The Perceived Value of a Universal Early Learning Program: A Parent Perspective

Pan-Canadian efforts to support universal access to quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) for families are underway. Focusing on a universally available ECEC program in Nova Scotia, this study explored the impact of the perceived value of this publicly funded ECEC program on parental decisions for enrollment. A thematic analysis of data from focus groups and interviews (n = 42 families represented) from two separate, but related studies, revealed themes (Ease of access, Communication, Supporting familiarity with school and Early learning) which provide insight on the value that parents place on a universal ECEC program and may help to inform other jurisdictions.

Analisis Dampak Operaional PLTU Jeranjang Terhadap Kondisi Sosial dan Ekonomi Masyarakat Di Kabupaten Lombok Barat

PLTU Jeranjang, West Lombok Regency, is a power plant that uses low-calorie coal. The activities and all power generation activities, including the PLTU Jeranjang, have the potential to have an impact on the social and economic conditions of the community around the power plant location. More in-depth research is needed regarding the impact on social and economic conditions, especially in the Jeranjang area. The aims of this research are (1) to find out how big the social and economic impact of the operational activities of PLTU Jeranjang on the community around the area of PLTU Jeranjang. (2) As a reflection and reference in efforts to increase the national electrification ratio with its impact on environmental, social, economic, and cultural conditions. The method used is a qualitative method by applying questionnaires, interviews and field observations to collect data. While the research sample used purposive sampling by considering the selection of respondents, ease of access, cost and time of the study. This study resulted that the community experienced a decrease in income up to 79%, especially fishermen and farmers. However, the level of anxiety is relatively low because %URS only reached 56%. The health impact that is often experienced by the community throughout the year is Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (ARI). The magnitude of the disturbance in fishing activities is classified as having a sufficient impact because 71% of fisherman feel a change in the typology of fishing which has an impact on the economy. The amount of disturbance to fishing activities is quite adequate with an FAI value of 0.003391. The operational activities of the PLTU Jeranjang as a whole have an impact that is still included in the low category so that this impact can be minimized by optimizing the monitoring, control, treatment, and information disclosure between the PLTU Jeranjang and the community.

Determinants of Financial Capability: A Situational Analysis for Namibia

It is imperative that if the poor in society benefit from the massive developments in the financial sector, then such a sector must be genuinely inclusive. It should meet the needs of all citizens with the potential to use such financial services productively. This paper scopes financial inclusivity as a process ensuring ease of access, availability, and usage of financial services by all members of society. To reduce socio-economic inequality, the poor in developing countries, like everyone else, need access to a wide range of financial services that are convenient, flexible, and reasonably priced. Therefore, financial inclusivity is sought to be significant towards the global development agenda as a tool for increasing the poor’s access to financial services, often cited as a mechanism that can help reduce poverty and lower income inequality. For many years, microfinance has been heralded as a mechanism for enhancing financial inclusion. It provides an avenue through which the marginalized and the poor can access and benefit from the formal financial system. Moreover, financial inclusivity is substantially evident in the rural areas among the poor, who have no collateral or credit history for participating in the legal financial system. As a result, financial inclusion is receiving increased attention as an essential tool for reducing aspects of socio-economic inequality characterized by the isolation of individuals and communities from formal financial services, like affordable and accessible credit.

The Use of Social Media, Online Support Groups, and Apps for Pregnant Women During COVID-19

At the start of 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Pregnant women were deemed a vulnerable group globally and advised to shield. Due to social distancing and the changes in maternity services, it was a reasonable assumption that pregnant women would turn to the online platform for advice and guidance. Using reflexive thematic analysis, this chapter explored the effect of social media, support groups, and app usage on pregnant women during the outbreak. Results evidenced that pregnant women utilised social media, support groups, and apps for information and support. Positive aspects were maintaining social connections whilst adhering to social distancing guidelines, access to support groups and people in similar situations, and ease of access to information. Negative aspects were excessive amounts of and overwhelming information, misinformation, judgement from others, and increased anxiety. Apps were deemed positive for general pregnancy but lacked COVID-19-related information.

Reporting Inpatients’ Experiences and Satisfaction in a National Psychiatric Facility: A Study Based on the Random Forest Algorithm

Understanding psychiatric inpatients’ experiences is important to establish a culture of patient-centric care and promote trust in healthcare. This study aimed to evaluate nine dimensions of patients’ experiences and investigate their association with patient satisfaction, revisit intention, and positive word-of-mouth (WoM) recommendation. Cross-sectional questionnaire data from five years of surveying (2016–2020) in the main psychiatric hospital in Bahrain were statistically analyzed, involving 763 psychiatric inpatients with an overall 65.6 ± 17.2 length of stay (days). The findings show that across the five years 2016–2020, the overall reported satisfaction was “very high” (4.75 ± 0.44) with no significant differences between these five years (F [4, 758] = 0.66, p = 0.620). The experience of confidentiality received the highest rating (4.72 ± 0.45). The experiences of ease of access, hospitality quality, and quality of responsiveness to one's needs significantly correlated with revisit intention ( p ˂ 0.05). Patients with high satisfaction had greater potential for revisit intention (r [761] = 0.08, p = 0.027), which was associated with WoM recommendation (r [761] = 0.08, p = 0.033). Overall, men were less likely than women to experience convenient access to psychiatric wards. The findings of the Random Forest algorithm indicate the tendency of female patients with short-term stays to demonstrate lower satisfaction rates, and thus innovative approaches are needed when managing these groups’ psychiatric problems.

Assessing the Quality of Sources in Wikidata Across Languages: A Hybrid Approach

Wikidata is one of the most important sources of structured data on the web, built by a worldwide community of volunteers. As a secondary source, its contents must be backed by credible references; this is particularly important, as Wikidata explicitly encourages editors to add claims for which there is no broad consensus, as long as they are corroborated by references. Nevertheless, despite this essential link between content and references, Wikidata's ability to systematically assess and assure the quality of its references remains limited. To this end, we carry out a mixed-methods study to determine the relevance, ease of access, and authoritativeness of Wikidata references, at scale and in different languages, using online crowdsourcing, descriptive statistics, and machine learning. Building on previous work of ours, we run a series of microtasks experiments to evaluate a large corpus of references, sampled from Wikidata triples with labels in several languages. We use a consolidated, curated version of the crowdsourced assessments to train several machine learning models to scale up the analysis to the whole of Wikidata. The findings help us ascertain the quality of references in Wikidata and identify common challenges in defining and capturing the quality of user-generated multilingual structured data on the web. We also discuss ongoing editorial practices, which could encourage the use of higher-quality references in a more immediate way. All data and code used in the study are available on GitHub for feedback and further improvement and deployment by the research community.

GERAKAN LITERASI DALAM MENINGKATKAN MINAT BACA MASYARAKAT MELALUI PERAN PERPUSTAKAAN DAN PUSTAKAWAN

Interest in reading is the emergence of feelings of pleasure or strong interest that encourages individuals to carry out activities so that they do it on their own accord. Then there are attempts to do this activity repeatedly. reading is an important activity. Human civilization will not be far from this activity. Even in its history, a civilization is said to be advanced if humans at that time had the ability to read and write. Even in Islam, the first commandment to the Prophet Muhammad was to read (iqra`: read). It has also been proven, a nation with a high interest in reading becomes a nation that excels in science and technology. By reading, you can find a variety of knowledge and make discoveries in both the scientific and social fields. Based on research on reading interest, broadly speaking, there are two factors, namely internal and external factors. Internal factors generally include perceptions, motivations, and individual feelings towards reading activities. Meanwhile, external factors relate to the environment, ease of access to books, availability of facilities and infrastructure, technological developments, and even distribution of reading books. Therefore, a unique literacy is needed to support the reading culture of the community. Literacy has an important role in the life of a learning community that lives in an era that is based on current knowledge, technology, and information. Human civilization can be awakened by mastery of literacy based on reading, writing, and critical thinking activities. Literacy is a process of how a person communicates in society. In addition, literacy can also be interpreted as practice and social relations related to knowledge, language, and culture. Libraries with librarians can be used to develop a literacy culture for users in particular and society in general. With the available resources, together with stakeholders and community groups, they can innovate, create, and vary literacy-based library services. Thus the literacy culture will grow and develop.

A Research on the Satisfaction of Islamic Banking Customer Services in Riau Province During the Covid-19 Pandemic

This research is motivated by curiosity about Islamic banking services in Riau Province during the Covid-19 pandemic. But before that, it is also important to examine customer knowledge on products and service facilities in Islamic banking, reasons customers choose Islamic banks, and reasons customers use both types of banks (Islamic banking and conventional banking). This research is a field research with survey technique. The population is Islamic banks customers in Pekanbaru and the samples in this study refer to the calculation of Hair et al with total assets of Islamic banks in 2020 as a consideration in determining proportional allocation. Sources of data in this research are primary and secondary data. While the data collection techniques using questionnaires and documentation. The data analysis technique uses descriptive statistics with a frequency distribution. The results of the research found that there are still many Islamic bank customers who do not know about specific Islamic bank products such musyarakah products, mudharabah products, ijarah products,and rahn services. The results also found that religious reasons are the main factor for customers in choosing of Islamic banks. The factor of ease of access to more branches is the main reason customers use both types of banks. Finally, the results of the research found that the most Islamic bank customers are satisfied with various aspects of the services provided by Islamic banks, while the five service aspects whith the highest level of customer satisfaction are Islamic bank staff friendliness, Islamic bank name and image, Islamic bank employee skills, confidentially Islamic bank customer data, as well as various kinds of facilities offered by Islamic banks. The results of this research are ini line with studies that have been conducted in Jordan and Kuwait, where the highest level of satisfaction is found in the name and image aspects of Islamic banks even though there are differences in respondent demographics and the condition of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Determinants of Commuter Worker Income in South Sulawesi during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The development and ease of access to transportation in South Sulawesi Province opens up opportunities for the workforce to work in areas that are administratively different from their residence as commuters. Commuter workers tend to increase every year. When Covid-19 hit the economy in Indonesia, te government issued various policies to suppress the spread of the Covid-19 virus. One of them is by implementing Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) which was also adapted by the South Sulawesi Provincial Government. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on commuter workers is still not a concern, especially even though the restrictions on economic and social activities have a significant impact on the working hours and income of commuter workers. This study determines the factors that affect the income of commuter workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the results of the August 2020 National Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) data processing, it shows that the income received by commuter workers during the Covid-19 pandemic is influenced by the variables of working hours, business fields, employment status, policies for implementing Work from Home, education level and gender.