Transforming Teacher Professional Development for a Sustainable Educational Future: University Lecturers’ Perspectives in Kandahar, Afghanistan (Published)
This study investigates the current state and transformative potential of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) in public and private universities in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The research aimed to assess the availability, effectiveness, and challenges of TPD programs while exploring innovative, technology-based methods for enhancing sustainability. The study used a mixed-methods design, involving 218 participants selected through Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and Purposive Sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires and structured interviews. The study’s findings show that although some TPD programs exist, they are few and some are not aligned with lecturers’ professional needs. The existing TPD programs are deemed beneficial for developing basic knowledge in teaching and research. Significant barriers to participation included a lack of time due to a heavy teaching workload, limited availability and access to TPD programs, outdated traditional methods, insufficient technology integration, an emphasis on theoretical ideas, and a lack of practical work. Despite these challenges, a majority of participants expressed a willingness to engage in more creative and participatory approaches, with a preference for blended learning, collaborative learning, AI-powered and online learning platforms as innovative solutions. This paper emphasizes the importance of inclusive, flexible, and locally appropriate TPD models to support sustained educational growth in Kandahar universities. The findings offer important implications for universities, policymakers, and future research into effective TPD models for sustainable education.
Keywords: Availability, Challenges, Effectiveness, TPD, innovative, sustainable education
Availability and Conditions of Sports Equipment and Learners’ Participation Levels in Sports in Primary Schools in Katima Mulilo, Namibia (Published)
Sports equipment and facilities play a vital role in the teaching of Physical Education (PE) and are equally important in developing sports-related skills among learners. The main purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the availability and conditions of sports equipment and facilities in primary schools in Katima Mulilo, in the Zambezi Region of Namibia. An observational study was adopted for this study, where Physical Education school teachers were observed using the available sports equipment in the schools during their PE classes. The targeted population consisted of 10 teachers within 10 respective primary schools. Two questionnaires were administered to collect data on available facilities and equipment. Data was analysed using SPSS statistics software. Based on sports code level of participation, athletics was found to be the most popular activity with 35% of learners taking part. Soccer came in second with 25%. Netball was the third most played sport, with 20% of participants in annually scheduled competitions at regional and national levels. Volleyball was the fourth highest with 10% of learner participation. The lowest four sports codes were boxing at 5%, rugby 3%, gymnastics 1%, and cricket 1%. Sport facilities available in all the schools were all found to be in deplorable conditions. This study therefore concluded that sports equipment and facilities were either unavailable or completely in poor condition in all primary schools under study. So, it is very important to get the right tools and facilities so that physical education and sports can be taught and learned well.
Keywords: Availability, Primary schools., Sports Facilities, conditions, sport equipment
Extent of Availability and Utilization of Library Information Resources among Out – Of- School Young Prisoners in South Western Nigeria (Published)
Information is very crucial to the development of mankind. It is also an asset that is necessary to facilitate human activities. It is for this reason that libraries are established to meet information needs of citizens, particularly, those of the out- of – school young prisoners in Nigerian prisons. The study, therefore, attempted an investigation into the availability and utilisation of library resources for the prisoners. The sample was drawn from prison population of prisoners in two major cities randomly selected in South Western Nigeria. The sample drawn was 500 out of the total population of 1,625 in the sampled prisons. Questionnaire titled: Availability and Utilization of Library information Resources for Prisoners ( AULIRPO) was used to collect data on availability and utilization of library information resources by the out- of- school prisoners and descriptive statistics of survey type was employed to analyse the data collected. The result indicated that only newspapers, textbooks, dictionaries and encyclopedias are the only available and frequenly utilised library information resources by the out of school prisoners who are discovered to be in their productive ages of between 45- 54 years. Challenges like inadequate provision of library cresources, poor funding and lack of good building facilities affect prisoners’ utilisation of library information resources. It was concluded that out- of- school prisoners have access to a few library resources and it was recommended that government should be more sensitive to providing befitting library facilities and relevant library information resources to out- of- school prisoners, among others.
Keywords: Availability, Library Resources, Prisoners, Utilization, out- of- school