Museums, Computer History and Institutional Challenges

This purpose of this paper is to share the findings of a study which was conducted to figure out the views of principals of Teacher Training Institutions (TTIs) about existing leadership practices that are aligned with the needs and demands of 21st century requirements. The study also explored challenges that Principals encounter in making their institutes according to the vision of 21st century. The study was qualitative in nature and within this paradigm a phenomenological approached was used to collect data from the principals of public sector Teacher Training Institutions (TTIs). At present 27 TTIs are working in different cities of Sindh. Ten Principals of TTIs, 5 males and 5 females were selected using purposive sampling techniques. For data collection individual interviews were conducted. Thematic approach was used for data analyses. The themes emerged were personal challenges and institutional challenges. The findings of the study suggested that principals encounter personal and institutional challenges that are hurdle for them to meet the requirements of 21st century. These challenges included lack of facilities and resources such as internet facility, frequent break downs of electricity, absence of working computers and Science labs. Other challenges included teacher educators’ poor English language skills, low capacity in using ICT tools and low personal commitment. The study recommends to develop the capacity of principals and teacher educators in educational technology and educational research. The study also recommends to renovate computer and science labs of TTIs.

New Agricultural Frontiers in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone? Exploring Institutional Challenges for Wetland Management in the Eastern Province

The study aimed to explore school heads and teachers’ awareness of inclusive education and the institutional challenges in its implementation in the Alfonso Lista Districts 1 and 2, Philippines. Using a descriptive survey design with both quantitative and qualitative approaches, data were collected through questionnaires and validated through informal interviews. Findings revealed that both groups were knowledgeable and fully aware of inclusive education. School heads were more aware of the legal aspects, while teachers were knowledgeable about the pedagogical aspects of implementing inclusive education in real-life teaching contexts. Key challenges included limited functional transition programmes and insufficient teacher competencies in inclusivity, particularly content and pedagogical knowledge. The study recommends enhancing teaching strategies, providing proper orientation, training and information dissemination and strengthening teachers’ professional development through continuous learning and advanced studies.

Institutional challenges in reducing disaster risks in the remote city of Hindukush-Karakorum-Himalayan (HKH) region, Pakistan

The notion of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program which integrates language and content at one go could be challenging for language teachers as their expertise is only on the language, not the content. Consequently, it affects ESP teachers’ identity. This study takes a deeper look on a teacher’s personal experience teaching ESP that contributes to ESP teacher’s identity construction. It is a qualitative research using narratives as the approach, written records are taken as the main data. In the study, there are three participants in the research; two are ESP teachers and another is the researcher herself as she also involved in the teaching ESP. The study has revealed that the identity construction of ESP teachers is mainly built through two dimensions: students-related challenge and institutional challenge. To deal with students, teachers are no more as the primary source to knowledge; meanwhile, it is highly possible that students have more understanding than the teachers. To deal with institutional challenge, developing general English curriculum into more specific purposes is demanding for teachers. In addition, teaching ESP for more than one major in a semester adds to its complexity.

Digital and online dissemination of copyright works contributes in meaningful ways to the achievement of social inclusion and cultural diversity. This is because it provides a medium which affords a worldwide audience by projecting cultural heritage, promoting socio-economic development, supporting foreign direct investment and expansion of the Nigeria market. It is the aim of this paper to examine the role and challenges of the copyright institutions and enforcement agencies that prevent them from performing optimally. It is also the aim of the paper to examine: the impact of digital technology on copyrightable work; the adequacy of existing and emerging responses to the phenomenon and to what extent does the existing legal framework in Nigeria cater for the traditional as well as new technology paradigms, which give reason for an examination of existing legal regime under Nigeria’s copyright law. The paper situates the discourse in its proper context by undertaking: an examination of the powers, functions and challenges of the various copyright institutions and enforcement agencies in fighting infringement; the Nigeria Copyright Act—substantive provisions and the Nigeria digital and online dissemination of copyright works. The paper found out that digital technology has a strong impact on the attainment of these objectives, both in terms of opportunities for profitable exploitation, and as a challenge which exacerbates the problem of infringement. Therefore, the paper proposes that these issues need to be addressed through law reforms to address issues relevant to the right of copyright owners online by putting in place a suitable legal framework. Also necessary is logistic, technical support and creation of awareness levels of the implication and available options for right holders.

This special issue reveals pertinent academic discourses of 13 articles that had been presented in the 6th Regional Seminar on Higher Islamic Education (SeIPTI 2019), At Sultan Sharif Ali University, Brunei Darussalam. All articles connote within the themes of The Directions and Challenges of Regional Islamic Higher Education Institutions within the Modernization and Fourth Industrial Revolution. The articles presented and discussed in various angles of multi-discipline knowledge hence arrive at the same objectives to produce balance human being in accordance with Maqasid Syariah.

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens lives and livelihoods, and, with that, has created immediate challenges for institutions that serve affected communities. We focus on implications for local microfinance institutions in Pakistan, a country with a mature microfinance sector, serving a large number of households. The institutions serve populations poorly-served by traditional commercial banks, helping customers invest in microenterprises, save, and maintain liquidity. We report results from ‘rapid response’ phone surveys of about 1,000 microenterprise owners, a survey of about 200 microfinance loan officers, and interviews with regulators and senior representatives of microfinance institutions. We ran these surveys starting about a week after the country went into lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. We find that, on average, week-on-week sales and household income both fell by about 90%. Households’ primary immediate concern in early April became how to secure food. As a result, 70% of the sample of current microfinance borrowers reported that they could not repay their loans; loan officers anticipated a repayment rate of just 34% in April 2020. We build from the results to argue that COVID-19 represents a crisis for microfinance in low-income communities. It is also a chance to consider the future of microfinance, and we suggest insights for policy reform.

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens lives and livelihoods, and, with that, has created immediate challenges for institutions that serve affected communities. We focus on implications for local microfinance institutions in Pakistan, a country with a mature microfinance sector, serving a large number of households. The institutions serve populations poorly-served by traditional commercial banks, helping customers invest in microenterprises, save, and maintain liquidity. We report results from ‘rapid response’ phone surveys of about 1,000 microenterprise owners, a survey of about 200 microfinance loan officers, and interviews with regulators and senior representatives of microfinance institutions. We ran these surveys starting about a week after the country went into lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. We find that, on average, week-on-week sales and household income both fell by about 90%. Households’ primary immediate concern in early April became how to secure food. As a result, 70% of the sample of current microfinance borrowers reported that they could not repay their loans; loan officers anticipated a repayment rate of just 34% in April 2020. We build from the results to argue that COVID-19 represents a crisis for microfinance in low-income communities. It is also a chance to consider the future of microfinance, and we suggest insights for policy reform.

Undergraduate medical education, especially in the United States, is being shaped by an environment that is changing at an unprecedented pace, creating new challenges for institutions, faculty, and students. For medical education to adapt to the changing environment, influencing factors must be identified and categorized, allowing for the development of strategies that work within the new landscape. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) is a method to analyze the factors driving change. Here, we apply the VUCA framework to undergraduate medical education, highlighting key influencing factors including artificial intelligence, decentralized approaches to learning, expansion of medical schools, and new demands on faculty and students. The goal is to identify how these influences are impacting medical education allowing for creative and innovative strategies to be employed that mitigate disruptive forces and take advantage of new opportunities to the benefit all stakeholders.

Digital publishing is changing the way in which research, particularly in the humanities, is being undertaken and it offers a range of transformative possibilities and challenges to traditional disciplines and to the nature of the printed text. The technical manipulation of information and the construction of new content that can be customised, modified, disseminated, and accessed within a global, distributed network provide new opportunities for the humanities researcher. As a way of illustrating our argument, we discuss the Children's Literature Digital Resources (CLDR) project, with with we are involved, and explore a range of emerging new media and their impact on research in the humanities and education.

The title of this section is “Institutional and Educational Challenges.” Immediately we are faced with definitions of these terms: what institutions? Do we include not only academic institutions, but government laboratories and federal agencies? Changes in the interactions between organizations will become as important as the developments within institutions. What education? Do we mean only our graduate students or do we include other scientists, other disciplines, and even the general public? Should education be framed for a particular purpose or as an end in itself?

In the international trade arena, there has been a strong rhetoric against local content requirements (LCRs), characterising them as trade-distortive and protectionist measures that produce only inefficiencies. However, under certain circumstances, LCRs can have a central role in a countrys development process to the extent that they can potentially strengthen the domestic industrial base; create backward linkages; increase domestic value-addition in certain industries; and encourage the dissemination of knowledge and technology to the local economy. Despite this development dimension of LCRs, WTO Members policy space to implement them is reduced and the defences available under WTO law are extremely limited. Considering their potentially beneficial effects on countries development processes, WTO rules should not raise undue obstacles to the use of LCRs when they are genuinely associated with development goals and related societal concerns. Ultimately, it is widely accepted that trade is not an end in itself, but an instrument for development. In this scenario, the thesis investigates how WTO rules affecting LCRs could be interpreted to further the development objective and to what extent interpretation could mitigate the rigidness of rules that (i) were crafted in a time where mainstream economics regarded industrial policies - LCRs included - as highly inefficient and market distortive and therefore (ii) were idealised to restrict them. It concludes that panels and the Appellate Body have made use of interpretative tools that contribute to advancing the development dimension of WTO law. However, not necessarily the adjudicating bodies seize all the opportunities to further a development-oriented approach. Additionally, the thesis highlights the fact that interpretation of WTO agreements cannot be dissociated from institutional and political factors. The current institutional and political challenges of the WTO dispute settlement system and, more broadly, the multilateral system cast doubts on the feasibility of furthering a development-oriented approach to WTO rules applicable to LCRs. In particular, the current crisis of the Appellate Body caused by the political interference of the US and its strong criticism of alleged judicial activism on the part of this organ is a strong indicative that the current times are not conducive to further development in the interpretation of WTO law. In view of WTO rules prohibiting or restricting LCRs and also those institutional and political challenges, the thesis argues that there is limited space to further a development-oriented approach of WTO rules affecting LCRs without adding to or diminishing the rights and obligations of Members, contrary to the prohibition in Articles 3.2 and 9.2 of the DSU. A few opportunities, however, can still be seized by the WTO adjudicatory bodies Considering the limited scope for furthering a development-oriented interpretation, the thesis also suggests that it is necessary to review WTO rules affecting LCRs to reflect a new compromise among WTO Members on the issue. Given current political and economic scenarios, there may be some room to rediscuss LCRs in WTO law, especially because in a context of crisis, deepened by the coronavirus pandemic, WTO Members may be more willing than ever to make use of local content policies to protect their domestic economy and local jobs. Negotiations on new rules on LCRs would prevent that WTO adjudicating bodies have to deal with such sensitive issue without clearer parameters in WTO agreements, being accused of being judicially activist.

Technology policies, and economic policies more generally, are means by which countries can maintain or increase their autonomy within the international political economy. Concretely, autonomy in this sense refers to a country's capacity to adapt to or insulate domestic industry from external shifts. An important component of this capacity for more advanced developing countries is the ability to sustain technological upgrading, independent of foreign control. This chapter explores three propositions. One is that, owing to increasingly international production structures, the range of growth-promoting technology strategies has narrowed for the developing countries of Southeast Asia over the past decade or so. The second is that the institutional and political challenges of pursuing indigenous technological development and industrial upgrading within the constraints of global production structures are significant. Finally, both policy strategies as well as institutional and political challenges surrounding industrial upgrading have been impacted by the region's recent financial crisis, albeit in different ways and to differing degrees. Policy decisions made by political and economic elites have had an important influence on indigenous technological upgrading in Southeast Asia. The significance of such decisions is reflected in the ways in which the three countries explored in this chapter — Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand — differ with regard to indigenous technological capacities.

Performing CSR programs in developing countries has distinctive challenges form their practices in developed countries. The majority of companies face the higher expectation of public to the positive social change of their CSR program, particularly in form of community development. Many companies, both multinational as well as local companies, have tried challenge themselves to make the social innovation through their CSR initiatives. However this is not easy. The companies are always in dilemma of how to achieve better company performance with confronting to the institutional aspects as well as challenged by the culture of the local communities where the CSRs are conducted. This chapter tries to elaborate the institutional and cultural challenges of CSR implementation in Indonesia.