Non-formal Schools Research Articles

Visitas guiadas ao Museu Nacional: interações e impressões de estudantes da Educação Básica

Este trabalho envolve o planejamento, execução e avaliação de visitas guiadas ao Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, por parte de alunos da rede pública do município do Rio de Janeiro. O referencial teórico considera o Modelo de John Falk, com seus aspectos pessoal, físico e sociocultural como facilitadores da aprendizagem em museus. O principal objetivo consistiu em analisar as visitas dos estudantes ao museu quanto à aprendizagem, motivação e ganhos afetivos. Procurou-se, também, estabelecer o Museu Nacional como um espaço para a elaboração de aulas não formais de química. Questionários foram aplicados antes, durante e depois das visitas. Os resultados obtidos permitiram concluir que o procedimento e a dinâmica desenvolvidos proporcionaram ganhos afetivos e cognitivos aos alunos visitantes, e que o contexto físico do Museu Nacional favorece a elaboração de aulas não formais de química, sobretudo para os alunos de nível Médio.

Revisiting a student-oriented curriculum in the Nigerian secondary school system

The increasing gap between what students learn and what they remember has agitated the minds of educators in recent times. The apparent gap is that teaching tends to be more theoretical than practical. For instance an apparent absence of relevant instructional materials, skilled vocational education personnel and the current lack of awareness on the part of policy makers on the advantages of pragmatic education, constitute current obstacles to the actualisation of pragmatic student-oriented secondary school education curriculum in Nigeria. However, this paper therefore, describes methods by which secondary school education can be made more functional through the introduction of more practical learning schemes which shall ultimately equip graduates with revenue generating and life skills. Fifty teachers and 150 students were randomly selected for the study from formal and non-formal secondary schools in Calabar Metropolis and Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State of Nigeria. Ex-post facto design was adopted. A 16 item questionnaire constructed on a modified four-point Likert-type scale was used for data collection. The data was analysed using simple percentages, independent t-test and a One-way analysis of variance. The findings revealed that, the schools lack adequate instructional materials and adequately trained vocational education teachers. Based on this, it was recommended among others, that a student-oriented curriculum be implemented in line with the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education For All (EFA) and Universal Basic Education (UBE). Also more practical skills-oriented education and vocational education teachers should be employed to train the students on the development of functional literacy skills.

School Access, Resources, and Learning Outcomes: Evidence from a Non-Formal School Program in Bangladesh

This study reports evidence from an unusual policy intervention – The Reaching Out of School Children (ROSC) project – in Bangladesh where school grants and education allowances are offered to attract hard-to-reach children to schools comprised of a single teacher and a classroom. The operating unit cost of these schools is a fraction of that of formal primary schools. We use panel data to investigate whether ROSC schools are effective in raising enrolment and learning outcomes. Our findings suggest that there is a modest impact on school participation: ROSC schools increase enrolment probability between 9 and 18% for children in the two age cohorts 6-8 and 6-10. They perform as well as non-ROSC schools in terms of raising test scores, and even have positive impacts on academically stronger students. There is also strong evidence of positive externalities on non-ROSC schools in program areas. These results point to the effectiveness of a new model of non-formal primary schools that can be replicated in similar settings.

An Evaluation of Nomadic Education Programme in Nigeria

The global consensus is that education is a process that helps the whole human being, physically,mentally morally, socially and technologically. This enables one to function in any environment in whichone may find oneself. Education also performs a major role in equipping the individual with the skillsand knowledge which would help to transform any economy. Thus, it is the greatest investment that anynation can make for the quick development of its economic, political, sociological and humanresources. Believing that education is the cornerstone for national development, Nigeria has adaptededucation as the "principal instrument par excellence" for effective national development. Herphilosophy of education is based on the integration of the individual into sound and effective citizenshipwith equal educational opportunities at all levels through the formal and non-formal school system. Moreimportantly, the government of Nigeria believes that the provision of functional education is the primarymeans of upgrading the socioeconomic condition of the rural population. Such rural populations,particularly the nomadic pastoralists and the migrant fishermen are difficult to educate. This is reflectedby their participation in existing formal and non-formal education programmes which are abysmallylow; their literacy rate ranged between 0.2% and 2.0% (Tahir, 2003).

Prevalence of intestinal worm infections among primary school children in Nairobi City, kenyA.

The main objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of total, single and multiple intestinal worm infections among the primary school children in Nairobi City. A cross-sectional descriptive study was used to determine the status of intestinal worm infections whose subjects were drawn from eight city administrative divisions. Proportional random sampling method to select forty five (45) schools out of 320 public, private and non-formal schools was used. Using the school enrolment register for standard 3 and 4, fifty (50) pupils per school were selected to participate in the study. Quantitative data from the study subjects were collected by use of a structured questionnaire. In addition, stool specimens were collected from each study subject and examined by Kato-Katz laboratory method. The four intestinal worms investigated constituted a total prevalence of 12.9%. This prevalence was found to be lower than that in two other previous studies. A. lumbricoides had the highest prevalence and S. mansoni had the lowest. Prevalence of single worm infections constituted 8.6% of the total prevalence. Differences in prevalence between males and females were observed only with respect to T. trichiura and hookworm species. Fourteen to sixteen (14-16) and 11-13 years of age groups had the highest total prevalence of 47% and 30.6% respectively. Differences in prevalence were not found among the school categories with exception of T. trichiura infections. Prevalence of total, single ahd multiple infections showed a downward trend when compared to the previous studies with Ascaris lumbricoides persisting with the highest prevalence.

Informality of teaching and learning in nonformal schools: socio-cultural processes as mesosystems of student development

The flexible environment of nonformal primary schools in a community context in Bangladesh facilitates the individual development of young people who would otherwise be excluded from the school system. This paper aims to explore the features of institutional and wider context which support this nonformal learning environment, as well as contrasting it with those features which create a very different and far less flexible environment in formal high schools. The paper draws on a five-year longitudinal study of students making the transition from nonformal primary to formal high school using ecological systems theory as a framework from two geographical sites in Bangladesh. Data suggests that children's learning is facilitated by the interlinked contexts of nonformal school and family/community. In contrast, the separation of formal high school from family and community appears to contribute to early dropout. This paper raises some questions worthy of further research and will contribute to the emerging debate about nonformal education and its impact on future educational development for achieving millennium development goals (MDGs).

What explains between-school differences in rates of smoking?

BackgroundSchools have the potential to influence their pupils' behaviour through the school's social organisation and culture (non-formal school characteristics), as well as through the formal curriculum. This paper examines whether these school characteristics (which include a measure of quality of social relationships) can account for school differences in smoking rates.MethodsThis study uses a longitudinal survey involving 5,092 pupils in 24 Scottish schools. Pupils' smoking (at age 15/16), cognitive measures, attitude to school and pupils' rating of teacher pupil relationships (at age 13/14) were linked to school level data comprising teacher assessed quality of pupil-staff relationships, school level deprivation, staying on rates and attendance. Analysis involved multi-level modelling.ResultsOverall, 25% of males and 39% of females reported smoking, with rates by school ranging from 8% to 33% for males and from 28% to 49% for females. When individual socio-economic and socio-cultural factors were controlled for there was still a large school effect for males and a smaller (but correlated) school effect for females at 15/16 years. For girls their school effect was explained by their rating of teacher-pupil relationships and attitude to school. These variables were also significant in predicting smoking among boys. However, the school effect for boys was most radically attenuated and became insignificant when the interaction between poor quality of teacher – pupil relationships and school level affluence was fitted, explaining 82% of the variance between schools. In addition, researchers' rating of the schools' focus on caring and inclusiveness was also significantly associated with both male and female smoking rates.ConclusionSchool-level characteristics have an impact on male and female pupils' rates of smoking up to 15/16 years of age. The size of the school effect is greater for males at this age. The social environment of schools, in particular the quality of teacher-pupil relationships, pupils' attitude to school and the school's focus on caring and inclusiveness, can influence both boys' and girls' smoking. This provides support for the school-wide or "Health Promoting School" approach to smoking prevention.

Transition from nonformal schools: learning through photo elicitation in educational fieldwork in Bangladesh

Transition between schools often raises difficulties for young people and their families. In this study of transition from nonformal primary to formal high schools in Bangladesh, difficulties include not only making new relationships and adapting to new norms, but adjusting to a different approach to educating disadvantaged people. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory is used as an interpretive framework to explore pupils' school and learning experiences; this theoretical framework attends to the significance of several levels of the context to youth development. Images are employed in a research process where formal high school students made connections with their past experiences. Images of their nonformal primary school are found to evoke strong feelings and concrete memories which illuminate the many dimensions of the challenge of transition.

Teacher Absence in India: A Snapshot

Twenty-five percent of teachers were absent from school, and only about half were teaching, during unannounced visits to a nationally representative sample of government primary schools in India. Absence rates varied from 15% in Maharashtra to 42% in Jharkhand, with higher rates concentrated in the poorer states. We do not find that higher pay is associated with lower absence. Older teachers, more educated teachers, and head teachers are all paid more but are also more frequently absent; contract teachers are paid much less than regular teachers but have similar absence rates; and although relative teacher salaries are higher in poorer states, absence rates are also higher. Teacher absence is more correlated with daily incentives to attend work: teachers are less likely to be absent at schools that have been inspected recently, that have better infrastructure, and that are closer to a paved road. We find little evidence that attempting to strengthen local community ties will reduce absence. Teachers from the local area have similar absence rates as teachers from outside the community. Locally controlled nonformal schools have slightly higher absence rates than schools run by the state government. The existence of a PTA is not correlated with lower absence. Private-school teachers are only slightly less likely to be absent than public-school teachers in general, but are 8 percentage points less likely to be absent than public-school teachers in the same village. (JEL: O15, I21, H41, H52)

Enrolment at primary level: gender difference disappears in Bangladesh

In the recent past, there have been a number of new initiatives to improve the access to primary education in many developing countries. Such initiatives, which came from the public, private and non-governmental (NGO) sectors, have resulted in improved performance in various efficiency indicators. This paper reports results from a nationwide study in Bangladesh on the levels and changes in enrolment pattern of children at the primary level. The gross enrolment ratio has reached 107% and the net enrolment rate 77%. Gender gap has disappeared; in fact girls have surpassed boys! However, the increase in enrolment taking place is not at the desired speed; it is less than one percentage point per year. The government is still the major provider of primary education with two-thirds of all enrolments, but non-formal schools run by NGOs also have important contributions to the positive changes that are taking place in Bangladesh.

Health knowledge of rural Bangladeshi children: Does BRAC's non-formal schools programme have any impact?

This paper explores the impact of the non-formal primary education programme of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) on raising health knowl edge of rural Bangladeshi children. Three groups of children — graduates of the BRAC programme, formal school learners and children who never went to school —were assessed with an instrument containing six health knowledge items. A sample of 720 children, equally distributed by study groups and sex, was randomly selected. Data were collected from five areas where a socio-demographic surveillance system was in operation. This study reveals that the Programme graduates were more likely to have higher levels of health knowledge than the children of the other two groups. The impact of the Programme may be due to its extra emphasis on enhancing the positive influence of education in the lives of the rural population.