Female Students’ Participation in Mathematics Education at the University Level in Ghana (Published)
For more than three decades now, a great body of research studies have been conducted to address the issue of gender disparities in mathematics education across the globe as a result of the minimal participation of females in mathematics education in higher levels of education. The primary purpose of this study, however, was to investigate female students’ participation in mathematics education at the university level. It considered 99 female students’ studying mathematics education from the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba. The study used descriptive survey design to analyse both qualitative and quantitative data gathered from respondents. The study revealed among other things that the trend of enrolment of female students’ in mathematics education is on the decline. Also, the study revealed that enjoyment derived from studying mathematics education, career opportunities in mathematics education, desire to study mathematics education, interest in mathematics education, were some of the reasons why female students participate in mathematics education. The assertion that mathematics is a male domain subject was not a perception of female mathematics education students who participated in this study. Conclusions, implications and recommendations are further discussed in the work.
Keywords: Mathematics Education, Participation, Perception, female students, university level
Assessment of Women’s Participation in Self-Help Groups in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State: Implications for Community Education (Published)
This paper assessed women’s participation in self-help groups in Nsukka Local Government Area. Five objectives and Five research questions were developed to aid the study. It adopted descriptive survey research design with a sample of 160 members of women self-help groups drawn from five communities. The key instrument used for data collection was questionnaire which covered the objectives of the study while interview and personal observation were used to complement the questionnaire. Data collected were presented in tables and analysed using percentage and mean scores. The findings show that women in Nsukka participate to a high level in self-help groups. The benefits of the self-help groups include among others, to socialize, attract loan, save money, give moral and financial support to members and solve problems through collective efforts. The study also reveals that women face challenges like illiteracy, poverty, conflicts and others which need relevant community education programmes to address. The paper therefore recommends among others that community members should support women self-help groups to enable them contribute to community development and that adult educators should strengthen women’s capacity through community education to address the challenges that hinder their participation in self-help groups.
Keywords: Community Education., Participation, Self-help
Sociocultural Factors as Predictors of Immunization Participation among Rural Mothers of Waterside in Ogun State, Nigeria (Published)
Active Immunization Coverage in the rural community of Ogun Waterside have been perceived to be bedeviled by several factors ranging from geographical to demographic issues limiting accessibility to health care. The study looked into those factors that prevented and distorted complete uptake of Immunization in the rural location of waterside. The study was conducted in eight wards of the Local Government Area. Descriptive survey research design with qualitative method was adopted. SFIIPQ: R = 0.78, CFPIPQ R = 0.810, AUPIPQ: R = 0.93 and MMFPIPQ: R = 0.88 were the instrument used to glean data. The study revealed that cultural factors of living style, health seeking behavior and values are 59.0% of the total variation (R2 = 0.587, P < 0.05). Also, the social variables of peer influence, parenting style, socioeconomic status, level of education and sex of the child accounted for 55.0% of the total variation (R2 =0.550, P <0.05). Mothers reported that sometimes, vaccines are not available in the right quantity. Conclusively, immunizations in the local community of waterside is fairly good as reported but require more education, supply of adequate vaccines and provision of active cold chain facilities.
Keywords: Immunization, Participation, rural mothers, vaccines, waterside
Appraisal of Local Government Participation in the Administration of Primary Education in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State (Published)
The study investigated the extent of Local Government participation in the administration of primary Education in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. One research question and one null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A 36-item researchers structured questionnaire was developed and administered to 986 respondents. The sample of the study was 986 participants comprising of five (5) education secretaries, 282 head teachers and 699 teachers. The population of the study were studied as the sample size which was obtained through simple random sampling technique. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. A mean score of 2.50 was adopted as the cut-off-point or acceptable level for the items. The t-test statistic was employed in testing the three null hypotheses formulated for the study at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the analysis of the findings showed that the respondents are of the view that the local government councils in Nsukka education Zone do not participate meaningfully in the administration and funding of primary education. Based on the findings the study recommended that the three tiers of government should combine to fund primary education to avoid it being abandoned by a particular tier, among others
Keywords: Administration, Local Government, Participation, Primary Education