Mobile phones and education in sub-Saharan Africa: from youth practice to public policy

Young people’s use of mobile phones is expanding exponentially across Africa. Its transformative potential is exciting, but findings presented in this paper indicate how the downside of mobile phone use in African schools is becoming increasingly apparent. Drawing on mixed-methods field research in 24 sites across Ghana, Malawi and South Africa and associated discussions with educational institutions, public policy makers and network providers, we examine the current state of play and offer suggestions towards a more satisfactory alignment of practice and policy which promotes the more positive aspects of phone use in educational contexts and militates against more damaging ones

Connecting with home, keeping in touch : physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-Saharan Africa.

There is a long history of migration among low-income families in sub-Saharan Africa, in which (usually young, often male) members leave home to seek their fortune in what are perceived to be more favourable locations. While the physical and virtual mobility practices of such stretched families are often complex and contingent, maintaining contact with distantly located close kin is frequently of crucial importance for the maintenance of emotional (and possibly material) well-being, both for those who have left home and for those who remain. This article explores the ways in which these connections are being reshaped by increasing access to mobile phones in three sub-Saharan countries – Ghana, Malawi and South Africa – drawing on interdisciplinary, mixed-methods research from twenty-four sites, ranging from poor urban neighbourhoods to remote rural hamlets. Stories collected from both ends of stretched families present a world in which the connectivities now offered by the mobile phone bring a different kind of closeness and knowing, as instant sociality introduces a potential substitute for letters, cassettes and face-to-face visits, while the rapid resource mobilization opportunities identified by those still at home impose increasing pressures on migrant kin

The negative effect of child labour on academic performance of secondary school students in central senatorial district of Cross River State-Nigeria

The desire to provide research information about the prevalence of child labour, its effects and educational factors was the focus of this research. The focus of this study is on child labour as an aspect of child abuse and neglect. The goal of the research on child abuse and academic performance of children who participate in it as a routine scholars and people have defined child labour in several ways. In a nutshell it is the exploitation of children, premature assumption of adult roles on the part of children; working long hours for low wages in the central senatorial district in Cross River State of Nigeria, the study has two main purposes: To determine the factors, which influence students involvement in child labour and lastly, to compare the relationship between child labour and academic performance of those who are engaged in the activities with those who do not. The data used in testing the hypothesis were gotten from the post-test scores of all the subjects. Hypotheses were tested at .0.5 level of significance. Based on the results of the hypotheses, the following recommendations were made. Thus, it is time that the Federal, State and Local Governments embark on mass enlightenment campaigns to expose the bad side of driving children into child labour. This could be done through the use of mass media, schools and social welfare establishments to educate parents/guardians over the dangers of exposing their children to child labour as an act of child abuse. Government should stop mass retrenchments and unemployment of parents to ease poverty.Keywords: Child labour, Abuse, Academic performance and Effec

Psycho-social correlates of students’ involvement in secret cults and counselling role in tertiary institutions in southern senatorial district of Cross River State – Nigeria

The study focuses on the premise of incessant havoc being perpetrated by adherents of secret cults in the country’s institution of higher learning. These cult groups terrorize fellow students, intimidate members of campus communities in various ways and are often involved in crimes like rape, burglary, thuggery, stealing, attacking with daggers, axes, acid and other forms of sophisticated weapons as well as constituting general threat to peace in institutions of higher learning. (Fawole, 1994). Has two purposes, to examine the extent at which parental socio-economic status influence students’ involvement in secret cults, and to investigate if peer group do influence students involvement in secret cults. The data used in testing the hypothesis were gotten from the post-test scores of all the subjects Hypotheses were tested at .0.5 level of significance. Based on the results of the hypotheses recommendations were made.Keywords: Students, secret cult, peer group and parental effec

Enhancing passenger safety and security in Ghana: Appraising public transport operators’ recent interventions

There are increasing calls for regular monitoring and evaluation of safety and security strategies of public transport (PT) operators, especially in developing countries where PT safety and security concerns abound. In respect of this, this study examined the passenger safety and security interventions of PT operators in Ghana. Both the accident-incident theory and routine activities theory served as the theoretical framework within which the study was rooted. Guided by the convergent parallel mixed methods design, data were drawn from in-depth interviews with six major intercity PT operators as well as questionnaires administered to 273 intercity PT passengers. The field data were analysed using both thematic (qualitative data) and correlational (quantitative data) analyses in line with the study design. Varied perspectives on the state of PT passenger safety and security in the country were expressed, and operators’ interventions in this regard were appraised. The study emphasised the need for periodic review of the regulatory framework establishing public transport undertaking by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to reflect changing safety and security circumstances.Keywords: Public transport operators; passenger safety; security; interventions; Ghan

Integrative Approach to Effective Performance Management in the Public Sector: Linking Public Service Motivation and Transformational Leadership for Future Research

The purpose of the conceptual framework is to demonstrate how an integrative approach can help explain effective performance management in the public sector using the mediating role of public service motivation and transformational leadership. To help achieve the objective of the paper, a systematic review of the literature on both organisational and environmental factors which are perceived as drivers of an effective performance management was selectively done. The analysis of these variables led to the development of the conceptual framework. The results of the review indicate that an effective performance management in the public sector depends on how public service motivation and transformational leadership mediate the relationship between organisational and environmental factors. The integrative approach to effective performance management explored non-rational variables that can improve performance management policies. Keywords: Effective Performance Management; Environmental Factors; Individual-Level Factors; Integrative Approach; Organisational Factor

A lightweight forwarding strategy for Named Data Networking in low-end IoT

International audienc

Lecture critique d’un article de Christiane Achour Oser un questionnement !

We want to take a look at the writings of Algerian academics concerning criticism and reflections on literature; we focused our attention on an article by Christiane Achour, on the classification of literature according to two modalities. The first being operated by gender (sex), the second being based on History (diachrony). We believe that these modalities do not respond to the ethics as developed by Barthes, who opts for the foundation of a community of writers whose classification is made by purely textual elements. The birth of the text signifies the birth of writing models that would make it possible to overcome reductive identities and promote writing to the extent that subjectivity should be converted to articulations of statements whose matrix does not belong to any socio psyche. -history confiscated by bio-civil status