Dessie, Askalemariam Adamu

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

The status of early childhood care and education in northwest Ethiopia: an investigation from quality perspective

By Sewagegn, Abatihun Alehegn

The main objective of the study was to investigate the status of early childhood care and education (ECCE) from a quality perspective using concurrent mixed-method research. Participants of this study were 161 teachers and 35 principals (total 196) from government and private preschools and 4 supervisors. A questionnaire, observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions were used to collect the data. Data gathered through questionnaires were analysed quantitatively, while qualitative data analysis was used for data collected through observations, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The quantitative result showed that most preschool teachers have no training in ECCE. The qualitative data confirmed that poor infrastructure; less involvement of parents; unqualified teachers; absence of harmony in curricula between private and government preschools; problems related to hygiene; and poor quality assurance strategies were the major challenges. In conclusion, the status of early childhood care and education in the selected sites is poor. Therefore, capacity-building programmes targeting teachers' training and fulfilment of developmentally appropriate outdoor and indoor facilities are priority areas of intervention.

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Modelling the Transition Process from Higher Education to Employment: The Case of Undergraduates from Debre Markos University

By Merie, Hayimro Edemealem

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence Debre Markos University bachelor degree graduates' transition duration from higher education to employment. A retrospective study design and a total of 1448 undergraduates were considered in this study. Kaplan-Meier, Cox proportional hazard, and parametric accelerated failure time survival analysis were used to identify the factors that influence the duration of the job search of graduates. The best parametric model that could describe the duration of the job search to obtain the first job was chosen using the Akaike information criterion. As per the study, 50% of graduates were able to get their first employment 18 months after graduation. The Weibull parametric accelerated failure time model performed better in predicting the time it takes for graduates to find their first job. College, cumulative grade point average, father education, graduate region, public advertisement, starting own business, and doing an internship during the study were found to be statistically significant indicators of the transition duration of the graduates to obtain the first job. Debre Markos University 2019 graduates had a longer period of unemployment. The institution should have a fully functioning career service office that provides job search training and connects students with employers. © 2022 Hayimro Edemealem Merie et al.

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