Child Work

This study attempts to answer the questions on whether the number and spatial distribution of available state owned primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria can actually support the government policy of free and compulsory education in the state. The study examined the relationship between the available public schools and population as well as land area. The causality of the establishment and distribution of public primary and secondary schools were equally investigated. The result of this investigation reveals that though there is linear correlation between land area and number of public schools, and between population and number of public schools, yet neither land area nor population is the cause of establishing public schools in the state. Statistics reveal that the number of available public schools cannot make the free and compulsory education policy attainable, since private schools outnumber public schools. More public schools, which should be evenly distributed based on land area and population are needed for the policy to succeed. This is very necessary, since there is no better investment for any society than training the children and the youth.

African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999). This Charter was adopted against the backdrop of the deep concern of African states about the future of African children as inheritors and keepers of the African cultural heritage. Communitarianism is a distinct feature of the African concept of human rights with the belief that an individual is embedded within a community.

Special thanks are due to the staff at the districts and schools participating in the Science: It's Elementary program who took the time from their busy schedules to provide information about their experiences with the program, and who helped facilitate the various evaluation activities.

Considering the inherently hazardous nature of some artisanal fishing and farm work in Ghana, there is sometimes a thin line between what is considered child work and child labour. I drew on literature exploring cultural relativism and human rights and the concept of the margin of appreciation in considering whether child labour violates human rights. I aimed to establish parental perceptions of child labour and human rights in rural and urban Ghana amongst 60 government officials, NGO representatives, and both parents whose children were/were not involved in child labour. The average age of participants was 31 years. Semistructured interviews were conducted with parents (10), stakeholders (10), focus groups (30); and participant observation techniques (10) utilised to gather the needed data and purposively sampled across rural areas (Ankaase, Anwiankwanta and Kensere), and urban areas (Jamestown, Korle Gonno and Chorkor) in Ghana. Interviews were recorded, transcribed utilising a framework approach as the main data analysis method. The paper finds that children are engaged in work to teach them work ethics as most parents consider work socialisation as beneficial for children and society. The paper also finds that knowledge of human rights makes parents more committed to children's welfare. Overall, the paper finds that sensitivity to the economic and cultural context is important in understanding the issue of child labour and, more generally, in applying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and working out the parenting policies and practices that are in the best interests of the child.

Guided by the symbolic interaction premise that meaning is found in the interaction of individuals with their world, this study set out to describe and analyse how selected high school principals in Jamaica understand and practise school leadership by exploring how they view their circumstances, and how their meanings of leadership are modified by the contexts of their work. To gain insight into how Jamaican principals conceptualise and experience leadership the study adopted a qualitative, collective case-study design. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select four exemplary high school principals such that gender, school location and organization were varied. Data were sourced from semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation sessions and integrative diagrams as well as from school, principal and official Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture documents. Within-case and cross-case analyses were conducted using grounded theory modes of analysis, specifically the systematic processes referred to as open and axial coding. Findings from the within-case analysis are presented as four individual cases that communicate the salient features of each principal's leadership and context. In the first case entitled Mother of the Poor, the principal defines school leadership as the pursuit of excellence within a framework of valuing and caring for students. The principal at the centre of the second case, The Reculturing Principal, portrays leadership as transforming school culture so that it is receptive to change and committed to growth and improvement. The principal featured in the third case understands leadership as a response to students' social problems, diminished self-concept and dysfunctional community relationships-hence the title The Principal as Social Architect. The final case presents The Community Principal who conceptualizes leadership in terms of building caring, cooperative relationships among all involved in the schooling process with a view to developing community connectedness. Findings from the cross-case analysis are presented as two broad themes that characterize the principals' conceptualization and interpretation of school leadership. The first theme-'Leadership as values-driven'-identified care and respect, social justice and excellence as the common values that defined the principals' leadership, permeating their interactions and informing their decisions. The second themei

Background: The care and protection of the estimated 143,000,000 orphaned and abandoned children (OAC) worldwide is of great importance to global policy makers and child service providers in low and middle income countries (LMICs), yet little is known about rates of child labour among OAC, what child and caregiver characteristics predict child engagement in work and labour, or when such work infers with schooling. This study examines rates and correlates of child labour among OAC and associations of child labour with schooling in a cohort of OAC in 5 LMICs. Methods: The Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) study employed a two-stage random sampling survey methodology to identify 1480 single and double orphans and children abandoned by both parents ages 6-12 living in family settings in five LMICs: Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and Tanzania. Regression models examined child and caregiver associations with: any work versus no work; and with working <21, 21-27, and 28+ hours during the past week, and child labour (UNICEF definition). Results: The majority of OAC (60.7%) engaged in work during the past week, and of those who worked, 17.8% (10.5% of the total sample) worked 28 or more hours. More than one-fifth (21.9%; 13% of the total sample) met UNICEF's child labour definition. Female OAC and those in good health had increased odds of working. OAC living in rural areas, lower household wealth and caregivers not earning an income were associated with increased child labour. Child labour, but not working fewer than 28 hours per week, was associated with decreased school attendance. Conclusions: One in seven OAC in this study were reported to be engaged in child labour. Policy makers and social service providers need to pay close attention to the demands being placed on female OAC, particularly in rural areas and poor households with limited income sources. Programs to promote OAC school attendance may need to focus on the needs of families as well as the OAC.

Special thanks are due to the staff at the districts and schools participating in the Science: It's Elementary program who took the time from their busy schedules to provide information about their experiences with the program, and who helped facilitate the various evaluation activities.

The study objective was to observe the cortisol awakening response (CAR) pattern before and after a psychosocial intervention with children from dysfunctional families who had at least one child working on the streets, and to verify factors related to it. Two hundred and eleven children between 7 and 14 years old were selected and 191 were included, 178 were re-evaluated 2 years after, of whom 113 had cortisol measures completed. Besides cortisol, they were evaluated at baseline and at end point regarding: abuse/neglect, mental health symptoms, exposure to urban violence and family environment. There was no significant difference between the CAR area under the curve (AUC) before and after the intervention. Two regression analysis models were built to evaluate factors related to the CAR before and after intervention. Before the intervention, working on the streets (vs. not) was related to a greater cortisol increase after awakening, at follow-up, having suffered physical punishment (vs. not) was related to a flattened cortisol response. The intervention was not associated with changes in the magnitude of the CAR AUC, though the CAR was associated with psychosocial stressors pre-and postintervention. Effective interventions for children at risk that might shape a physiological cortisol response are still needed.

This study examines the impact of parental health shocks on a child&#39;s educational attainment using panel data from the Young Lives Study, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty conducted in four low income countries: Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. We examine the effects of health shocks to caretakers, such as death and illness among parents (mother, father or both), on child’s education outcomes. Educational outcomes are measured using school enrollment and grade attainment. Our analysis reveals that death of both parents significantly lowers the probability of enrolment among younger children (7-8 years old). A sudden death of a mother lowers enrolment among 11-12 years old whereas among older children (14-15 years old), a sudden death of a father significantly reduces the likelihood of children remaining enrolled at school. Similarly grade attainment is adversely affected by parental health shocks. JEL: O15, O12, I15, I25 * Corresponding Author: School of Economics, Geo...

Previous studies in Ethiopia treat child labour and schooling in a broader sense without much attention to the kind of labor they are engaged in. This paper distinctively examines the adverse effect of natural resources scarcity on children's schooling and the possible gender bias against girls' schooling due to resource collection work. It uses a cross sectional data of 316 children aging 7 to 18 years collected from 120 rural households of Enderta and Hintalo Wajerat woredas in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. The two-stage conditional maximum likelihood (2SCML) estimation technique is employed to take care of endogeneity between schooling and collection intensity decisions. The results revealed that a 50 percent increase in collection intensity reduces the likelihood of child schooling by approximately 12 percent. Even though girls more often participate on resource gathering tasks, we find no evidence of gender based difference against girls' schooling due to resource collection intensity. Timely collection of fodder resources from cultivated land-soon enough so amount and quality will not deteriorate, planting fodder-rich tree species, promoting labor sharing arrangements, and maintenance of the non-operating constructed water sources can reduce the time spent on environmental resources collection and improve the likelihood of schooling.

Too often, research on unfree labour is speculative, inaccurate and downright damaging to the individuals labelled as ‘victims’. This Chapter will make the case that, in order to overcome these serious failings, we need to conduct in-depth qualitative research with victims themselves. This means giving voice to their analyses and experiences and it means spending time learning from and with them. In making this case, the Chapter will draw on the author’s research between 2005 and 2012 into ‘child trafficking’ and youth labour mobility between rural Benin and Nigeria.

Nigerian Policy on Child Labor: An Evaluation of the Education Sector Preparedness for Effective Policy Implementation by Samuel Ekong MSc, University of Lagos, 2004 MBA, University of Lagos, 1998 BSc, University of Uyo, 1989 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration

Le trafic des enfants au Cameroun : étude d'une forme d'abus à l'égard des "c... Sociétés et jeunesses en difficulté, n°3 | Printemps 2007 Je veux que tu en fasses ton enfant, et que tu fasses qu'elle devienne quelqu'un dans la vie. Si tu manges, elle mange aussi, et si tu ne manges pas, elle ne mange pas. Elle est obéissante et travaille beaucoup. Si tu as quelque chose [i.e. un peu d'argent], tu penseras à elle aussi à la fin du mois [i.e. tu lui verseras un petit salaire]. Le trafic des enfants au Cameroun : étude d'une forme d'abus à l'égard des "c...

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This paper presents preliminary findings about how literacy is taught at the elementary level in three grade-one classrooms in Jamaica. While this might seem rudimentary, there is a dearth of information in Jamaica about how teachers teach reading and writing. We attempted to fill this gap by conducting an exploratory small-scale qualitative case study. Interviews and classroom observations were conducted to obtain a snapshot of teachers' literacy practices in order to explore how teachers teach reading and writing in grade-one classrooms. Three themes emerged from the data. The findings illustrated that while teachers were working to create engaging classroom environments, they tended to adopt a reading readiness orientation to literacy. Also, while teachers valued the children's home language, they were ambivalent about how to teach literacy in a Creole-speaking environment. The study represents a first step in learning about the teaching practices of grade-one teachers in Creole-speaking environments.

When Jamaica exchanged the Union Jack for its own flag on August 6, 1962 the nation did not exchange the existing education system for its own. Like the other English-Speaking nations in the Caribbean, Jamaican continued to embrace the British colonial education philosophy (Bacchus, 1994; British Council, 2017; Coates, n.d.; Hunte, 1976). It was not uncommon for the former British colonies, postindependence, to continue to pattern the British system of education, which continues to be a fundamental part of their colonial legacy. According to Peters (2001) among the legacies of imperialism in the Caribbean is the educational system, which still holds some of ABSTRACT

Este artigo apresenta dados de duas pesquisas sobre o trabalho infantil na rua, nas quais se identificam os riscos a que crianças e adolescentes estão submetidos. Na primeira pesquisa, feita com uma amostra de 26 crianças e/ou adolescentes, de ambos os sexos, utilizou-se a metodologia qualitativa e como técnicas a territorialização, a observação sistemática, e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Estas últimas foram examinadas a partir da análise de conteúdo temática de Bardin (1977). Na segunda, com uma amostra de 81 crianças e adolescentes de ambos os sexos, utilizou-se a metodologia quantitativa e como instrumento um questionário, que foi tratado através do software SPSS e da estatística descritiva. São identificadas em ambas características semelhantes no tocante às tarefas, aos perfis e aos riscos. Os fatores de riscos mais comuns são: físicos (temperatura); químicos (poluição); biológicos (vírus); ergonômicos (posições corporais forçadas e ritmos intensos); sociais (o trabalho não dará formação profissional para o futuro); psicológicos (cognitivos: dificuldades com o acompanhamento e o desempenho do processo escolar, e afetivo: sentimentos de incapacidade). Palavras-chave: Trabalho infantil, Crianças e adolescentes, Riscos. Child work in the street This article presents data of two researches into child work in the street which identify the risks that children and adolescents are submitted. In the first research, performed with a sample of 26 children and adolescents of both sexes, the qualitative methodology was used and the territorialization, the systematic observation and semistructured interviews were used as techniques. These last ones were analyzed according to the thematic content analysis of Bardin (1977). The second research was performed with a sample of 81 children and adolescents of both sexes, and the quantitative methodology was used. As an instrument, a questionnaire was used and treated through the software SPSS and through the descriptive statistics. Both researches have presented similar characteristics regarded to the tasks, to the profiles and to the risks. The more common risks are: physical (temperature); chemical (pollution); biological (virus); ergonomic (forced corporal positions and intense rhythms); social (the work won't give professional formation for the future); psychological (cognitive: difficulties with the accompaniment and the acting of the school and affective process: feelings of inability).

The Saudi Arabian education system has experienced several significant restructurings since its creation in 1953. The 2011, administrative reform increased school principals' responsibilities and their roles became more complex. These changes have increased the need for understanding the principal evaluation process in order to ensure long-term success for all in education. The aim of this study was to identify and examine the current evaluation process as experienced by Saudi high school principals and to present their opinions about how to improve the current criteria and methods used by the Ministry of Education. Two questions were used: What are high school principals' perceptions of the process and criteria for their evaluation? and What are principals' opinions about how to improve the criteria and methods used in evaluation compared with the recommendations advocated in the literature? A comparison of principals' opinions and ideas and the recommendations advocated in the literature was completed. A qualitative research design was used to gather data from 14 high school principals working for the General Department of Education in the Eastern Region within the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia. Using a priori themes from the literature related to the research questions, this study presents the processes and procedures used in current principal evaluation. Results show that respondents believe the current principal evaluation processes and methods in Saudi Arabia are ineffective and of little value. Further findings provide suggestions regarding improving the evaluation criteria and procedures to support principals' development. Study results support the need for change to the principal evaluation system in Saudi Arabia and highlight improving evaluation quality, ensuring purposeful professional development, and including clear performance expectations. Results further suggest the MoE must focus on building a new evaluation by taking into account the opinions of stakeholders, the characteristics of schools, and the need for a sufficient number of qualified evaluators. If education in Saudi Arabia is going to continue moving forward, and if principals are to become the strongest tools for education advancement, then accurate and meaningful evaluation is necessary.

This paper explores the intergenerational effects of parental health shocks using longitudinal data from the Young Lives project conducted in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is found that health shocks to poorer parents reduce investments in children thereby reducing their future earnings, and perpetuating poverty and inequality. The paper discusses important dimensions like the timing of health shocks and pathways through which they affect human capital investment, differential effects of paternal and maternal shocks on different cohort groups, roles of cognitive abilities of children and quality of schooling in human capital accumulation.

This study explores the inter-generational effects of health shocks using longitudinal data of Young Lives project conducted in the southern state of India, Andhra Pradesh for two cohorts of children (younger and older). It is found that health shocks to poorer parents reduce investments in human capital of children thereby reducing their future earnings, and perpetuating poverty and inequality. There is a temporary delay in primary school enrollment in the case of younger cohort, while schooling attainment is reduced by 0.26 years for older children. This paper further contributes to the literature on important dimensions like role of timing of the shocks and the pathways through which they affect human capital investment, differential effects of paternal and maternal shocks on different cohort groups, ability of the children and quality of schooling in schooling attainment.

Guided by the symbolic interaction premise that meaning is found in the interaction of individuals with their world, this study set out to describe and analyse how selected high school principals in Jamaica understand and practise school leadership by exploring how they view their circumstances, and how their meanings of leadership are modified by the contexts of their work. To gain insight into how Jamaican principals conceptualise and experience leadership the study adopted a qualitative, collective case-study design. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select four exemplary high school principals such that gender, school location and organization were varied. Data were sourced from semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation sessions and integrative diagrams as well as from school, principal and official Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture documents. Within-case and cross-case analyses were conducted using grounded theory modes of analysis, specifically th...

We wish to thank the Jamaican Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, and particularly Ms. Adelle Brown, Chief Education Officer, for support and insights. Other thanks go to the Planning Unit, under the direction of Ms. Barbara Allen, for openness to ideas, providing technical support and enabling rapid access to school census data; to the Student Assessment Unit, under direction of Ms. Sephlin Myers-Thomas, for meeting with the team and providing key information; to Ms. Ruth Morris, Executive Director, National Council on Education, for her suggestions and insights in planning this study; to the project staff of the New Horizons Program for providing copies of technical reports and project documentation; and to Ms. Carol Watson of DPK for assistance with the GSAT data. Field data collection was carried out by the Caribbean Consulting Group of Kingston, Jamaica under the direction of Ms. Carol Rose Brown.

Aims: Child trafficking in South and Southeast Asia is widespread and deeply troubling. While several agencies have initiated anti-child-trafficking interventions, it is unknown whether they address the 21 social determinants of child trafficking identified by Perry and McEwing (2013). The aim of this integrative review was to explore the anti-child-trafficking strategies employed by governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that target the social determinants of child trafficking in South and Southeast Asia, and identify which levels of the socio-ecological model (SEM) they address. Methods: The authors performed a literature search for journal articles and reports by researchers, local or national governments, and international organizations on the prevention of child trafficking in eight South Asian and eight Southeast Asian nations. Identified manuscripts were analyzed to determine which social determinants and socio-ecological levels were addressed by the programs d...

Jamaican policy makers have prioritized literacy improvement as a matter of urgency within the educational milieu. This has become even more intense during the past decade with initiatives being mandated and implemented to promote this cause. One such initiative is the establishment of literacy research and development centres in two teacher-training colleges with a prime mandate to prepare a special group of teachers to extend literacy improvement efforts in Jamaican schools. While there has been some degree of controversy over the official title of these teachers in training, the name “literacy specialists” has been commonly used to describe the trainees. Studies have been commissioned within the Jamaican context to look at literacy and the Jamaican literacy milieu (e.g., Bryan and Mitchell 1998). However, a study to create a coherent profile of the literacy specialist has not been undertaken. This article is seen as an initial step in providing this profile. Its purpose is fourfo...

The purpose of this interview study was to describe and explain perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology among four teachers at a Jamaican infant school, by answering: What are teachers' perceptions and beliefs about the role of technology in young children's learning? What are the practices regarding technology among Jamaican infant school teachers? I used criterion sampling to identify participants for my inquiry. For data collection, I used semistructured interviews, teachers' lesson plans, and my reflective journal. I applied a socio-cultural approach (Rogoff, 1990) for the data analysis to make sense of the teachers' perceptions and articulated practices. The findings indicated the teachers' appropriation of technology for knowledge building. The teachers also perceived technology as a tool of instruction to replace charts for curriculum content. The teachers believed technology augment children's readiness skills for first grade. The teachers' envisioned affordances of technology indicated their articulated practices for children's appropriation of technology. The findings also indicated the actual and envisioned barriers that challenged teachers' facilitation of the child as agent with technology in the Jamaican early childhood classroom. The findings indicate the importance of understanding the cultural context of teachers' practices with technology and provide implications for technological innovations in Jamaican classrooms. Information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) is a cultural activity to be explored with teachers, students, and their social partners in institutions of practice. old. The parents are charged a fee and teachers' salaries are subsidized by the government (Morrison & Milner, 1995). Infant Department A type of early childhood institution in Jamaica owned by the state and attached to a primary school. The infant department caters to children four to six years old. The principal of the primary school is responsible for the infant department attached to his/her school (Jones, Brown, & Brown, 2011). Infant School A government funded program for Jamaican children four to six years old. The infant school is independent of a primary school and has its own principal and board of directors (Morrison & Milner, 1995). Kindergarten Jamaican Kindergarten is a privately owned early childhood program and caters to children three to six years old (Jones et al., 2011). Diploma The certification awarded to Jamaican teachers upon completion of the three year college program in early childhood education. ECC Early Childhood Commission-The governing body with responsibility for the supervision and regulation of early childhood institutions in Jamaica (ECC, 2009). Delimitations and Limitations The four participants were selected from one school in the metropolitan region of Jamaica. The purpose of the study was to describe and explain the teachers' perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology in a Jamaican Infant school. Interview studies are used to

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of child health (measured by nutritional status) on schooling performance of Bangladeshi children. Design/methodology/approach – The data set used in this study comes from a survey titled “Micronutrient and Gender Study (MNGS) in Bangladesh”. The survey was administered by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The author controls for the potential endogeneity of child health by an instrumental variables approach. The results indicate that the impact of child health on school achievement will be overestimated if endogeneity of child health is ignored. Findings – The results reveal that child health has significant effects on school enrolment and grade attainment, although it does not affect the current school attendance. The impact of child health is stronger for school enrolment compared to grade attainment. Originality/value – This study improves the understanding on the relationship between child health and school...

In Benin, anti-child trafficking discourse misrepresents the nature of youth labour migration, while anti-child trafficking policy fails to protect those "beneficiaries" in whose name it is officially designed. Despite this, both have remained stable for over a decade. This paper attempts to explain why. It argues that, in contrast to claims made by many other critiques of anti-trafficking work that policy makers are either ignorant or malevolent, here discourse and policy are hampered more by the conceptual, institutional and political structures within which they are developed and articulated by individuals, thereby ensuring discursive and policy stability despite inaccuracy and failure.

Grounded in children’s rights, this article advances understanding of the affordances and constraints in implementing Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in educational settings with young children – those under 7. It starts from the premise that if we are to foster democratic skills and understanding in children and young people, we need to develop practices that support this from the earliest age. The article presents the outcomes of a seminar series facilitating dialogue among international academics working in the field and a range of early years practitioners. This opportunity for extended dialogue led to the development of a rich and sophisticated conceptual clarity about the factors that need to be considered if Article 12 is to be realised with very young children. Eight factors were identified as pivotal for consideration when facilitating voices with this age group: definition; power; inclusivity; listening; time and space; approaches; pr...

Grounded in children’s rights, this article advances understanding of the affordances and constraints in implementing Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in educational settings with young children – those under 7. It starts from the premise that if we are to foster democratic skills and understanding in children and young people, we need to develop practices that support this from the earliest age. The article presents the outcomes of a seminar series facilitating dialogue among international academics working in the field and a range of early years practitioners. This opportunity for extended dialogue led to the development of a rich and sophisticated conceptual clarity about the factors that need to be considered if Article 12 is to be realised with very young children. Eight factors were identified as pivotal for consideration when facilitating voices with this age group: definition; power; inclusivity; listening; time and space; approaches; pr...

A combination of quantitative and qualitative method was used to analyse the determinants of school completion/dropout of children from primary education. A Cox box proportional hazard model was used analyse the survival of children in primary education. The findings have important implications for the formulation and revising Ethiopian Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. While the policy focus of the 1996-initiated ESDP and the SDPRP (2002-5) on increasing educational access for all has been broadly successful, children from poor and/or highly indebted families still face significant constraints because they have to contribute to household survival through paid and unpaid work. It is therefore imperative to increase efforts to improve the livelihood options of the poor, including greater income generation opportunities, particularly in rural areas and for women. However, such strategies need to be child sensitive. For instance, income generating opportunities for women should simulta...

This document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the published version of the research, please visit the publisher's website (a subscription may be required.) 'Children not trophies': an ethnographic study of private family law practice in England.

We wish to thank the Jamaican Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, and particularly Ms. Adelle Brown, Chief Education Officer, for support and insights. Other thanks go to the Planning Unit, under the direction of Ms. Barbara Allen, for openness to ideas, providing technical support and enabling rapid access to school census data; to the Student Assessment Unit, under direction of Ms. Sephlin Myers-Thomas, for meeting with the team and providing key information; to Ms. Ruth Morris, Executive Director, National Council on Education, for her suggestions and insights in planning this study; to the project staff of the New Horizons Program for providing copies of technical reports and project documentation; and to Ms. Carol Watson of DPK for assistance with the GSAT data. Field data collection was carried out by the Caribbean Consulting Group of Kingston, Jamaica under the direction of Ms. Carol Rose Brown.

The purpose of this interview study was to describe and explain perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology among four teachers at a Jamaican infant school, by answering: What are teachers' perceptions and beliefs about the role of technology in young children's learning? What are the practices regarding technology among Jamaican infant school teachers? I used criterion sampling to identify participants for my inquiry. For data collection, I used semistructured interviews, teachers' lesson plans, and my reflective journal. I applied a socio-cultural approach (Rogoff, 1990) for the data analysis to make sense of the teachers' perceptions and articulated practices. The findings indicated the teachers' appropriation of technology for knowledge building. The teachers also perceived technology as a tool of instruction to replace charts for curriculum content. The teachers believed technology augment children's readiness skills for first grade. The teachers' envisioned affordances of technology indicated their articulated practices for children's appropriation of technology. The findings also indicated the actual and envisioned barriers that challenged teachers' facilitation of the child as agent with technology in the Jamaican early childhood classroom. The findings indicate the importance of understanding the cultural context of teachers' practices with technology and provide implications for technological innovations in Jamaican classrooms. Information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) is a cultural activity to be explored with teachers, students, and their social partners in institutions of practice. old. The parents are charged a fee and teachers' salaries are subsidized by the government (Morrison & Milner, 1995). Infant Department A type of early childhood institution in Jamaica owned by the state and attached to a primary school. The infant department caters to children four to six years old. The principal of the primary school is responsible for the infant department attached to his/her school (Jones, Brown, & Brown, 2011). Infant School A government funded program for Jamaican children four to six years old. The infant school is independent of a primary school and has its own principal and board of directors (Morrison & Milner, 1995). Kindergarten Jamaican Kindergarten is a privately owned early childhood program and caters to children three to six years old (Jones et al., 2011). Diploma The certification awarded to Jamaican teachers upon completion of the three year college program in early childhood education. ECC Early Childhood Commission-The governing body with responsibility for the supervision and regulation of early childhood institutions in Jamaica (ECC, 2009). Delimitations and Limitations The four participants were selected from one school in the metropolitan region of Jamaica. The purpose of the study was to describe and explain the teachers' perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology in a Jamaican Infant school. Interview studies are used to

Parental death is one of the many risks faced by children in poor communities, especially in Africa in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.While the death of a parent at any age is a significant and distressing event, Young Lives research in Ethiopia finds that the age the child is ...

This article tries to analyse the evolution over the past 40 years of children’s domestic work and its representations in urban Côte d’Ivoire, and, particularly, how these practices evolved from family work linked to educational processes, into the kind of wage work that exists today. Listening to the children themselves, the aim is to find out how the petites bonnes (young maids) perceive their situation as workers, how they make it their own and how they see their future.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parental involvement and students' academic achievement in Model Primary and Secondary School of Haramaya University, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Correlational research design was employed to carry out the current study. Questionnaire interview and document analysis were employed to was employed to collect the data from selected respondents. The sample consists of 52 parents and 60 students purposively selected. The students were selected by their academic rank which means 50% were high achievers whereas below50% were lower achievers from the 8 th , 10 th and 12 th grades. Parents of 30 top scoring and 30 low scoring students were selected purposively. Parental involvement was measured by using self-developed questionnaire with 10 items and eight interview guide questions were used, and students' academic achievement was measured by their recorded scores by their respective grades in the past three years four interview guide questions were employed. The first finding was that there was statistically significant positive relationship between parental involvement and students' academic achievement, (r=0.64, p<0.01). The second finding was that the portrayed students who ranked from 1 st to 10 th from grades 8, 10 and 12 were highly involved, supported and followed by their parents on their education. The third finding was that students who were scored below 50% and ranked last 10's from perspective grades were children whose families were less encouraged and involved. In general, parents' involvement in supporting their students to boost their academic achievement is moderate. It is recommended that more detailed studies can be conducted in the future in different areas as well as country wide.

The purpose of this interview study was to describe and explain perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology among four teachers at a Jamaican infant school, by answering: What are teachers' perceptions and beliefs about the role of technology in young children's learning? What are the practices regarding technology among Jamaican infant school teachers? I used criterion sampling to identify participants for my inquiry. For data collection, I used semistructured interviews, teachers' lesson plans, and my reflective journal. I applied a socio-cultural approach (Rogoff, 1990) for the data analysis to make sense of the teachers' perceptions and articulated practices. The findings indicated the teachers' appropriation of technology for knowledge building. The teachers also perceived technology as a tool of instruction to replace charts for curriculum content. The teachers believed technology augment children's readiness skills for first grade. The teachers' envisioned affordances of technology indicated their articulated practices for children's appropriation of technology. The findings also indicated the actual and envisioned barriers that challenged teachers' facilitation of the child as agent with technology in the Jamaican early childhood classroom. The findings indicate the importance of understanding the cultural context of teachers' practices with technology and provide implications for technological innovations in Jamaican classrooms. Information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) is a cultural activity to be explored with teachers, students, and their social partners in institutions of practice. old. The parents are charged a fee and teachers' salaries are subsidized by the government (Morrison & Milner, 1995). Infant Department A type of early childhood institution in Jamaica owned by the state and attached to a primary school. The infant department caters to children four to six years old. The principal of the primary school is responsible for the infant department attached to his/her school (Jones, Brown, & Brown, 2011). Infant School A government funded program for Jamaican children four to six years old. The infant school is independent of a primary school and has its own principal and board of directors (Morrison & Milner, 1995). Kindergarten Jamaican Kindergarten is a privately owned early childhood program and caters to children three to six years old (Jones et al., 2011). Diploma The certification awarded to Jamaican teachers upon completion of the three year college program in early childhood education. ECC Early Childhood Commission-The governing body with responsibility for the supervision and regulation of early childhood institutions in Jamaica (ECC, 2009). Delimitations and Limitations The four participants were selected from one school in the metropolitan region of Jamaica. The purpose of the study was to describe and explain the teachers' perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology in a Jamaican Infant school. Interview studies are used to

This research project looks at the emergent writing behaviours of children in one kindergarten. Data was gathered as children wrote with various computer programs and traditional writing implements. The questions examined in the study were: How do the writing behaviours change when using technology and traditional implements? What understanding of Marie Clay's concepts about print do the children display with computers and traditional implements? How do the children's understandings of the concepts about print change between the two media? Are there some concepts about print that are displayed earlier with computers? The study involved eight children enrolled in a university laboratory school. Data, in the form of audiotapes, videotapes, anecdotal notes, and artefacts, were collected over a period of two and a half months. The writing incidents ranged from child choice to teacher directed. Children at free play would frequently choose to write at the computers or art areas. The teacher would also make assignments that all children had to complete, but usually the children could choose to use computers or traditional writing implements. Children used a variety of programs with which to write, usually selecting the program they wanted to use. The programs that were used in the classroom were mainly: Word, KidPix, and Orly's Drawa-Story. Like many qualitative studies additional discoveries were made regarding the children's writing levels, social interactions at the computers when writing, and the exploration nature of children with the technology.

This study investigates the impact of family structure on schooling outcomes for children aged 7 to 17 years in South Africa. There is limited recent national research focusing on examining factors affecting schooling outcomes for children beyond economic factors in South Africa. Most literature available is either based on selected provinces, communities and Demographic Surveillance Areas or studied schooling outcomes without delineating the effect of the family structures children live in. This study uses data on a sample of 225 538 children obtained from the Community Survey of 2007 (CS2007) which was conducted by Statistics South Africa. It identifies a taxonomy of family structures unique to South Africa in comparison to other parts of the world especially the developed world given the effects of long term migration and macrosocial transformations such as HIV/AIDS, increase in urbanisation, decreasing marriage rates and increasing out-of-wedlock births all of which lead to more complex family structures being observed. The study uses quantitative techniques employing logistic and ordinary least squares regression models to analyse the odds of school enrolment for children and average highest grade completed for age. The results of the study show that family structure impacts on schooling outcomes for children significantly. The study thus arrives at the conclusion that, controlling for all other variables like age, sex, population group, province of residence, socioeconomic status and type of school, family structure has a significant impact on the schooling outcomes of children in South Africa.

Parental death is one of the many risks faced by children in poor communities, especially in Africa in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. While the death of a parent at any age is a significant and distressing event, Young Lives research in Ethiopia finds that the age the child is when a parent dies is important for outcomes later on. If a parent dies early on in a child's life (between ages 0 and 6) then the death per se does not seem to affect children's health, education, sense of optimism or self-esteem at age 12, in part due to the fact that younger children are more likely to be absorbed into the care of close relatives. In sharp contrast, if its mother dies in middle childhood (between ages 7 and 12) a child is less likely to be enrolled at school or to be able to read or write, and if the father dies it seems to reduce the child's sense of optimism. These effects appear to apply equally to boys and girls alike. These findings are an important contribution towards the development of a policy framework for supporting orphans and other vulnerable children in Ethiopia.

Parental death is one of the many risks faced by children in poor communities, especially in Africa in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.While the death of a parent at any age is a significant and distressing event, Young Lives research in Ethiopia finds that the age the child is ...