the regime has been reluctant to hold parliamentary elections, fearing an unruly parliament not dominated by a regime party, as in the past. In June and December 2014, the government enacted a new electoral law and an electoral district law, which will reduce the chances of political parties in general -and political opposition parties in particular- from gaining a substantive number of seats in parliament. By deliberately impeding political parties from playing an important role in parliament, the regime is just adding to its own volatility. Therefore, priority should be given to pushing for the inclusion of all political forces in the electoral process and the strengthening of political parties

Pembelajaran Membaca Al-Qur’an Bagi Anak Usia Dini Bagian Dari Perkembangan Bahasa

Penelitian ini menjelaskan tentang pembelajaran membaca al-qur’an bagi anak usia dini bagian dari perkembangan bahasa. Metode yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah analisis deskriptif kualitatif di salah satu pendidikan anak usia dini di Kota Bandung, sedangkan teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara, dan observasi. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa membaca Al-Qur’an bagian dari perkembangan bahasa, agar anak mampu membaca Al-Quran dengan tidak terbebani maka para pendidik harus memilih metode yang sesuai dengan karakteristik anak sehingga tetap anak merasa senang dan tidak merasa diajarkan tapi merasakan permainan yang tidak membosankan. Membaca di dalam Al-Qur’an diharuskan karena kita bisa memahami sesuatu karena membaca dengan demikian biasakanlah membaca untuk para pendidik sehingga generasi kita selalu melihat dan meniru kebiasaan yang kita lakukan. pendidikan anak usia dini tentunya berbeda dengan pendidikan lainnya, pendidikan anak usia dini memerlukan pendekatan yang unik, sabar dan kreatif, disesuaikan dengan masa perkembangannya yang unik pula

Social Media and User Performance in Knowledge Sharing

The aimed of this study is to investigate the impact of social media utilization on the student's performances for knowledge sharing in teaching and learning progress. A research model on the basis of the Task-Technology Fit Theory and three hypotheses theory was developed for this study. Model and hypotheses then tested and validated using data obtained from a survey of respondents. The survey was conducted on students at a university in Indonesia. Of the 103 questionnaires filled out by members of the university, 75 questionnaires declared valid and used for further analysis. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Square (PLS) PLS Smart software utilizes V2. This study reveals that student performance in sharing knowledge with social media impact by technology characteristic and social media utilization

The Effects of Graphic Organizers on the Reading Comprehension of Elementary School Students

This paper examines the effects of the use of graphic organizers on the reading comprehension skills of three elementary school students from a large Midwestern city. Reading comprehension is a milestone skill that is essential for students to master early on, in order to be successful across disciplines. Students often struggle to comprehend informational text due to its complexity, using graphic organizers can help students learn the structure of informational text and organize the text in a way that is easier for them to comprehend. Students read about a text, organized the information in the text and wrote a summary of the information that they gathered. The researcher found that the explicit teaching on the use of graphic organizers was effective in improving the overall summary writing skills of the participants

Induction of Newly Posted Teachers in Basic Schools and Its Implications for Teacher Retention in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem Municipality, Ghana

The thrust of the study was to assess the induction of newly posted teachers in basic schools and its impact on teacher retention in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) Municipality. To achieve this, descriptive research design (Mixed-methodology) was employed. Data were collected from 220 teachers and administrators from the District. Questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of .82 were used to obtain data from the respondents. Quantitative data were coded and analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (multiple regression and chi-square test). The qualitative data were also analysed in themes to support the quantitative data. The study revealed that organisation of induction programmes for newly posted teachers have not been an integral component of teacher development in the district, although some attempts have been made in this regard.  It was again revealed that generally, the induction programmes have been largely delivered in response to teachers' emerging pedagogical needs, it has had important impact on the teachers.  It was therefore, recommended that there should be introduction of mentor-mentee relationship in the District to facilitate the induction programme. Also, investment of induction should be much emphasis by the government. Thus the government should envisage and articulate future induction development scenarios through the development of a medium-long term new teacher induction infrastructure development plan. Keywords-Induction, Newly Posted Teachers, Teacher Retention, Teacher Developmen

Employee Promotional System and Induced Performance among Senior Staff of University of Cape Coast

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the effectiveness of the two promotion criteria in inducing performance among senior staff of UCC. Mixed method research design was adopted. Sample size comprised five assistant registrars and 200 senior staff. The study found that there were mixed perceptions about the promotion qualification criteria of senior staff among the supervisors. Also, it was revealed that promotion systems have critical influence on the level of performance of senior staff. It was therefore recommended that the human resource department of the University should organise a sensitisation programme to explain the promotion processes to senior staff. This will help to disabuse their thoughts and perceptions about unfair application of promotion system as well as the use of affinity by some staff to secure promotion. Also, the human resource department should develop clear guidelines for the implementation of the promotion system. This should include the time for feedback and response from the promotion review board or committee. This guideline will also help to bring transparency in the promotion process and avoid the unnecessary delays and frustrations staff have to go through before securing promotion