Number of results to display per page
Search Results
542. Evaluation of Fadcanic's teacher training program in Nicaragua's Southern autonomous region of the Atlantic Coast
- Author:
- Axel Borchgrevink and Anníbal Ramírez Rodrígues
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Since 1997, FADCANIC has been implementing a training program for unqualified teachers working in primary schools of Nicaragua's Southern autonomous region of the Atlantic Coast. SAIH, the Norwegian NGO that has been funding this program, has commissioned the present evaluation. It concludes that the program has had a significant impact in terms of improving education in the region through addressing one of the most urgent needs of the educational sector, namely teacher qualifications. However, the evaluation also points out a number of other limitations for the sector, including lack of resources for materials, physical infrastructure and reasonable teacher salaries, as well as general social problems of the region. It recommends that the program is continued, and that even greater emphasis is put upon creating a teacher education appropriate to the multilingual and -cultural reality.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Norway, Central America, and Nicaragua
543. Industrial heterogeneity of the ICT industry—An exploratory survey on Norwegian firms
- Author:
- Arne Melchior
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The paper presents evidence from a limited survey undertaken among Norwegian ICT firms in 2001, supplemented with other statistical evidence. Corresponding to the limited production of ICT hardware in Norway, the hardware firms covered by the survey were dominated by sales outlets of foreign firms. While these firms are on average small and with a modest skill requirement, some of them are larger and more skill-intensive due to the provision of related software and services. Within-firm learning, higher education as well as sector- and industry-wide knowledge externalities generally matter to IT firms. Education is ranked third, and is more important for software and services than for hardware. Knowledge externalities are less important for foreign-owned firms. 2/3 of the firms surveyed produce various combinations of hardware, software and services, with software+services as the most frequent combination, composed by firms that are on average clearly larger than the sample average. Such firms rely more on learning within the firms and less on sectorwide knowledge externalities than other IT firms. Adaptation of products to individual customers is important for many IT goods, and implies that e.g. imported software frequently generates substantial domestic employment in related services. The survey tentatively suggests that such complementarities in production may be an important aspect of IT production. Norwegian IT exports are generally small, but pure software producers in the sample had larger exports.
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Norway
544. Approaching Education from a Good Governance Perspective: USAID Resource Guide for Joint DG/Education Programs
- Publication Date:
- 08-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- This resource guide is a joint effort of USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance and Office of Education, responding to the need to promote greater policy and program linkages between the Agency's democracy and governance (DG) and education sectors. The specific goals of this DG and education resource guide are to raise awareness among education sector professionals at USAID about the role of the DG sector in shaping education policies and programs; to raise awareness among USAID DG professionals about education as an important DG issue; and to provide frameworks and best practice examples to help guide joint programming among USAID education and DG staff.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Education, and Government
545. Materiales para la Docencia: El Marco Conceptual B á sico de la Disciplina de las Relaciones Internacionales
- Author:
- Arturo Borja Tamayo
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
- Abstract:
- This working paper provides a discussion of the basic conceptual framework of the discipline of international relations. It is designed to support the teaching of I.R. in Spanish, and is part of an introductory textbook the author is currently preparing. The first section deals with the concept of the international system, explaining the different meanings of anarchy and order in both international and domestic politics. Next, historical examples are used to explore the three levels of analysis: the individual and the decision-making process; the political units; and the systemic level. The last section deals with the various actors in international politics. Throughout the paper, some of the conceptual differences between the two dominant approaches of the discipline, realism and liberalism, are identified.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Education, and Politics
546. The Interpretation of Meaning in Social Sciences
- Author:
- Farid Kahhat
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
- Abstract:
- This article presents in a relatively brief but comprehensive way the constitutive elements of an interpretive approach towards social sciences. It explains why interpretive frameworks constitute unavoidable screens that sift our cognitive appropriation of the world, and how metaphors (understood as a distinctive way of achieving insight) can provide their ordering principles. It further explains in what sense social intercourse is a meaning creating process, and why the interpretation of those meanings should be the main purpose of social sciences.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, and Education
547. Is the Brain Drain an Unmitigated Blessing?
- Author:
- Riccardo Faini
- Publication Date:
- 09-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Increasingly, immigration policies tend to favour the entry of skilled workers, raising substantial concerns among sending countries. The 'revisionist' approach to the analysis of the brain drain holds that such concerns are largely unwarranted. First, sustained migratory flows may be associated with an equally large flow of remittances. Second, migrants may return home after having acquired a set of productive skills. Finally, the ability to migrate abroad may boost the incentive to acquire skills by home residents.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, and Migration
548. Reading, Writing and Reconciliation: Educational Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Author:
- Valery Perry
- Publication Date:
- 09-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues
- Abstract:
- The post-war reconstruction and state-building process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been complex, with priorities changing as the country gradually normalizes and donor interests evolve. In mid-2002 the international community in BiH began a significant effort to modernize and reform BiH's education system to better prepare the country's youth to play productive social, economic and political roles in the future. Although educational reform gained significant attention in 2002, reforms efforts have been occurring at a variety of levels since 1996.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Development, Education, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Eastern Europe
549. Youth in Central Asia: Losing the New Generation
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- More international involvement is needed in all spheres of youth activity in Central Asia, where around half the population is under 30. In a world where many people expect progress with each generation, most of the young in this region are worse off than their parents. They have higher rates of illiteracy, unemployment, poor health, and drug use and are more likely to be victims or perpetrators of violence. Few regions have seen such sharp declines in the welfare of their youth, and the combination of declining living standards with a demographic bulge brings increased risks of political instability and conflict. Current trends must be reversed if the region is to avoid more serious economic and political problems.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Demographics, Economics, Education, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia
550. A Comparison of Military and Civilian Approaches
- Author:
- Maria D. Montilla and Carol J. De Vita
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- New information on early childhood learning and increasing demand for child care services have placed a spotlight on the need to improve the quality of early education and care in America. Research on brain development and learning has shown the importance of early education for young children (Shonkoff and Phillips 2000). Surveys of child care settings have documented the mediocre to poor quality of many of our child care programs (Helburn and Bergmann 2002). Mothers who work outside the home report that child care is a critical factor in their lives, and welfare reforms are intrinsically linked to the availability of child care services. While almost everyone agrees that something needs to be done, there is less agreement on how to do it.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Civil Society, and Education
- Political Geography:
- United States