Baynoon Centre for Studies and Development (BCSD): OJS
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Finding the Image of God: Searching the ‘Sublime’ through works of Rene Descartes and H.P Lovecraft
Get PDFThis study explores the “Sublime” and aims at clarifying the very ‘understood’ as well as ‘misunderstood’ figure or image of God(s) and showing how the established and vivid definitions of the Almighty can be discarded with the help of certain ‘Infinist’ concepts and the ‘De-Humanization’ of God. It also aims at presenting a new perspective towards the understanding of the ‘humanization’ that happened and shows the loop-holes in its definition i.e. given to date all around the world. This paper focuses upon searching the acceptability and validity of Rene Descartes’ Ontological Argument, through which I examine the image of God as I find the image of God being repeated and, therefore, I would also raise the understandings from the Ontological Argument which is later debated through the concept of “theodicy” by Leibniz and which is altered and given an altered definition by H.P Lovecraft in the era of modernization. There has been a repeatation in the understanding of God and it’s Image. Infinism supports my statement, as it speaks of this Literature loop which is present and misunderstood very commonly as something new. A comparative methodology has been used in order to study the various theories upon God or Sublime from different ages, in order to study the changing images of God and the reasons behind it. The article presents my unique understanding of God that is different from the romantic understanding and the concept propogated in Monotheism
Practices, Opportunities, and Challenges Of SIP in Primary Schools of Ilu Gelan Woreda, West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose of the study was to assess practices, opportunity and challenges of SIP in selected primary schools of Elu Gelan Woreda.
Methodology/Approach/Design: A descriptive survey method was employed. The population of the study was 90 teachers, 14 principals, 7 primary school supervisors, 1Woreda Education Office heads, 3 Woreda Education Office process owners and 31 SIP committee. The data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using simple statistical tools such as frequent count and percentages, while the data obtained through interviews, Focus Group discussions, Observation checklist and Document review were analyzed qualitatively to substantiate the result of quantitative analysis.
Findings: The findings of the study showed that there is a shortage of financial support and a lack of awareness among stakeholders. The results also indicate that there is a lack of learning facilities and poor community participation. The study revealed poor management, poor community mobilization, and poor collaboration in SIP implementation.
Practical Implications: Based on the results of the study, it is proposed that an adequate awareness creation program should be implemented to ensure the practical involvement of all stakeholders; organizing and allocating the necessary resources, providing proper technical support and practical training to support the implementation of SIP. The findings of the study may help schools and other educational authorities at different administrative levels in providing valuable information for planners and policymakers to set strategies for better school improvement.
Originality/Value: SIP in the study area was not implemented as indicated in the framework of SIP
Early Childhood Development Trainee Teachers’ Perceptions on E-learning Implementation during the COVID-19 era in Harare Metropolitan District, Zimbabwe
Get PDFPurpose: The study aimed at finding out the extent to which Early Childhood Development (ECD) trainee teachers perceive the feasibility and challenges of online learning platforms and generate strategies for effective implementation.
Approach/Methodology/Design: A case study design for which fifteen ECD trainee teachers from two Higher Learning Institutions in Harare were purposively selected in this qualitative study through online structured questionnaires and telephone interviews expressed in English. Data gathered was expanded in thick rich descriptions to form themes.
Findings: Innumerable benefits of e-learning were established. E-learning facilitates the continuation of learning, motivates, improves student-to-student interaction, is a convenient way of submitting assignments, reduces commutation and material costs and is an easy way of storing documents. However various setbacks were elucidated. Erratic power cuts and internet failures, exorbitant costs of data bundles and lack of smart devices deter the full embracing of e-learning.
Practical Implications: Zimbabwean HLIs have adjusted to the new normal and embraced online learning to ensure the continuation of learning in the midst of the pandemic. Online learning overcomes educational obstacles and students will not only follow courses using the traditional method. Originality/value: The findings suggest trainee teachers require the provision of cheap data bundles, free internet applications and extension of due dates. The use of blended approach/hybrid learning to assist those in remote communities, training workshops and seminars on effective use of e-learning platforms were deemed essential
Why Is Saudi Arabia’s EFL Teacher Attrition Rate So High, And What Can Be Done to Stem the Tide of Transient Teachers?
Get PDFPurpose: This article is focused on the high attrition rate of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It looks into the possible reasons that cause teachers to leave the country or the profession after spending a short time there, based on data collected from EFL teachers from across the Kingdom.
Approach/Methodology/Design: This study used a mixed methods enquiry design, initially carried out through semi-structured interviews in a qualitative manner. Five teachers who worked in various higher education institutes across the Kingdom were interviewed and questioned about various aspects of their professional life as a teacher in the KSA. Those interviews were subsequently analysed to create questionnaires which were then administered to a sample of 20 teachers. The returned questionnaires were analysed and reported in numerical charts for ease of visual clarity. The lower the figure, the less motivation or satisfaction there was in the field.
Findings: NEST attrition rates in Saudi Arabia are abnormally high due to a serious lack of cultural training by management and/or provider, poor induction once a teacher arrives in country and culture. NNEST attrition rates are more aligned to professional reasons, as they feel they are treated poorly by comparison with their NEST counterparts: lower wages, fewer promotion opportunities, not being taken as seriously by students and employers, and sudden discontinuance of contracts among the main reasons for NNESTs leaving their posts.
Practical Implications: The study makes suggestions as to how teachers’ needs might be addressed in order to reduce the outflow of professional teachers from Saudi Arabia.
Originality/value: There is very little continuity in teaching due to large numbers of teachers exiting the Kingdom after a very short period of time. NEST attrition rates in Saudi Arabia are abnormally high due to a number of reasons
Colonialism, Collective Memory, and Memory Politics: Critical Reflections on Narratives and Public Archives of the Algerian War
Get PDFPurpose: The article examines the trial of French General Paul Aussaresses (b. 1918, d. 2013) in the 2000s for war crimes committed during the Algerian War (1954 to 1962).
Approach/Methodology/Design: A historiographical analysis covering topics such as colonialism, public memory, collective memory, counter-narratives, education, forgetting, and authenticity.
Findings: Public history without individual memories or lived experiences of communities that have survived historical events can be viewed as inauthentic. It might even be called propaganda to present only state-sanctioned accounts of historical events. Many governments will consequently enact laws to distinguish between what constitutes official national narratives—and what remains peripheral, or perhaps extremist individual, historical accounts.
Practical Implications: This paper contributes to the scholarly literature examining oral testimonials in political and war crime tribunals, and the ethics of conducting public history research using media archives.
Originality/value: Towards a greater understanding of collective memory processes, the case of the Algerian War reveals the constant negotiations, formal networks, and informal channels used to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate sources of historical memory—and the consequences on culture, law, and society
Fatalistic Views and the Impact on Combating COVID-19: Bangladesh Context
Get PDFPurpose: The main objective of this study is to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the people of Bangladesh to become more fatalistic or not.
Approach/Methodology/Design: The study is of a descriptive design. The study follows a mixed-method research approach where an online survey was conducted among 406 individuals and 15 interviews of experts in different criteria have been assembled to validate the survey results properly. This survey data were analyzed based on the age and economic condition of the respondents. The in-depth interviews were collected based on six categories: Academicians, religious scholars, medical practitioners, Coronavirus-infected individuals, law enforcement officials, and journalists.
Findings: The study shows that most of the people of Bangladesh are not influenced by the fatalistic views. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly made people more dependent on fate lately. Senior citizens of the society and people with low income are more fatalists than other groups of people in the society. Senior citizens are suffering the most from anxiety, youths of Bangladesh are facing the most uncertainty in this pandemic. None of the population groups are completely dependent on fate yet confident about the situation at the same time.
Practical Implications: The findings of this study will pave the way forward for further research in this area and help policymakers to take necessary initiatives. In short term, it will help formulating policies for the vulnerable groups. Such as, providing economic assistance for the lowest range of income group, guaranteeing old age pension for the senior citizens, access to right information, and psychological stability. In long term, this study will allow practitioners to create awareness during disasters and pandemics through expert narratives, news, and social media awareness.
Originality/value: This paper explores how the belief system of people is influenced by their socio-economic condition and how it affects their behavior in terms of combating pandemics. It also emphasizes that during disasters and pandemics, policymakers should take special initiatives for senior citizens and people with low income
Identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Blood Culture Isolates from Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Get PDFPurpose: As bloodstream infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, the surveillance study is required to continuously monitor the pattern of infection and antibiotic resistance. Our study aimed to detect the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacteria isolated from patients in Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted over 2 years from January 2019 to December 2020 with a total of 1,367 suspected hemocultures of inward and outward patients in Rajshahi medical college hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The standard microbiological methods were used in this study.
Results: Out of overall 35% positive growth, 34% and 37% showed blood culture infection in the year 2019 and 2020, respectively. Females (55%) were found higher than males (45%). The patients were the highest in the age group 0-10 years (46%) but the number of infections rapidly decreased in the age 11-20 years (21%) followed by a gradual reduction of infection with the increasing age. All the infections were occurred due to single culture and E. coli was accounted as the most frequent infection (39.09%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albican, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Salmonella spp., Streptococcus viridans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Higher sensitivity towards Cefepime, and Meropenem was demonstrated by both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bloodborne bacteria. A terrifying scenario was that a great number of those isolates showed resistance towards 4, 6, and more than 6 antibiotics, respectively.
Conclusion: Our local work on bacteriological profile and antibiogram might help to rationalize empiric treatment strategies
Simultaneous Use of Factor XIII and Fibrin Degradation Products in Diagnosing Early Cases of NEC and Neonatal SEPSIS
Get PDFPurpose: The study examined the use of factor XIII and fibrin degradation products in diagnosing early cases of NEC and neonatal sepsis.
Methods: Sixty neonates were divided into two groups. 30 preterm neonates suspected with early NEC Diagnosis of NEC was confirmed by modified Bell’s score and 30 preterm neonates with symptoms of neonatal sepsis; where sepsis was confirmed by blood culture and CRP. Laboratory evaluation of FDPs and plasma factor XIII was done for all the patients. The study was carried out in a tertiary NICU of the pediatric department, Ain Shams University Hospital. All enrolled neonates had a matched mean birth weight and gestational age. They were either moderate preterms >32 weeks, but <34 weeks, and late preterms >34 weeks, but <37 weeks).
Results: The results indicate a correlation between FDPs and the laboratory data of group B, and it was found out that FDPs were negatively correlated with TLC, Plate-lets, and CRP, reflecting FDPs increase with bone marrow suppression and progression of sepsis. Factor XIII was significantly lower in the group with NEC as compared to the group of sepsis (p<0.001), while FDPs level was significantly higher in the group with sepsis (p<. 0.001). The correlation between the clinical stages of NEC BELL's score and the level of Initial factor XIII level revealed that the factor level is negatively correlated with stage I of BELL's score. The follow-up revealed that there was no correlation between BELL's score and the level of follow-up factor XIII. On follow-up, the current study demonstrated that TLC, CRP, FDPS, PTT were significantly increased in the sepsis group with p values of 0.021,, 0.001, 0.001 and 0.01. The current study found significantly higher partial thromboplastin time (PTT) in the group with sepsis
Conclusion: Factor XIII level can predict early cases of NEC and can differentiate it from neo-natal sepsis
The Effects of Health Aid on Heterogeneous Child Health Outcomes: An Empirical Evidence from Nigeria
Get PDFPurpose: This study investigates the effectiveness of health-aid in Nigeria, with focus on child health outcomes. In particular, the study aims to examine whether health aid has yielded significant gains in child health in Nigeria.
Methodology/Approach/Design: Secondary data on neonatal, infant and under 5 mortality as well as measles and DPT immunization were used. The stationarity of the variables was ascertained using the augmented Dickey-Fuller and Philip-Perron unit root tests. In order to confirm the presence or otherwise of long-run relationship among the selected variables, Johansen cointegration test was carried out and the obtained coefficients and p-values indicate evidences of long-run relationship. Finally, the study used the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) estimator to examine the effects of aid targeted at children health on the various child health outcomes.
Results: The results suggest the existence of long-run relationships between health aid and child health indicators, with aid having reducing impacts on the mortality indicators and a positive correlation with child immunization coverage. Also, public health expenditure, literacy rate and urbanization rate are negatively correlated with measures of children mortality and positively correlated with the measures of immunization coverage. Except for infant mortality, economic growth proxy by GDP growth rate has insignificant effect on child health.
Practical Implications: Sustained improvement in children health is the core objective of aids aimed at children’s health, and findings of this research will serve as a framework for health policymakers in understanding the contributions of health aid inflow to specific indicators of child health in Nigeria.
Originality/Value: This study makes a number of contributions to the ongoing discussion on the effectiveness of health-specific ODA in Nigeria. Despite the inconclusiveness of the health aid-health outcomes literature, this study has shown that children health aid has led to improvement in children health in Nigeria. While previous studies have focused on child mortality indicators, this study examined the effect on various measures of children health including children immunization coverage
Working Capital Management and Its Impact on Profitability in Tyre Industry: A Study of Selected Companies
Get PDFPurpose: The main aim of this article is to find out the working capital management and its impact on profitability in Tyre Industry of selected companies which are listed on stock exchange in India.
Approach/ Methodology/ Design: For the study, a time span of 8 years from 2011-12 to 2018-19 is considered, and based on it, any relation of net profit margin ratio and working capital components like current ratio, quick ratio, inventory turnover ratio, working capital turnover ratio is considered. The sample is selected based on higher market capitalisation during the study period. Regression analysis is also employed to investigate the impact of WCM on corporate profitability.
Findings: The major findings of this study indicate that the profitability of Balkrishana was good compared to the other companies. The working capital of Ceat shows highly positive working capital management, whereas Apollo shows negative working capital management. These results were identified with the help of accounting tool as Ratio analysis and statistical tools as Regression analysis and ANOVA test for selected data.
Practical Implication: The study examines the scenario of tyre industry with the help of working capital management in selected companies. The results of the study could be an indicator of the performance of the selected companies.
Originality/Value: This paper provides some key insights to health and efficiency of the selected companies. The working capital ratios are indicative of good working capital management, leading to identifying issue in financial management and eventually improving the performance of the tyre industry