Effect of Incarceration on Children's Cognitive Development

Imprisonment of parents causes many hardships for children. Children of incarcerated mothers usually experience disruptions in their home environments and child care arrangements and usually also experience social stigmatization. Children who accompany their mothers into prison are exposed to conditions that in all probability affect their cognitive development. This study investigated the possible effects that growing up in prison has on the cognitive development of children incarcerated together with their mothers. 34 children ranging in age between 2 and 4 years participated in this study together with their mothers. 17 of the children (10 girls and 7 boys) were incarcerated with their mothers and the other 17 children (9 girls and 8 boys) were not incarcerated and lived with their mothers in their homes. The incarcerated children were matched in demographic characteristics with non incarcerated children. The SON-R 2.5-7, an individual intelligence test for general application which does not require the use of spoken or written language was administered to measure the cognitive ability of the children. Qualitative data was also collected through informal discussions with the mothers and the prison warders on their perceptions on the cognitive ability of the children. A one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was computed to find out if there was a significant difference between the means of the two groups i. e the incarcerated and the non-incarcerated children. The results indicated a significant difference in performance between the two groups, with the incarcerated children performing worse than the non incarcerated children. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the cognitive development of 'incarcerated' and non 'incarcerated' children.

Pathways to Alcohol Abuse by School Going Adolescents: A Case Study of Chibombo District of Zambia

This article explores adolescents' experiences of alcohol use and abuse in two boarding High Schools of Chibombo District of Zambia. A cross- sectional study design with an emphasis on qualitative approach was done on school pupils in Chibombo district. The study group comprised of 162 pupils both males and females aged between 16 and 20 years and two teachers in charge of school guidance and counseling. The present study employed three data collection strategies: Focus group discussions with 48 pupils, in-depth interviews with two teachers and a survey questionnaire with 92 pupils. The results revealed that factors that induce pupils to engage in alcohol abuse include easy access to cheap alcohol and peer pressure. It was further found out that personal factors such as negative emotional state, pupil's expectations about the function of alcohol are the main causes of alcohol abuse among pupils. In addition to punitive measure against pupils who abuse alcohol, assessment and psychotherapy or counseling of pupils who engage the abuse can go a long in addressing the problem.

Learning to Read in English in Different Environments: A Case of Selected Schools in Lusaka and Mufulira Districts

This study mainly focused on learning to Read in English in Differing Environments. Selected public and private schools in Lusaka and Mufulira urban districts in Zambia were targeted, with a population of all Grade 3 learners, totaling 150. Reading tests, semi-guided interviews, focus group discussions and a check list for lesson observation were done. A qualitative approach was used to probe and to get deep insights of how reading in English was taught. The qualitative data was analysed through the identification of teachers' common themes, descriptions and experiences. Conclusions were reached and analysed with reference to the research questions. Quantitative data was analysed using a t-test to compare the reading levels between learners in public basic and private schools. The findings indicate that learners in private schools have a conducive environment for learning how to read in English. The study found that public basic schools do not use the recommended PRP. Public schools did not have enough teaching and learning materials. It was established that learners in public schools did not read according to their reading levels while learners in private schools did that effectively. The recommendations were that the Ministry of Education needed to provide enough equipment and materials, and train teachers appropriately as well as early out regular inspection exercises. In the same way, it was incumbent on the school authorities to cooperate with parents.

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Communication Strategies for Achieving Millennium Development Goals in Zambia

According to various reports by the UN and other organizations, Africa is facing big challenges in achieving the world's anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This prompted a study by Muleba Matafwali (2010) which aimed at enhancing the understanding that communication plays a very critical role in the quest to attain development in Zambia. Key findings were that Twenty-Five point Five percent (25.5%) of the respondents indicated that television and radio documentaries were the most useful tool sources of information on MDGs for them. Forty-Three point Six percent (43.6%) indicated that community education on MDGs should be intensified. A total of 16.4% of respondents indicated that radio and television programmes should be prioritized in an effort to accelerate the achievement of MDGs. The findings also revealed that MDG experts and politicians make up 19.1% and 18.2% respectively of people who were good sources of information for them. A total of 126 people were sampled for the study. In the conclusion, the study noted that all key players in the MDG campaign were making significant efforts to reach the wider public with the MDG message. However there was need to accelerate these efforts in order to reach the wider population. The study recommended that MDG campaigners should use more inexpensive communication methods such as folk media alongside conversional means of communication such as radio.

An Investigation into the Challenges Encountered by the University of Zambia in the Implementation of Extension Education: A Case of North Western Province

The Extra Mural Studies Department (now known as Extension Studies Section) was established in order to maintain the university links with the community as well as serve as a conduit through which university knowledge and university ways of thought can be transmitted to people in their locality. This research therefore, was an undertaking to identify challenges encountered in the implementation of University Extension Education. It was guided by the following objectives; identify the challenges encountered in the implementation of Extension Education, find out whether or not the University of Zambia Extension Education programs are in tandem with the educational needs of the local society in North Western Province, and assess whether or not the University of Zambia Extension Studies in North Western Province conducted other outreach programs apart from evening classes. In terms the research design, the study employed a case study design as it allowed the researcher to bring out a case and study it in its natural setting. Questionnaire and interview guide were the instruments used to collect data from the respondents comprising 97 students and 1 officer administering the office of the Resident Lecturer. It emerged from the findings that there were many challenges that the University of Zambia encountered in the implementation of extension education, central of all was the lack of qualified part time tutors in addressing the educational needs of the community in which it operated. The study also established that most of the courses offered by the University Extension Studies in North Western Province did not answer to the educational needs of the people in the Province. In view of the findings the study recommended that the University of Zambia should ensure that the provincial office is adequately and appropriately staffed with qualified personnel and also make a deliberate effort to create a policy to involve the local community.

Factors Affecting Academic Performance of In-Service Students in Science Education: A Case of The University of Zambia

The study sought to determine factors that affected academic performance of in-service students in Science Education Degree Programme at the University of Zambia. The study was motivated by the knowledge gap as to why it was common in Science Education at the University of Zambia for both school leavers and in-service students to be excluded from school, repeat courses or change to non-science programmes due to poor academic performance. In order to have in-depth understanding of the phenomenon being studied, a case study design was used. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to collect data from 88 respondents. Simple random and purposive sampling procedures were used to select the study sample. 80 students were selected by simple random sampling procedure. This procedure was used in order to allow all the students to have an equal chance to be selected for the sample. Purposive sampling procedure was used in order to select the lecturers and tutors. The procedure was used to select the lecturers and tutors because they were the only ones with adequate knowledge about Science Education Degree programme at the level of lecturers which the researchers were inquiring. The study findings showed that several factors adversely affected academic performance of the in-service students who were studying Science Education Degree programme at the University of Zambia. These included; inadequate supportive lecturer-student relationship, combining Science with Mathematics in one programme, dilapidated classroom infrastructure especially the laboratories, too much content in the curriculum of which some was considered irrelevant to what was taught in schools, personal life problems and responsibilities, pace at which material were being delivered in class was too fast for them, poor attendance to lectures and laboratories by students themselves. In addition, students were stressed by their own poor academic performance and they had difficult to comprehend advanced concepts in Mathematics. Based on these findings, the study recommended that (1) the school of Education should introduce a programme in Science Education specifically for student training to be teachers of science, (2) review its current curriculum so that its content relates with what is taught in schools, (3) in order to support the students who felt the pace of delivery was too fast for them, there was need to encourage group discussion among them,(4) the school should provide a conducive learning environment by preparing classroom infrastructure and providing adequate learning materials.

A comparative Study of Survival Strategies used by the Aged in Rural and Urban Areas: A case of Chongwe and Lusaka Districts

For many years, studies to do with the aged and how they survive ‘economically’, were enshrined in mystery and stereotype. As a result of that, many old people in Zambia have been subjected to abuse and destitution; which is partially attributed to lack of systematic studies that would elucidate facts about the aged. It is for this reason that this study was instituted. The study comprised of 97 senior citizens who were purposively selected from Chongwe and Lusaka Districts. 84 senior citizens were subjected to a structured interview, while 13 participated in the two focus group discussions. Therefore, structured interview guides and two focus group discussions were used to collect data in Chongwe and Lusaka Districts. The study established that several types of survival strategies were used by the aged in rural and urban areas. The findings revealed that senior citizens in Chongwe and Lusaka Districts were involved in trade men and women. Others depended on their extended family members for support and care. This was the case for majority of the respondents from Chongwe District compared to their counterparts in Lusaka. There were a number of senior citizens who were also assisted financially and materially by local churches, charitable organizations and well wishers within and outside their communities. Although majority senior citizens were business men and women, their businesses, according to the finding, were not capital intensive, hence less lucrative. Consequently, majority senior citizens in the two Districts resorted to eating once or twice a day in order to conserve food for subsequent days. The situation was exacerbated further in Lusaka, as opposed to Chongwe, because senior citizens there had a lot of dependents. As a result and except for a few most of the aged scraped a living on less than a dollar per day in the two districts.

Etiology and Manifestation of Dyslexia among Grade Six Pupils in Eastern Zambia

The terms dyslexia and reading disability are often used interchangeably. There are so many children who encounter reading problems in Zambia to an extent that some of them might complete seven years of primary education without the ability to read even a three letter word (MoE, 1992).A study conducted in Zambia by MatafWali (2005) revealed that, 49.1% of the grade three pupils could not read words at all. In addition, 57.5% could not read any single sentence. According to Kelly (2000), the reading level in some grade six pupils fell within the level expected of grade four. Therefore, it means that teachers who teach reading to dyslexic pupils face a lot of challenges. It is a well documented factor that-, in the western world, reading disabilities play a major role amongst children who drop out of school and/or become delinquent (Zieman, 1999). In addition, it is important to know the factors which cause dyslexia so as to remediate the problem. The objective of the present study was to identify reading disabilities among grade six pupils and challenges that teachers face in teaching reading to these pupils. Informed consent was obtained from the respondents and then questionnaires were administered to those who agreed to participate in the study. Simple random sampling was used to come up with the required number of pupils using the class registers. Teachers were given questionnaires to answer on their own after they had understood the instructions. For the pupils, questionnaires had to be answered on a one-to-one basis with the researcher. The research design of this study was a quasi experimental design. A total of one hundred and ninety two (192) pupils and fourteen (14) teachers drawn from two districts in eastern Zambia were enrolled in the study. Results show that there was a moderate effect of lighting system at home and one's reading ability (F (10, 154) — 3.188, p < .05, partial = 9.4). As such, the nature of lighting system at home does not really affect

Teacher Preparedness to Utilize Emergent Literacy for Teaching Initial Literacy in Selected Schools of Mansa District

Effective teaching of initial literacy in Grade 1 demands more of the teacher’s attention to pupils’ emergent literacy skills and consideration of how they learn. The emergent literacy skills children acquire lay a firm foundation for their learning to read and write in the conventional sense. Some of the skills that children develop under emergent literacy include phonological awareness and phonological sensitivity, which give children the ability to hear, recognize, manipulate and distinguish the sounds of the language they have acquired. These are key language skills which teachers will need to utilize in their teaching of reading and writing skills to Grade 1 learners in the classroom. A study was carried out whose purpose was to investigate whether primary school teachers in Mansa District utilized emergent literacy skills in their teaching of conventional reading and writing skills to the learners in Grade 1 considering the fact that emergent literacy lays a firm and solid foundation for continuous development of the literacy skills. The study was a descriptive survey and qualitative in nature since it required the researcher to describe the state of affairs as found and observed in their natural setting in the research sites. The qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. The sample for this study comprised 62 Grade 1 teachers and 3,594 Grade 1 primary school pupils. Only those schools teaching initial literacy in the local familiar language using the Breakthrough to Literacy (BTL) methodology were targeted for this research. The findings indicated that: (1) Teachers lacked knowledge about emergent literacy and did not know how useful it was for continuous literacy development among the children. (2) Most of the teachers ignored pupils’ prior literacy knowledge and considered their learners as complete illiterates who knew nothing about literacy skills. (3) Teachers never designed extra teaching and learning materials for teaching literacy. Rather, they relied on the New Breakthrough to Literacy (NBTL) kit materials. (4) The class sizes were large and meaningful scaffolding was lacking in most of the classes. This study concluded that the Ministry of Education in Zambia should consider emergent literacy as the foundation for conventional literacy development in Grade 1. One recommendation was that teachers should be equipped with knowledge of emergent literacy through deliberate training. They need to understand and appreciate emergent literacy as an essential body of knowledge to be utilized for successful conventional literacy development among Grade 1 learners.