Country's Standard Research Articles

An Evaluation Of The Treasury Single Account (TSA) As An Instrument Of Financial Prudence and Management In Nigeria: Methodology Analysis (OAGF) 2015-2024.

This paper examines the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the relationship between the Nigerian economy and the Treasury Single Account Policy (2015-2024). The Nigerian economy has developed slowly over the years, which has led to little to no improvement in the country's residents' standard of living. The study's overall goal was to determine how the Treasury Single Account Policy affected Nigeria's economic developments between 2015 and 2024. Its specific goals were to determine whether the human development index, Gini coefficient, and poverty rate of the country's economy differed significantly between the pre-and post-implementation periods. The research utilized the design of the quantitative study. Nigerian citizens make up the study's population, while the citizens of Nigeria for the years 2015–2024 make up the sample size. The study employed secondary data that came from the World Bank's National Accounts Data, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the Central Bank of Nigeria's Statistical Bulletin. The paired sample t-test was used to assess the data. The outcome showed that, except the variable of human development index, which showed a significant difference between the periods before and after the implementation of the treasury single account policy, economic development indicators (gini coefficient and poverty rate) did not differ significantly between the periods before and after the policy. Consequently, the analysis found that the Treasury Single Using the poverty rate and Gini coefficient as stand-ins for economic development, account policy had no discernible effect on the Nigerian economy. Additionally, it was determined that the Treasury Single Account Policy had a major influence on Nigeria's economic development using the Human Development Index as a proxy for economic progress. Therefore, it was advised that government programs for human development be maintained and improved, particularly in the fields of health and education.

THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES ON THE LIVING STANDARDS OF SRI LANKAN CITIZENS

The purpose of this study is to discover and analyze the impact of foreign exchange reserves on the living standards of Sri Lankan citizens. Export income, foreign debt, foreign remittances, and foreign reserves are employed as explanatory variables concerning Sri Lanka’s current crisis condition. The most widely used indicator of a country's standard of living is its gross national income (GNI) per capita, in this study the researcher primarily focuses on the income approach determinants of foreign reserves inflow to Sri Lanka. Therefore, to measure Sri Lankan citizens' living standards, the researcher employed the gross national income (GNI) per capita. The analysis utilizes data from 2001 to 2021 from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB). The unit-root test, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were employed to assess the time-series data. EViews version 9 statistical software was used to screen secondary quantitative data and analyze the study’s findings. The test results demonstrated that export income, foreign debt, and foreign reserves had a positive and significant effect on Sri Lankan citizens’ living standards, however, foreign remittances have no significant effect on Sri Lankan citizens’ living standards. It was a timely matter that drove the researcher to investigate how the lack of foreign reserves has an impact on the living standards of Sri Lankan citizens. This study is expected to help decision-makers manage forex reserves more efficiently and effectively, and more crucially, to raise the living standards of Sri Lankans. As a result, implementing a proper management system for foreign reserves will be a better source for employing the reserves to improve the country’s financial stability. Furthermore, the findings of this study will be helpful to the government in addressing present loopholes in the economy. This study will be a valuable source of direction for future scholars as they handle topical issues in emerging countries' economies associated with key eras. Researchers will profit from this research as well; as a result, they will be able to widen the existing empirical and theoretical review on the foreign reserves of developing countries such as Sri Lanka and their impact on citizens' living standards.

From Editor-in-Chief’s Keyboard

From Editor-in-Chief’s Keyboard
 If we are still alive today, we should be thankful to our almighty God for all the good things and magnificent creation. Regarding the current situation, there are numerous local and worldwide issues that cause us concern. Money laundering, human trafficking, a severe economic crisis, extreme climate change, flood disasters, and the threat of terrorism are all issues that must be addressed. 
 All of these problems have a big effect on politics, the economy, society, and security at the national, regional, and international levels. This September's issue is exceptional for our team since it is the first time in our journal's history that intriguing topics are included in a special section. HOT AND CONTROVERSIAL!!!! Fighter or Terrorist??? That’s the essence of article by Sadri (page 11-23). While this may be a touchy subject for some, this research is primarily concerned with how effectively organisations can curb radicalism. Even though it was anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic would exacerbate the effects of terrorism in some locations, it appears that the pandemic has had a negligible effect on terrorism in 2020 and 2021.
 To avoid this, people and institutions need to work together on solutions to systemic, cross-sectoral problems, including poor mental health, disillusionment with government, and unemployment. In order to combat the rising feelings of anger and disillusionment among people, it would be beneficial to adopt creative program that attempt to strengthen the capabilities for the sake of the future. Also, there are several articles on tourist management that will shed light on the significance of the tourism business to a country's GDP and standard of living.
 Let's take some time to read this month's edition and have fun doing it. The next edition of the publication will feature work from me and my team that is both timely and engaging.
 Editor-in-ChiefAssoc. Prof. Dr. Ilham Sentosa

Study of domestic wastewater treatment using Moringa oleifera coagulant coupled with vertical flow constructed wetland in Kibera Slum, Kenya.

The domestic wastewater collection and treatment rate of Nairobi, Kenya are not high. The wastewater in the Kibera slum on the outskirts of the city that is directly discharged to the environment and pollution of the surrounding water body is a serious problem. This paper takes the domestic wastewater in the slum area as the research objective and researches on the wastewater characteristics, collection, and treatment, therefore providing the reference for the wastewater collection and treatment technology in the region. In this paper, domestic wastewater in the Kibera slum of Nairobi was sampled and investigated to find out the characteristics of wastewater discharged, the way of discharge of the household wastewater, and the management in this area. The study shows that there are differences in the concentration of main pollutants such as nutrients and organic matter in the wastewater from the household discharged to the residential river in the slum area. The domestic wastewater in this slum area contained a high concentration of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and other organics, total suspended solids (TSS), total coliforms and color, and with no treatment methods. Therefore, economic and feasible treatment technology needs to be developed. A pilot study was conducted on the treatment of domestic wastewater in the slum area by combining the seed extract of the natural plant Moringa oleifera as a coagulant and vertical flow constructed wetland (VFCW) at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. The VFCW system was efficient in chemical oxygen demand (COD), TSS, turbidity, total phosphorus (TP), and phosphates (PO4-P) removal, but the removal efficiency of nitrogen (total nitrogen (TN), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N), and nitrate (NO3-N)) was poor, and the effluent pH reached the required discharge country's standard of the water. The average removal efficiencies for COD (79.99%), TSS (86.84%), turbidity (87.35%), TP (61.29%), PO4-P (65.66%), TN (14.11%), NH4-N (18.17%), and NO3-N (93%) were achieved by the treatment system. Furthermore, the removal efficiencies of pollutants such as TP, PO4-P, TN, and NH4-N were carried out by using the fruit extract of Moringa oleifera as raw material and zeolite as an auxiliary agent. The comprehensive effect of zeolite combined with VFCW and natural coagulant in the treatment of domestic wastewater was investigated. The COD removal efficiency was increased by (9%). TN by (46%), NH4-N by (67%), TP by (19%), and turbidity improved by (9%). In short, the domestic wastewater in the Kibera slum was collected and pretreated with natural plant coagulant, and then purified by vertical flow constructed wetland, which can not only significantly reduce the pollutant concentration but also basically meet the discharge standards. It is a low-cost sewage treatment technology suitable for poor areas.

Randomized controlled pilot of a group antenatal care model and the sociodemographic factors associated with pregnancy-related empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundThe links between empowerment and a number of health-related outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa have been documented, but empowerment related to pregnancy is under-investigated. Antenatal care (ANC) is the entry point into the healthcare system for most women, so it is important to understand how ANC affects aspects of women’s sense of control over their pregnancy. We compare pregnancy-related empowerment for women randomly assigned to the standard of care versus CenteringPregnancy-based group ANC (intervention) in two sub-Saharan countries, Malawi and Tanzania.MethodsPregnant women in Malawi (n = 112) and Tanzania (n = 110) were recruited into a pilot study and randomized to individual ANC or group ANC. Retention at late pregnancy was 81% in Malawi and 95% in Tanzania. In both countries, individual ANC, termed focused antenatal care (FANC), is the standard of care. FANC recommends four ANC visits plus a 6-week post-birth visit and is implemented following the country's standard of care. In group ANC, each contact included self- and midwife-assessments in group space and 90 minutes of interactive health promotion. The number of contacts was the same for both study conditions. We measured pregnancy-related empowerment in late pregnancy using the Pregnancy-Related Empowerment Scale (PRES). Independent samples t-tests and multiple linear regressions were employed to assess whether group ANC led to higher PRES scores than individual ANC and to investigate other sociodemographic factors related to pregnancy-related empowerment.ResultsIn Malawi, women in group ANC had higher PRES scores than those in individual ANC. Type of care was a significant predictor of PRES and explained 67% of the variation. This was not so in Tanzania; PRES scores were similar for both types of care. Predictive models including sociodemographic variables showed religion as a potential moderator of treatment effect in Tanzania. Muslim women in group ANC had a higher mean PRES score than those in individual ANC; a difference not observed among Christian women.ConclusionsGroup ANC empowers pregnant women in some contexts. More research is needed to identify the ways that models of ANC can affect pregnancy-related empowerment in addition to perinatal outcomes globally.

Perfil dos pacientes atendidos em um serviço de transporte aeromédico privado

Os serviços de transporte aeromédico exigem cada vez mais profissionais qualificados e especializados, em especial enfermeiros treinados e experientes na assistência a pacientes graves. Reconhecer o perfil dos pacientes aerorremovidos pode auxiliar o enfermeiro no conhecimento das tecnologias utilizadas e a realizar uma assistência especializada. Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo, descrito, transversal e quantitativo, a respeito dos atendimentos realizados em um serviço de transporte aeromédico privado. A metodologia utilizada foi a coleta de dados referentes a fichas de atendimentos, realizados entre os anos de 2006 e 2009, contendo as seguintes variáveis: regime da solicitação do transporte; motivo da solicitação de transporte; tipo de aeronave utilizada; sexo e idade dos pacientes; etiologia do agravo; cidade de destino do paciente aerorremovido e características dos hospitais de destino. Foram identificados 125 atendimentos, cuja principal clientela foi os pacientes do sexo masculino (65,6%) e os idosos (60%). Os agravos de etiologia clínica foram os que ocorreram em maior número (70,4%). No estudo, é predominante a solicitação particular (70,4%) e o principal motivo de solicitação é a transferência inter-hospitalar ou para hospital de maior complexidade (86,4%). Os voos foram executados em maior número em aeronaves de asa fixa (69,6%). A cidade de São Paulo foi o principal destino dos vôos (84%) e os hospitais privados receberam a maioria dos pacientes aerorremovidos (81,6%). O estudo demonstrou que o paciente atendido em um serviço de transporte aeromédico privado apresenta um perfil muito próprio, porém representativo se comparado ao padrão de morbimortalidade de nosso país.

Energy Business Cycles

We find that, when estimated, a two sector computable dynamic stochastic general equilibrium open economy model of the U.S. that formally admits energy into the production process can generate plausible parameter values that can be applied to deal with a broad range of economic issues. As a benchmark, we require that the model fits the data for output, real exchange rate, energy use, and consumption: output because it serves as a measure of a country's total income; real exchange rate because it serves as a determinant of a country's relative competitiveness; energy use because it serves as an indicator of special inputs into a country's production process; and consumption because it serves as a yardstick for evaluating a country's standard of living. Finally, we argue that this model, with appropriate extensions, some of which we also propose, can help future modelers to tackle other research questions.

Innovation and Productivity

AbstractA country's standard of living is largely governed by economic output per capita, which corresponds closely with output per worker (labour productivity). Sustained growth in productivity over the long term requires finding ways to invest that avoid diminishing returns and this invariably means innovation and new technology.

The Investment Rate of Return (IRR) to Tertiary Education in Turkey

Most scholars, professionals, parents, governments, and societies strongly believe that education, especially tertiary education, provides important economic and social benefits to everyone involved. Furthermore, tertiary education is recently considered as an important investment. Students usually think of higher education in more personal terms, therefore they tend to pay less attention to the broader societal benefits, however tertiary education received immediately after secondary school can have considerable positive influence in countries’ economic development, further business growth, expansion to international markets and increase in living standards. Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group 2010, said: “Improved learning leads to better jobs, greater productivity, and higher incomes in every society.”1 This paper examines the IRR on tertiary education to first degrees, master’s degrees, and PhDs in Turkey using previously published data. The purposes of this research are to study and identify whether or not increase in tertiary education leads to increase in wages. Knowledge and advanced skills are critical determinants of a country's economic growth and standard of living as learning outcomes are transformed into goods and services, greater institutional capacity, a more effective public sector, a stronger civil society, and a better investment climate2

International Labour Migration: Students Viewpoint

There are around 200 million people - about three percent of the world’s population living in a country not of their birth (Centre for Global Development (2008)). Economic systems that have failed to provide for people’s most basic survival needs, or that are simply unable to fulfil expectations of decent living standards, drive people to look outside their country of birth for a better life. The consequences of labour migration usually are assessed analysing migration theories. At present, there is no single, coherent theory of international migration, only a fragmented set of various theories. Scientists of various fields focus on slightly different but interrelated reasons for the decision to migrate. Economists emphasize that reasons leading to migration are motivated and sustained by three major types of influences: demand-pull factors in the destination area; supply-push factors in the origin area; network factors that link origin and destination areas. Sociologists describe a chain migration process: migration begets additional migration. The first person emigrating from the area sends information to those in the home country about jobs, housing, and schools in the new setting. Anthropologists emphasize changes in the standard of living and cultural reasons. First-hand accounts from new immigrants as well as media accounts of the country's standard of living entice people to immigrate to the new country for a better way of life. Psychologists describe importance of personality factors on migration decisions. Those who want to resettle in another country tend to be more work-oriented and to have higher achievement and power motivation, but lower affiliation motivation and family centrality, than those who do not want to leave their country of origin. Political scientists emphasize ethno political reasons. Countries may encourage emigration to ease ethnic conflict, or to establish presence in another country, by resettling particular ethnic groups voluntarily or involuntarily. Summarizing different migration theories and focus of various scientists, the authors of the paper present the model of decision making about migration. Based on this theoretical background empirical research was performed. Structured questionnaire survey was made in spring of 2010. 220 Lithuanian students participated in the poll. The analysis of empirical research showed that the main push and pull factors among surveyed Lithuanian students’ economic reasons were identified. 85 percent of respondents selected economic factor as the main reason for migration. Other factors affecting migration decision making were the following ones: political (32 percent), social-demographic (24 percent), cultural (23 percent) and demographical (15 percent). http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.5.971

The crowding-out effects of tobacco and alcohol where expenditure shares are low: Analyzing expenditure data for Taiwan

In this paper, we used data from the 2004 Survey of Family Income & Expenditure of Taiwan to show that the problem of the crowding-out effects of tobacco and alcohol in a country with low expenditure can still be serious. Most studies that have investigated this issue have focused on developing countries with a high expenditure share on tobacco or alcohol, and have often overlooked the effects in countries with a low expenditure on such goods. After controlling for the endogeneity of tobacco and alcohol expenditure, and the possibility that households with a zero expenditure on tobacco and alcohol may result from a corner solution rather than abstention, we found that the lowest income households are still most vulnerable to tobacco and alcohol expenditures despite an overall low expenditure in Taiwan. Even higher income households may suffer a lower standard of living due to such expenditure. In addition, some goods and services may be perceived differently by households with different levels of income and this may be caused by the difference in composition across broad expenditure categories. Our results suggest that the government ought to tackle the problem of smoking and drinking outside the realm of health, since these expenditures may harm the country's standard of living even when there is high income.

An alternative solution of the water shortage problem in Libya

In Libya there is a growing awareness of increasing demand for fresh water while fossil groundwater supply is limited. This situation of water supply has become more problematic with rapidly increasing population and low rainfall. Hence soon after the discovery of fresh groundwater in the deserts of southern Libya, the local authority has made huge efforts to address its water deficit problems, mainly through the implementation of “The Great Manmade River Project” to sustain its economy. Especially the agriculture sector exceeds its traditional supplies. The Libyan authority began to design and install the hydraulic infrastructure needed to withdraw and transport this fossil water to various demand sites along its Mediterranean coast where most of the population lives and where the water is used. There is an over-exploitation of fossil groundwater resources to meet the irrigation demands as a result of adapting a self-sufficing policy in food. Rapid development of agricultural activity, expansion of irrigated areas and over irrigation practices will lead to more depletion of water resources since most of the country's groundwater resources are non-renewable. The supply-driven approach for water management has demonstrated its inability to deliver a substantial degree of water sustainability on the national Libyan level. Despite the strenuous efforts made by the country, it still faces serious water deficits due to continuously increasing water demands beyond the limits of its available water resources. As pressure on water converges on the country's fossil water resources, an immediate reconsideration of agricultural water extractions is needed and appropriate actions have to be implemented in response to its huge consumption. This policy aims at rescuing the present water situation and at avoiding serious environmental and economical crises. Reorganisation of the water consumption pattern, to maintain the country's standard of living and to ensure the economical security for the future generation is drastically needed. This paper considers the country's water management that requires water policy reforms, with emphasis on supply and demand management measures and improvement of the legal and institutional provisions. This could be achieved by reviewing agricultural water policies in order to minimise some local deficits in water resources and to avoid water quality deterioration in the coastal areas. Developing additional non-conventional sources of water supply needs to be considered. This should be supported by creating authorised water institutions lead by a high-professional staff and enabling them in making the appropriate legislation and decisive measurements to allocate water among consumptive sectors as well as to ensure the protection of the environment.

The Inexorable and Mysterious Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment

This paper discusses the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. Although this tradeoff remains a necessary building block of business cycle theory, economists have yet to provide a completely satisfactory explanation for it. According to the consensus view among central bankers and monetary economists, a contractionary monetary shock raises unemployment, at least temporarily, and leads to a delayed and gradual fall in inflation. Standard dynamic models of price adjustment, however, cannot explain this pattern of responses. Reconciling the consensus view about the effects of monetary policy with models of price adjustment remains an outstanding puzzle for business cycle theorists. Several years ago I gave myself a peculiar assignment: I decided to try to summarise all of economics in ten simply stated principles. The purpose of this task was to introduce students to the economic way of thinking in the first chapter of my textbook Principles of Economics. I figured if God could boil all of moral philosophy down to ten commandments, I should be able to do much the same with economic science. Most of the ten principles I chose were microeconomic and hard to argue with. They involved the importance of tradeoffs, marginal analysis, the benefits of trade, market efficiency, market failure, and so on. I allocated the last three principles to macroeconomics. The first of these was 'A country's standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services', which I viewed as the foundation of all growth theory. The second was, 'Prices rise when the government prints too much money', which I took to be the essence of classical monetary theory. The last of my ten principles is the subject of today's lecture: 'Society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment'. Perhaps not surprisingly, this statement turned out to be controversial. When my publisher sent out the manuscript for review, a few readers objected

A Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson Model of Immigration and Capital Transfers

Given that the flow of immigrants from a developing country to an industrialized country increases with the gap in living standards, a welfare version of a Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson model is developed in which the equilibrium level of per capita utility in the developing country is some fixed fraction of that in the industrialized country. In searching for an optimal combination of immigration to the industrial country and capital transfer to the poorer country in order to raise that country's standard of living and reduce the number of emigrants, it is found that the international optimum is a corner solution with zero immigration and a positive capital transfer.

International R&D Spillovers between Industries in Canada and the United States, Social Rates of Return and Productivity Growth

Investment in research and development (R&D) affects a country's standard of living. Indeed, productivity growth depends on past as well as current R&D efforts (see Griliches 1988). A distinctive feature of R&D investment is that there are spillovers or externalities associated with this activity. A number of recent papers have shown the importance of domestic spillovers in generating productivity gains (see Nadiri 1993 for a survey). In a world with interrelated economies, a country's stock of knowledge depends on its own R&D investment, as well as the R&D efforts of other countries. This paper presents estimates of the productivity gains and the social rates of return to R&D investment associated with international spillovers between Canadian and U.S. manufacturing industries.

Produktiwiteitsverhoging: ’n bestuurswetenskaplike en prinsipiële beskouing

The pursuit of high productivity is not a goal in itself, but rather regulates the attempt to raise a country's standard of living. Since the standard of living is dependent on the relationship between the total output and input of all businesses, the productivity of a single business has a great influence. Increasing productivity is considered to be an extremely important management function. I f productivity is regarded as the measuring instrument of successful management, then the management process and, more specifically, management by objectives is the method for achieving this. It is management’s responsibility to create the necessary climate of productivity and increased productivity. The approach must be one which achieves a balance between task-orientation and people-orientation. Consequently the purpose and meaning of work should also be reconsidered. Work is not a goal in itself but must always be seen within the wider context of God’s cultural mandate to man. When everyone understands the meaning of work we will emerge from the so-called ‘reward psychosis’, and reward will be offered according to need and achievement. Reward and work fulfilment will lead to the creation of a work environment which is meaningful of the worker, which promotes increased productivity, and which allows self-actualization toflourish. Management is capable of creating and maintaining these circumstances which will increase productivity.

Made in America: Regaining the Productive Edge

What went wrong and how can America become second to none in industrial productivity? This long awaited study by a team of top notch MIT scientists and economists - the MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity - takes a hard look at the recurring weaknesses of American industry that are threatening the country's standard of living and its position in the world economy. Made in America identifies what is best and worth replicating in American industrial practice and sets out five national priorities for regaining the productive edge.Unlike other studies that prescribe macroeconomic cures, Made in America focuses on the reorganization and effective integration of human resources and new technologies within the firm as a principal driving force for long term growth in productivity.Made in America examines the relationship between human resources and technological change in detail and singles out the most significant productivity weaknesses from the myriad causes that are typically cited. These include shortA-time horizons and a preoccupation with the bottom line, outdated strategies that focus excessively on the domestic market, lack of cooperation within and among U.S. firms, neglect of human resources, technological failures in translating discoveries to products, and a mismatch between governmental actions and the needs of industry. Looking ahead Made in America asserts that industrial performance would improve substantially simply by building on what is best in U.S. industry. It describes representative systems of production that can serve as models of best industrial practice for niche producers, price competitive specialized producers, and flexible mass producers.Among the goals singled out as national priorities are the creation of a new economic citizenship that involves wellA-educated workers as active partners in the reproduction process, a new strategic focus on production, finding a better balance between cooperation and individualism, learning to live in an increasingly international economy, and making proper provision for the future both in terms of capital and human resources.The findings and goals of Made in America are based on such measures of productivity performance as product quality, innovativeness, time to market, and service in eight manufacturing sectors - semiconductors, computers, and office equipment; automobiles; steel; consumer electronics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals; textiles; machine tools; and commercial aircraft. These measures revealed a large gap between the best and average U.S. practice.Michael L. Dertouzos. is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of MIT's Laboratory of Computer Science. Robert M. Solow is Institute Professor of Economics, and Richard K. Lester is Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering,

Fire Sale on America?

The CBS Evening News reports that foreigners now hold over one trillion, five hundred billion U.S. dollars and assets. In 1988 alone, there were 307 foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, with a total value in excess of $55 billion. These numbers are the latest in a trend that suggests the United States is now more subject to the direction of other nations and their businesses. The country's standard of living continues to decline relative to that of our trading partners. The continued weakness of U.S. business and drop in the value of the dollar seem to be creating the “fire sale on America” that Senator Lloyd Bentsen warned of during the 1988 presidential campaign. As a nation, we are importing (buying) more than we are exporting (earning). As a consequence, we are selling U.S. business assets to finance our current consumer imports.

A Learning Skills and Counseling Model for Developing Countries

In some developing countries of the Third World, the top national priority is intensive recruitment of external technical industries in order to improve the country's standard of living. This effort has suffered somewhat, however, because of the lack of skilled workers in sufficient number to meet demand. Consequently, these nations have turned to their educational systems and sometimes outside expertise to train workers in sufficient quantity and quality as expeditiously as possible. One major but fairly common problem in this quest has been high illiteracy rates among the populace and few, if any, effective programs to ameliorate illiteracy. This article represents an effort to address both the problems of illiteracy and the counseling requirements of the national educational programs in a concerted manner. It presents a model that embodies the unique combination of multicultural counseling and learning skills development. Career counseling refers to services and activities provided to assist students to help themselves gain self-understanding, evaluate interests and abilities, and determine objectives. Career which is vital to this process, seems to enhance the relationship between work, and society. It strengthens the development of individuals.' There continues to be widespread confusion regarding the difference between vocational education and career education, and the relationship between the two. For purposes of this article,

Health as an investment in developing countries

The fact that improved health has an independent value for individuals implies that the health facilities available are an important item in the country's standard of living. At the same time, the availability of almost every other item of consumption including foodstuffs, housing, clothing, sanitation and educational facilities is relevant to health conditions. Improved health conditions should increase labour input and efficiency; they can in some circumstances also increase the acreage of cultivable land. The integration of health sector planning into a system of accelerating development may often confirm the belief that differences between the sound economic point of view and the bona fide humanitarian point of view are more apparent than real. In all events it will not be possible to ignore consistently either humanitarian or economic considerations ( Frederiksen, 1969) . The best way of ensuring health as an effective investment is to replace the older project-by-project approach to planning with integrated public investment planning, whereby health services and investments become integral parts of a multi-sectorial system for accelerating the development of the economy and society. Such integrated public investment plans start with individual projects which are combined into sector programmes and then into an investment plan for the public sector ( Waterston, 1969) . In this way, health would be associated closely with all other sector development and resources from the economic sector of the development budget would become available for the health sector. In the health sector much still has to be learned. Within the profession we have to be interested in health as well as disease. We have to be prepared to invest in health rather than continually to budget for disease. We have to develop communication with other disciplines and sciences, especially with the economist. As Klarman (1967) has shown, the problem of measurement still has to be tackled by both sides. It is for the economist, employing all of his traditional tools, plus those of the operations researcher and sociologist, to try to measure the value of the productive and consumption aspects of health services. It is for the epidemiologist and the clinical trial and survey to determine the effects produced by the investment in health. It is finally for the administrator to continue to strive for good balanced judgment in making decisions, especially when major elements of the cost-benefit calculations are missing, or when conflict exists between economic and health planning.