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Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa
Availability of assets and livelihood strategies of school dropout teenage mothers in Adaklu District, Ghana
Analysis of interoperability, security and usability of digital repositories in Kenyan Institutions of Higher Learning
Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa
by Temilade Sesan
The imbalance in the global scientific landscape resulting from the enduring legacy of colonialism in the south and the hegemony of scientific paradigms originating in the north is immense. Our paper makes a case for employing traditional knowledge systems and paradigms as tools for redressing this imbalance in African societies. To achieve this goal, the paper argues, scholars and science communicators must actively pursue a radical, “power-literate” agenda of scientific decolonisation on the continent. Central to this mission is the need for scholars to be equipped with a keen sense of the past — including an understanding of what worked for knowledge production and perpetuation in pre-colonial African societies — without which science education and communication in those societies will remain untethered from the realities of the present and their visions for the future. Concurrently, attention must be given to nurturing home-grown paradigms and platforms for research in higher education that are rigorous yet unencumbered by the age-long tendency to refract African experiences through northern lenses. © The Author(s). This article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution — NonCommercial — NoDerivativeWorks 4.0 License.
Availability of assets and livelihood strategies of school dropout teenage mothers in Adaklu District, Ghana
by Prisca Ama Anima
The consequences associated with being a teenage mother can be overwhelming, especially when dreams of completing school and getting a lucrative job are shattered. Nevertheless, teenage mothers who are school dropouts gather resources available that aid them in securing livelihood activities for themselves. The aim of this research is to identify assets available to school dropout teenage mothers and how they are using these assets to secure some form of livelihood activities that help lessen the vulnerabilities associated with being a teenage mother. Data was collected from 45 teenage mothers and 17 opinion leaders in the Adaklu District of Ghana using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The findings revealed that although teenage mothers depend on various assets, natural assets (land) were the most asset for teenage mothers since most of them were into farming activities. Some of the teenage mothers indulged in off-farm activities like selling charcoal, gari processing, and deshelling of groundnuts to avoid falling deeper into livelihood insecurities. It was recommended that the district assembly should collaborate with NGOs and other institutions to train targeted teenage mothers in self-employable skills like soap making, bead making, and catering services to ease their financial stress. These measures might possibly pave the way for them to re-enter the schooling system. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Analysis of interoperability, security and usability of digital repositories in Kenyan Institutions of Higher Learning
by Masinde, Johnson Mulongo
Kenya has experienced a significant growth in the number of institutional repositories in the recent past. The number grew from a paltry two (2) in 2009 to 42 in August 2020. The growth is a positive indicator as repositories play a crucial role in solving some of the problems experienced in the broader area of scholarly communication. This study sought to establish the current extent to which institutions of higher learning in Kenya have established and implemented digital repositories, from a technical perspective. To achieve this goal, the study undertook a technical analysis of institutional repositories implemented by accredited universities in Kenya by the Commission for University Education as at June 2020. The analysis focused on numerous metrics on interoperability, security and usability of the analyzed institutional repositories. The study employed an exploratory approach to collecting the data. The data collected was stored on a MySQL database using the PhpMyAdmin tool. Data analysis was done by SQL querying and the result set copied to MS Excel for generation of graphical visualizations. From a total of 49 institutions examined, 34 (69%) had institutional repositories while 15 (39%) did not have institutional repositories. All the 34 institutions with repositories were using Dspace software. Of all the metrics analyzed, the study established that most of the institutional repositories did not implement essential features that improve interoperability, security and usability of their repository platforms. The study recommends either further training for repository managers or outsourcing of the technical process of establishing and maintaining functional institutional repositories. We further recommend more comprehensive studies to cover all the aspects of the FAIR principles of data management in Kenya. © 2022 Wuhan University
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