This is a qualitative study to explore the procedures on contractual payment terms of Newmont Ghana as mining companies procure their goods and services through contractors/suppliers. Interviews were conducted with the three Contracts Administrators and complemented with archival records. The data analysis was inductive using thematic analysis from a constructivist viewpoint. The result reveals that contract requests, negotiations and evaluation were the bases for awarding a contract. The challenges have its root in non-compliance and communications gaps in the processes and procedures on contractual payment terms. The study concludes that there is a comprehensive laid-down procedure for how Newmont Ghana arrives at its payment terms. The study proposes that there must be effective coordination and collaboration between the Contracts department and the accounts payable office internally while externally Newmont must improve its supplier relationship management through best practices on account payables. Lessons learned with the prescription of four generic points to improve contractual payment terms of any organisation. This is one of the very few papers of a procedural study on contractual payment terms of contractors in the mining industry of Ghana using in-depth interviews and documentation reviews.

Teenage pregnancy continues to pose a significant threat to the educational development of young girls in many communities in Ghana.This study explores the role of school leaders and school-level policies in mitigating the effects of teenage pregnancy on the academic performance and progression of Senior High School girls in the Northern Region of Ghana.The study was guided by a case study design and a mixed-method approach using both quantitative and qualitative data.One hundred and ten (110) respondents were selected using simple random and purposive sampling techniques.The findings indicate that teenage pregnancy has negative effects on school attendance, academic achievement, and emotional stability.In addition, it also affects social relationships among pregnant teenagers, their parents, and teachers.The study highlights the critical need for quality school leadership and strong school policy, for example, integrated sex education programs, and promotion of preventive and proactive measures to delay early sexual engagement among students.These interventions are enormously important in the face of the academic and social challenges posed by teenage pregnancy in senior high schools in the region.

Ensuring quality in higher education hinges on robust teacher professional development. A crucial aspect of this development is the cultivation of teachers’ disposition towards lifelong learning. Given the growing importance of lifelong learning on continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers, this SDG-driven research was conducted to determine whether lifelong learning tendencies (LLTs) are significant predictors of teachers’ engagement in CPD. Using the revised LLTs Scale of Diker-Coskun, the lifelong learning tendencies of 244 full-time faculty members from public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Province of Camarines Sur were calculated. The computed LLTs were analyzed using logistic ordinal regression to see if they influence teacher engagement in various aspects of CPD. Subsequent data analysis revealed that faculty members exhibit remarkably strong lifelong learning tendencies along with motivation, persistence, self-learning regulation, and curiosity. In terms of CPD engagement, while a significant majority participate actively in continuing education and career-related training, their engagement with professional organizations appears lower. Further, the predictive influence of LLTs on CPD was found to be contingent upon specific aspects of professional development. Drawing on the insights gained from these findings, a lifelong learning framework specifically tailored to the needs and contexts of HEIs in the Province of Camarines Sur was made.

The primary goal of this study is to analyze the present expansion of neighborhood cafes in Baao, Camarines Sur, to provide a foundation for developing a small business management training manual for industry participants. The purpose of the study was also to evaluate the elements that influence local cafe businesses' ability to grow and maintain their market share, compete with low prices, prepare financially, retain customers, and retain employees. The data collected were excerpts from semi-structured interviews and reviews of publicly available data. Hence, this study generated useful data and revealed potential strategies to drive the local cafe business’ new sustainable business programs and policies relative to their growth. The qualified respondents of the study are the business owners / co-owners and operations heads of local cafe businesses in Baao, Camarines Sur. The local cafe businesses in Baao, Camarines Sur, had similar struggles when crafting a set business strategy guide that they could use as a basis for growing their business. There were also challenges when battling competitor pricing and staying competitive. There were also no strategies to increase and develop customer and employee retention. An action plan was also proposed to foster sustainable business best practices for the growth of the local cafe businesses in Baao, Camarines Sur. The researcher took observations to make a comprehensive small business management training manual to help small business owners formally manage their business and improve it. It was also imperative that that manual be distributed and discussed to the beneficiaries through a comprehensive training program.

This phenomenological study sought an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of people living with breast cancer within the context of their day-to-day lives and the emotional burden brought by the disease and analyzed the data using phenomenological methods. A purposive sampling method was used to determine the number of required participants by interviewing women with breast cancer who will meet the inclusion criteria until the data are saturated and no new topics are generated. A total of six (6) women with breast cancer were interviewed. There are two major themes that emerged and describe the lived experiences among patients with breast cancer. These were varied views of people regarding breast cancer and the importance of the support group to a person, especially in overcoming the challenges and difficulties as they go along their journey of beating breast cancer. In conclusion, by using an in-depth interview, this study found out that the experiences of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer have completed the treatment and some have recurrence and ongoing treatment. Also, there is support received from her family, friends, and co-members, which helps them to overcome and cope with stress, especially the treatment. Through early detection, it plays a vital role in managing Breast Cancer. With proper information dissemination and awareness with regards to breast cancer, this could prevent it from late detection, and early management. However, with regard to early detection, they didn’t seek immediate care; rather, they preferred to self-medicate and seek after it worsens.

This mixed-method approach of the study explores the learning outcomes, topics, and assessment methods of Purposive Communication instructional materials in the World Englishes context. Also, it determines the suggestions of Purposive Communication lecturers/instructors in integrating the course into World Englishes. Through Google form, 72 respondents took part in the study. They are all language teachers and are currently handling Purposive Communication in the Philippines' Private/Public Higher Education Institution. The results showed that the respondents are aware of World Englishes concepts and are practicing those concepts in their classroom. However, they have suggestions to publishers/authors of Purposive Communication to integrate other varieties of Englishes in each topic. The researcher suggested that other language courses in the Philippines be evaluated to form a holistic paradigm of World Englishes in the Philippine curriculum.

This study used the descriptive-correlational research method to determine the medication adherence of school personnel of select public schools in Tigaon, Camarines Sur. The respondents include 213 school personnel from public secondary schools of Tigaon, Camarines Sur. The data collected were classified and tabulated systematically and statistically treated using various statistical tools. The study concluded that most of the school personnel who participated in this study were 46 years old and above. The majority were female college graduates with a gross income of 22,000 to 44,000 pesos, assigned as classroom teachers, with no known illness or comorbidities, and had outpatient consultation more than 12 months ago; majority of the respondents were adherent to their medications; socio-economic factors, healthcare team and system-related factors, therapy-related factors, and patient-related factors are significant barriers to medication adherence; and there is significant relationship between medication adherence and sex, educational level, gross income per month, illness or comorbidities, and date of last outpatient consultation. Primary actions include strengthening health education that fosters a positive attitude towards medication adherence, additional resources for medicine supplies in schools and training for healthcare workers, improving the implementation of Gulayan sa Paaralan, and exploring options to simplify treatment regimens and affordable medications. With these, the researcher proposed measures and recommendations that school administrators and public school nurses can adopt to improve the health and safety of school personnel.

Usage of the phrase ‘conceptual bathos’ in this paper is simply to engender curiosity of the readership but above that, it is used to caution emerging researchers [especially in the field of public administration] against overlooking or demeaning important subjects or concepts to simple or ordinary ones. Specifically, the paper refers to ‘Intra-local governmental relations’ as a concept that has suffered the same cause of negation to argue for its proper usage in future. This concept is found within the orbit of intergovernmental relations (IGR) and is a term of reference for various internal municipality relations. However, it is suspected that because of the inherent similarities and motherhood relationship between IGR and ILGR researchers have failed to draw differences thereby causing confusion. The extent of this confusion may lead to a suggestion that these concepts are inseparable and therefore can be used to explain each one’s context. The current paper characterises such acts as tangential and generalist conceptual approach which is often not aware of the important groupings (classifications) of governmental relations. By collecting and unpacking data from the existing research outputs, books, journal articles and government publications, the current paper finally realised its objective, which was to re-introduce ILGR into the academic discourse and the anticipation is that emerging Public Administration researchers and scholars will use the concept properly and correctly.