Search results for: school counseling

Authors: G. Melo, J. Felix, S. Maciel, C. Fernandes, W. Rodrigues

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In Brazilian public policy, the Centres of Reference for Social Assistance (CRAS in Portuguese) are part of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS in Portuguese). SUAS is responsible for addressing spontaneous or currently active cases that are brought forth from other services in the social assistance network. The following case was reviewed by CRAS’s team in Recife, Brazil, after a complaint of child abuse was filed against the mother of a 7-year-old girl by the girl’s aunt. The girl is the daughter of an incestuous relationship between her mother and her older brother. The complaint was registered by service staff and five interventions were subsequently carried out on behalf of the child. These interventions provided a secure place for dialogue with both the child and her family and allowed for an investigation of the abuse to proceed. They took place in the child’s school as well as her aunt’s residence. At school, the child (with her classmates) watched a video and listened to a song about the prevention of child abuse. This was followed up with a second intervention to determine any signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), by having the child play with the mobile app ‘My Angela’. Books on the themes of family and fear were also read to the child on different occasions at her school – after every intervention she was asked to draw something related to fear and her concept of a family. After the interventions and discussing the case as a team, we reached several conclusions: 1) The child did not appear to show any symptoms of PTSD; 2) She normally fantasized about her future and life story; 3) She did not allow herself to be touched by strangers with whom she lacks a close relationship (such as classmates or her teacher); 4) Through her drawings, she reproduced the conversations she had had with the staff; 5) She habitually covered her drawings when asked questions about the abuse. In this particular clinical case, we want to highlight that the role of the Psychologist’s intervention at CRAS is to attempt to resolve the issue promptly (and not to develop a prolonged clinical study based on traditional methods), by making use of the available tools from the social assistance network, and by making referrals to the relevant authorities, such as the Public Ministry, so that final protective actions can be taken and enforced. In this case, the Guardian Council of the Brazilian Public Ministry was asked to transfer the custody of the child to her uncle. The mother of the child was sent to a CAPS (Centre for Psychosocial Care), having been diagnosed with psychopathology. The child would then participate in NGO programs that allow for a gradual reduction of social exposure to her mother before being transferred to her uncle’s custody in Sao Paulo.

Keywords: child abuse, intervention, social psychology, violence

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Authors: Mihaly Homostrei, Tamas Simon, Dorottya Schnider

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The topic of oscillation in physics is one of the key ideas which is usually taught based on the concept of harmonic oscillation. It can be an interesting activity to deal with a frictional oscillator in advanced high school classes or in university courses. Its mechanics are investigated in this research, which shows that the motion of the frictional oscillator is more complicated than a simple harmonic oscillator. The physics of the applied model in this study seems to be interesting and useful for undergraduate students. The study presents a well-known physical system, which is mostly discussed theoretically in high school and at the university. The ideal frictional oscillator is normally used as an example of harmonic oscillatory motion, as its theory relies on the constant coefficient of sliding friction. The structure of the system is simple: a rod with a homogeneous mass distribution is placed on two rotating identical cylinders placed at the same height so that they are horizontally aligned, and they rotate at the same angular velocity, however in opposite directions. Based on this setup, one could easily show that the equation of motion describes a harmonic oscillation considering the magnitudes of the normal forces in the system as the function of the position and the frictional forces with a constant coefficient of frictions are related to them. Therefore, the whole description of the model relies on simple Newtonian mechanics, which is available for students even in high school. On the other hand, the phenomenon of the described frictional oscillator does not seem to be so straightforward after all; experiments show that the simple harmonic oscillation cannot be observed in all cases, and the system performs a much more complex movement, whereby the rod adjusts itself to a non-harmonic oscillation with a nonzero stable amplitude after an unconventional damping effect. The stable amplitude, in this case, means that the position function of the rod converges to a harmonic oscillation with a constant amplitude. This leads to the idea of a more complex model which can describe the motion of the rod in a more accurate way. The main difference to the original equation of motion is the concept that the frictional coefficient varies with the relative velocity. This dependence on the velocity was investigated in many different research articles as well; however, this specific problem could demonstrate the key concept of the varying friction coefficient and its importance in an interesting and demonstrative way. The position function of the rod is described by a more complicated and non-trivial, yet more precise equation than the usual harmonic oscillation description of the movement. The study discusses the structure of the measurements related to the frictional oscillator, the qualitative and quantitative derivation of the theory, and the comparison of the final theoretical function as well as the measured position-function in time. The project provides useful materials and knowledge for undergraduate students and a new perspective in university physics education.

Keywords: friction, frictional coefficient, non-harmonic oscillator, physics education

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Authors: Z. Abram, V. Nadasan, J. Balint, J. L. Ferencz

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Introduction: Online smoking prevention programs became popular in the last time. In order to extend the use of such programs, existing applications can be adapted and translated in the native languages of the target groups. It is the first time that in Romania such a software was implemented. Our goal was to provide a computer-aided intervention with attractive content targeting high school students who are familiar with information and communication technology. Material and methods: ASPIRA is the Romanian/Hungarian adapted version of a smoking prevention program created in USA. Prior to apply the questionnaire and ASPIRA online program which contains five modules that include tests, videos and interactive games, the program was tested in some IT laboratories on a group of schoolchildren and students. The pilot study questionnaires were completed considering the opinions of young people and the functionality of the software. Results: Above 90% of participants reported a good or very good impression about the ASPIRA program. Only a small minority found that the program included some parts which were too long or reported the existence of any technical problems regarding the functionality of the software. 76% of the participants had little or very little difficulty in understanding the messages presented by the English speaking characters. Only 7.5% of the participants thought that the program included content that was not appropriate for the local culture. Conclusions: The vast majority of students reported favorite impressions about ASPIRA online program. High school students and boys were more critical. Language and cultural barriers did not have the potential to reduce in a significant manner the effectiveness of the tested program.

Keywords: smoking prevention, ASPIRA online program, youth opinions, language/cultural barriers

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Authors: Mayowa A. Sofowora, Seraphin D. Eyono Obono

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The use of information and communication technologies such as computers, mobile phones and the internet is becoming prevalent in today’s world; and it is facilitating access to a vast amount of data, services, and applications for the improvement of people’s lives. However, this prevalence of ICTs is hampered by the problem of low income levels in developing countries to the point where people cannot timeously replace or repair their ICT devices when damaged or lost; and this problem serves as a motivation for this study whose aim is to examine the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones when used for teaching and learning purposes. The research objectives unfolding this aim are of two types: objectives on the selection and design of theories and models, and objectives on the empirical testing of these theories and models. The first type of objectives is achieved using content analysis in an extensive literature survey, and the second type of objectives is achieved through a survey of high school teachers from the ILembe and Umgungudlovu districts in the KwaZuluNatal province of South Africa. Data collected from this questionnaire based survey is analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations after checking the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The main hypothesis driving this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics and the attribution identity of teachers on one hand, and their perceptions on the reliability of cellphones on the other hand, as suggested by existing literature; except that attribution identities are considered in this study under three angles: intention, knowledge and ability, and action. The results of this study confirm that the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones for teaching and learning are affected by the school location of these teachers, and by their perceptions on learners’ cellphones usage intentions and actual use.

Keywords: attribution, cellphones, e-learning, reliability

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Authors: Taik Kim

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Mathematics anxiety has an important consequence for teacher practices that influence students’ attitudes and achievement. Elementary prospective teachers have the highest levels of mathematics anxiety in comparison with other college majors. In his teaching practice, the researcher developed a highly successful teaching model to reduce pre-service teachers’ higher math anxiety and simultaneously to improve their pedagogical math content knowledge. There were eighty one participants from 2015 to 2018 who took the Mathematics for Elementary Teachers I and II. As the analysis data indicated, elementary prospective teachers’ math anxiety was greatly reduced with improving their math pedagogical knowledge. U.S encounters a critical shortage of well qualified educators. To solve the issue, it is essential to engage students in a long-term commitmentto shape better teachers, who will, in turn, produce k-12 school students that are better-prepared for college students. It is imperative that new instructional strategies are implemented to improve student learning and address declining interest, poor preparedness, a lack of diverse representation, and low persistence of students in mathematics. Many four year college students take math courses from the math department in the College of Arts& Science and then take methodology courses from the College of Education. Before taking pedagogy, many students struggle in learning mathematics and lose their confidence. Since the content course focus on college level math, instead of pre service teachers’ teaching area, per se elementary math, they do not have a chance to improve their teaching skills on topics which eventually they teach. The research, a joint appointment of math and math education, has been involved in teaching content and pedagogy. As the result indicated, participants were able to math content at the same time how to teach. In conclusion, the new initiative to use several teaching strategies was able not only to increase elementary prospective teachers’ mathematical skills and knowledge but also to improve their attitude toward mathematics. We need an innovative teaching strategy which implements evidence-based tactics in redesigning a education and math to improve pre service teachers’math skills and which can improve students’ attitude toward math and students’ logical and reasoning skills. Implementation of these best practices in the local school district is particularly important because K-8 teachers are not generally familiar with lab-based instruction. At the same time, local school teachers will learn a new way how to teach math. This study can be a vital teacher education model expanding throughout the State and nationwide. In summary, this study yields invaluable information how to improve teacher education in the elementary level and, eventually, how to enhance K-8 students’ math achievement.

Keywords: quality of education and improvement method, teacher education, innovative teaching and learning methodologies, math education

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Authors: Carmiña L. Vargas-Zapata, María A. Conde-Sarmiento, Maria Consuelo Maestre-Vargas

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Calcium is an essential element for good growth and development of the organism, and its requirement is increased at school age. Low socio-economic populations of developing countries such as Colombia may have food deficiency of this mineral in schoolchildren that could be reflected in calcium biochemical indicators, bone alterations and anthropometric indicators. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate some calcium biochemical indicators in a group of schoolchildren of low socioeconomic level from Barranquilla city and to correlate with body mass index. 60 schoolchildren aged 7 to 15 years were selected from Jesus’s Heart Educational Institution in Barranquilla-Atlántico, apparently healthy, without suffering from infectious or gastrointestinal diseases, without habits of drinking alcohol or smoking another hallucinogenic substance and without taking supplementation with calcium in the last six months or another substance that compromises bone metabolism. The research was approved by the ethics committee at Universidad del Atlántico. The selected children were invited to donate a blood and urine sample in a fasting time of 12 hours, the serum was separated by centrifugation and frozen at ˗20 ℃ until analyzed and the same was done with the urine sample. On the day of the biological collections, the weight and height of the students were measured to determine the nutritional status by BMI using the WHO tables. Calcium concentrations in serum and urine (SCa, UCa), alkaline phosphatase activity total and of bone origin (SAPT, SBAP) and urinary creatinine (UCr) were determined by spectrophotometric methods using commercial kits. Osteocalcin and Cross-linked N-telopeptides of type I collagen (NTx-1) in serum were measured with an enzyme-linked inmunosorbent assay. For statistical analysis the Statgraphics software Centurium XVII was used. 63% (n = 38) and 37% (n = 22) of the participants were male and female, respectively. 78% (n = 47), 5% (n = 3) and 17% (n = 10) had a normal, malnutrition and high nutritional status, respectively. The averages of evaluated indicators levels were (mean ± SD): 9.50 ± 1.06 mg/dL for SCa; 181.3 ± 64.3 U/L for SAPT, 143.8 ± 73.9 U/L for SBAP; 9.0 ± 3.48 ng/mL for osteocalcin and 101.3 ± 12.8 ng/mL for NTx-1. UCa level was 12.8 ± 7.7 mg/dL that adjusted with creatinine ranged from 0.005 to 0.395 mg/mg. Considering serum calcium values, approximately 7% of school children were hypocalcemic, 16% hypercalcemic and 77% normocalcemic. The indicators evaluated did not correlate with the BMI. Low values ​​were observed in calcium urinary excretion and high in NTx-1, suggesting that mechanisms such as increase in renal retention of calcium and in bone remodeling may be contributing to calcium homeostasis.

Keywords: calcium, calcium biochemical, indicators, school children, low socioeconomic status

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Authors: Dr.Vasundhra Misra, Prof. Praveen Vashist

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Purpose: Vitamin A deficiency prevention programmes are at varying stages of development and implementation in all countries. Vitamin A deficiency has been recognized as a public health issue in developing countries like India. Despite achieving a lot of success a load of blindness due to Vitamin A deficiencies is still high. In this regard, a study was conducted to assess the awareness and health-seeking practices about Vitamin A deficiency diseases among the urban slum population of Delhi, India. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the 5 slum clusters from the urban population of South Delhi. A specially designed pre-tested questionnaire schedule was administered. The study sample was comprised of 1552 inhabitants. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 12.1 years. A total of 1003 (64.6%) participants out of 1552, had heard of night blindness. Awareness of night blindness was more in the elderly age group and also found significant (p < 0.001). Only 31 (3.1%) knew that night blindness is caused due to deficiency of vitamin A. The awareness of vitamin A prophylaxis programme was significantly higher among elder age (p < 0.05) and females (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings highlighted that even though many of the respondents have heard of night blindness but the awareness about causes and treatment was found low in the community. There is a need for efforts directed to enhance community-level counseling and educational programmes.

Keywords: awareness, health-seeking practices, night blindness, vitamin-A deficiency diseases

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Authors: Josip Karuc, Marjeta Mišigoj-Duraković, Goran Marković, Vedran Hadžić, Michael J. Duncan, Hrvoje Podnar, Maroje Sorić

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As a part of the CRO-PALS longitudinal study, this investigation aimed to examine the association between different levels of physical activity (PA) and movement quality in 16-years old school children. The total number of participants in this research was 725. Movement quality was assessed via the Functional Movement Screen (FMSTM), and the PA level was estimated using the School Health Action, Planning, and Evaluation System (SHAPES) questionnaire. In addition, body fat and socioeconomic status (SES) were assessed. In order to investigate the association between total FMS score and different levels of PA, multilevel modeling was employed for boys (n=359) and girls (n=366) separately. All models were adjusted for age, body fat, and SES. Among boys, MVPA, MPA, and VPA were not significant predictors of the total FMS score (β=0.000, p=0.78; β=-0.002, p=0.455; β=0.004, p=0.158, respectively). On the contrary, among girls, VPA and MVPA showed significant effects on the total FMS score (β=0.011, p=0.001, β=0.005, p=0.006, respectively). The findings of this research provide evidence that the intensity of PA is a minor but relevant factor in describing the association between PA and movement quality in adolescent girls but not in boys. This means that the PA level does not guarantee optimal functional movement patterns. Therefore, practicing functional movement patterns in an isolated manner and at moderate to vigorous intensity could be beneficial in order to reduce the risk of injury incidence and potential orthopedic abnormalities in later life. This work was supported by the Croatian Science Foundation, grant no: IP-2016-06-9926 and grant no: DOK-2018-01-2328.

Keywords: functional movement screen, fundamental movement patterns, movement quality, pediatric

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Authors: Niyom Suwandej

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This research paper investigated the opinions of small and micro community enterprises from Jom Pluak Subdistrict, Bangkhontee District, Samut Songkram Province towards product quality control, and the findings are aimed to disseminate knowledge on quality control for upgrading product standards for small and micro community enterprises. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, in which there were 23 samples in the study. The study was divided into 2 steps which were (1) studying the opinions of the respondents towards the community’s product quality control and upgrading product standards; (2) creating development guidance for product quality control and upgrading product standards for small and micro community enterprise. The demographic findings revealed female respondents as the majority, with most above 50 years of age and married. Most had more than 15 years of working experience. The education level reported by most respondents was primary school or lower followed by secondary school or lower with most respondents was vocational certificate level. Most respondents had the highest level of satisfaction with the existing condition of product quality control knowledge management. Pertaining to opinions on the guidance of knowledge creation for product quality control for small and micro community enterprise, the respondents were willing to apply the knowledge in upgrading their product standards. For the opinions of knowledge creation for product quality control and product standards, the respondents had the highest level of satisfaction. Guidance of knowledge creation for product quality control and product standards for small and micro community enterprises received the highest level of satisfaction from the respondents. Furthermore they had knowledge and comprehension in product quality control and product standards and could apply the knowledge in improving the quality of their production and product standards for small and micro community enterprises.

Keywords: product quality control, product standards, community enterprise, marketing management

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Authors: Pan Lee Ching, Chua Bee Seok

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The experience of negative work-life interaction often confronted with work related stress includes workload. The appraisal of challenge and hindrance jobs depend on the type of workload to stimulate stress response. Nevertheless, the effects of challenge and hindrance jobs on distress and negative work-life interaction are scarcely explored. Thus, research objective was to examine the relationship among challenge appraisal job (qualitative workload), hindrance appraisal job (quantitative workload), and negative work-life interaction with the mediating role of distress. A survey with random sampling method was performed on current serving public secondary school teachers in Sabah. Collected data showed 447 respondents completed three questionnaires, namely Challenge-hindrance Appraisal Scale, Stress Professional Positive and Negative Questionnaire, and Survey Work-home Interaction-Nijmegan. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse mediation effect. Results showed distress fully mediates the relationship between challenge appraisal job (qualitative workload) and negative work-life interaction. The indirect effect was significant and negative. While distress partially mediates the relationship between hindrance appraisal job (quantitative workload) and negative work-life interaction. The indirect effect was significant and positive. The study implied that challenge appraisal job could be a positive resource for teacher to facilitate work and life, whereas hindrance appraisal job could disengage the facilitation. Hence, strengthen challenge appraisal job and control hindrance appraisal job could curb distress at work and underpin life interaction among the teachers.

Keywords: challenge-hindrance job, distress, work-life, workload

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Authors: Bernardita Tornero

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Cognitive Acceleration in Mathematics Education (CAME) programmes have been used successfully for promoting the development of thinking skills in school students for the last 30 years. Given that the approach has had a tremendous impact on the thinking capabilities of participating students, this study explored the experience of using the programme with prospective primary teachers in Chile. Therefore, this study not only looked at the experience of prospective primary teachers during the CAME course as learners, but also examined how they perceived the approach from their perspective as future teachers, as well as how they could transfer the teaching strategies they observed to their future classrooms. Given the complexity of the phenomenon under study, this research used a mixed methods approach. For this reason, the impact that the CAME course had on prospective teachers’ thinking skills was not only approached by using a test that assessed the participants’ improvements in these skills, but their learning and teaching experiences were also recorded through qualitative research tools (learning journals, interviews and field notes). The main findings indicate that, at the end of the CAME course, prospective teachers not only demonstrated higher thinking levels, but also showed positive attitudinal changes towards teaching and learning in general, and towards mathematics in particular. The participants also had increased confidence in their ability to teach mathematics and to promote thinking skills in their students. In terms of the CAME methodology, prospective teachers not only found it novel and motivating, but also commented that dealing with the thinking skills topic during a university course was both unusual and very important for their professional development. This study also showed that, at the end of the CAME course, prospective teachers felt they had developed strategies that could be used in their classrooms in the future. In this context, the relevance of the study is not only that it described the impact and the positive results of the first experience of using a CAME approach with prospective teachers, but also that some of the conclusions have significant implications for the teaching of thinking skills and the training of primary school teachers.

Keywords: cognitive acceleration, formal reasoning, prospective teachers, initial teacher training

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Authors: Leslie M. Gutman

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Conduct problems (CP) represent a major dilemma, with wide-ranging and long-lasting individual and societal impacts. Children experience heterogeneous patterns of conduct problems; based on the age of onset, developmental course and related risk factors from around age 3. Early childhood represents a potential window for intervention efforts aimed at changing the trajectory of early starting conduct problems. Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 17,206 children), this study (a) identifies trajectories of conduct problems from ages 3 to 14 years and (b) assesses the cumulative and interactive effects of individual, family and socioeconomic risk factors from ages 9 months to 14 years. The same factors according to three domains were assessed, including child (i.e., low verbal ability, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems, emotional problems), family (i.e., single families, parental poor physical and mental health, large family size) and socioeconomic (i.e., low family income, low parental education, unemployment, social housing). A cumulative risk score for the child, family, and socioeconomic domains at each age was calculated. It was then examined how the cumulative risk scores explain variation in the trajectories of conduct problems. Lastly, interactive effects among the different domains of cumulative risk were tested. Using group-based trajectory modeling, four distinct trajectories were found including a ‘low’ problem group and three groups showing childhood-onset conduct problems: ‘school-age onset’; ‘early-onset, desisting’; and ‘early-onset, persisting’. The ‘low’ group (57% of the sample) showed a low probability of conducts problems, close to zero, from 3 to 14 years. The ‘early-onset, desisting’ group (23% of the sample) demonstrated a moderate probability of CP in early childhood, with a decline from 3 to 5 years and a low probability thereafter. The ‘early-onset, persistent’ group (8%) followed a high probability of conduct problems, which declined from 11 years but was close to 70% at 14 years. In the ‘school-age onset’ group, 12% of the sample showed a moderate probability of conduct problems from 3 and 5 years, with a sharp increase by 7 years, increasing to 50% at 14 years. In terms of individual risk, all factors increased the likelihood of being in the childhood-onset groups compared to the ‘low’ group. For cumulative risk, the socioeconomic domain at 9 months and 3 years, the family domain at all ages except 14 years and child domain at all ages were found to differentiate childhood-onset groups from the ‘low’ group. Cumulative risk at 9 months and 3 years did not differentiate between the ‘school-onset’ group and ‘low’ group. Significant interactions were found between the domains for the ‘early-onset, desisting group’ suggesting that low levels of risk in one domain may buffer the effects of high risk in another domain. The implications of these findings for preventive interventions will be highlighted.

Keywords: conduct problems, cumulative risk, developmental trajectories, early childhood, adolescence

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Authors: Jiayue Guo, Lili You

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Background: Children and adolescent health are crucial for both personal well-being and the nation's future health landscape. Health Literacy (HL) is important in enabling adolescents to self-manage their health, a fundamental step towards health empowerment. However, there are limited tools for assessing HL among elementary and junior high school students. This study aims to construct and validate a test-based HL scale for Chinese students, offering a scientific reference for cross-cultural HL tool development. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey. Participants were recruited from a stratified cluster random sampling method, a total of 4189 Chinese in-school primary and secondary students. The development of the scale was completed by defining the concept of HL, establishing the item indicator system, screening items (7 health content dimensions), and evaluating reliability and validity. Delphi method expert consultation was used to screen items, the Rasch model was conducted for quality analysis, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to examine the internal consistency. Results: We developed four versions of the HL scale, each with a total score of 100, encompassing seven key health areas: hygiene, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, disease prevention, safety awareness, and digital health literacy. Each version measures four dimensions of health competencies: knowledge, skills, motivation, and behavior. After the second round of expert consultation, the average importance score of each item by experts is 4.5–5.0, and the coefficient of variation is 0.000–0.174. The knowledge and skills dimensions are judgment-based and multiple-choice questions, with the Rasch model confirming unidimensionality at a 5.7% residual variance. The behavioral and motivational dimensions, measured with scale-type items, demonstrated internal consistency via Cronbach's alpha and strong inter-item correlation with KMO values of 0.924 and 0.787, respectively. Bartlett's test of sphericity, with p-values <0.001, further substantiates the scale's reliability. Conclusions: The new test-based scale, designed to evaluate competencies within a multifaceted framework, aligns with current international adolescent literacy theories and China's health education policies, focusing not only on knowledge acquisition but also on the application of health-related thinking and behaviors. The scale can be used as a comprehensive tool for HL evaluation and a reference for other countries.

Keywords: adolescent health, Chinese, health literacy, rasch model, scale development

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Authors: Khadija Al-Hosni, Moon Fai Chan, Mohammed Al-Azri

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Background: Several studies suggest that most school-age adolescents are poorly informed on cancer warning signs and risk factors. Providing adolescents with sufficient knowledge would increase their awareness in adulthood and improve seeking behaviors later. Significant: The results will provide a clear vision in assisting key decision-makers in formulating policies on the students' awareness programs towards cancer. So, the likelihood of avoiding cancer in the future will be increased or even promote early diagnosis. Objectives: to evaluate the effectiveness of an education program designed to increase awareness of cancer signs and symptoms risk factors, improve the behavior of seeking help among school students in Oman, and address the barriers to obtaining medical help. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with two groups was conducted in Oman. A total of 1716 students (n=886/control, n= 830/education), aged 15-17 years, at 10th and 11th grade from 12 governmental schools 3 in governorates from 20-February-2022 to 12-May-2022. Basic demographic data were collected, and the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was used as the primary outcome. Data were collected at baseline (T0) and 4 weeks after (T1). The intervention group received an education program about cancer's cause and its signs and symptoms. In contrast, the control group did not receive any education related to this issue during the study period. Non-parametric tests were used to compare the outcomes between groups. Results: At T0, the lamp was the most recognized cancer warning sign in control (55.0%) and intervention (55.2%) groups. However, there were no significant changes at T1 for all signs in the control group. In contrast, all sign outcomes were improved significantly (p<0.001) in the intervention group, the highest response was unexplained pain (93.3%). Smoking was the most recognized risk factor in both groups: (82.8% for control; 84.1% for intervention) at T0. However, there was no significant change in T1 for the control group, but there was for the intervention group (p<0.001), the highest identification was smoking cigarettes (96.5%). Too scared was the largest barrier to seeking medical help by students in the control group at T0 (63.0%) and T1 (62.8%). However, there were no significant changes in all barriers in this group. Otherwise, being too embarrassed (60.2%) was the largest barrier to seeking medical help for students in the intervention group at T0 and too scared (58.6%) at T1. Although there were reductions in all barriers, significant differences were found in six of ten only (p<0.001). Conclusion: The intervention was effective in improving students' awareness of cancer symptoms, warning signs (p<0.001), and risk factors (p<0.001 reduced the most addressed barriers to seeking medical help (p<0.001) in comparison to the control group. The Ministry of Education in Oman could integrate awareness of cancer within the curriculum, and more interventions are needed on the sociological part to overcome the barriers that interfere with seeking medical help.

Keywords: adolescents, awareness, cancer, education, intervention, student

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Authors: Donald B. Enu, Clement O. Ukpor, Abigail E. Okon

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Unreliable scoring of students’ performance by lecturers short-chains students’ assessment in terms of underequipping the school authority with facts as intended by society through the curriculum hence, the learners, the school and the society are cheated because the usefulness of testing is defeated. This study, therefore, examined lecturers’ scoring objectivity of essay items in the Department of Social Science Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed lecturers’ perception of the relevance of scoring rubrics and its level of application. Data were collected from all the 36 lecturers in the Department (28 members and 8 non-members adjourned to the department), through a 20-item questionnaire and checklist instruments. A case-study design was adopted. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, weighted means, standard deviations, and percentages were used to analyze data gathered. A mean score of 2.5 and or 60 percent and above formed the acceptance or significant level in decision taking. It was found that lecturers perceived the use of scoring rubrics as a relevant practice to ensure fairness and reliable treatment of examiners scripts particularly in marking essay items and that there is a moderately high level of adherence to the application of scoring rubrics. It was also observed that some criteria necessary for the scoring objectivity of essay items were not fully put in place in the department. It was recommended strongly that students’ identities be hidden while marking and that pre-determined marking scheme should be prepared centrally and strictly adhered to during marking and recording of scores. Conference marking should be enforced in the department.

Keywords: essay items, objective scoring, scorers reliability, scoring rubrics

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Authors: Mirriam M. Moleko, Sekanse A. Ntsala

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Language in mathematics instruction enables the teacher to communicate mathematical knowledge to the learners with precision. It also enables the learner to deal with mathematical activities effectively. This scholarly piece was motivated by the fact that mathematics performance in the South African primary classrooms has not been satisfactory, and English, which is a Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) for the majority of the learners, has been singled out as one of the major impediments. This is not only on the part of the learners, but also on the part of the teachers as well. The study thus focused on the lack of competency in English among the primary school teachers as one of the possible causes of poor performance in mathematics in primary classrooms. The qualitative processes, which were premised on the social interaction theory as a lens, sourced the narratives of 10 newly qualified primary school mathematics teachers from the disadvantaged schools on the matter. This was achieved through the use of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The data, which were analyzed thematically, highlighted the actuality that the challenges cut across the pre-service stage to the in-service stage. The findings revealed that the undergraduate mathematics courses in the number of the institutions neglect the importance of language. The study further revealed that the in-service mathematics teachers lack adequate linguistic command, thereby finding it difficult to successfully teach some mathematical concepts, or even to outline instructions clearly. The study thus suggests the need for training institutions to focus on improving the teachers’ English language competency. The need for intensive in-service training targeting the problem areas was also highlighted. The study thus contributes to the body of knowledge by providing suggestions on how the mathematics teachers’ language incompetency can be mitigated.

Keywords: Competency, English language proficiency, language of learning and teaching, primary mathematics teachers

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Authors: Sara atibi, Azzeddine Atibi, Salim Ahmed, Khadija El Kababi

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Given the crucial impact of entrepreneurship on socio-economic development, nations are making various efforts to support and encourage it. Entrepreneurship education has proven to be a vital lever in stimulating business creation. This research is part of this dynamic, which is increasingly attracting the attention of educational policymakers. Indeed, entrepreneurship education provides students with the skills, knowledge, and motivation needed to succeed in various entrepreneurial contexts. it objective is to demonstrate the impact of entrepreneurship education on the development of entrepreneurial intention among students at Al Akhawayn University and to determine whether introducing this discipline at the secondary school level can strengthen this intention, with the aim of proposing measures to foster entrepreneurship. To achieve this objective, it conducted a literature review on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurship education to draw from existing experiences in the field. it then carried out an exploratory study through a qualitative survey. it collected real data via an online questionnaire hosted on Google Drive. This questionnaire was tested on a sample of 100 students, adjusted, and validated by three university professors who are experts in the field, and then administered to the students of Al Akhawayn University. The results of our survey among students at Al Akhawayn University clearly show that the development of entrepreneurial intention increases among students who have taken entrepreneurship courses or participated in seminars, thus promoting business creation and entrepreneurship. A minority of these students still choose to work in the private or public sector; however, the majority express a strong desire to become entrepreneurs. We also noted that some students believe entrepreneurship depends solely on entrepreneurial training, while others think it relies on a combination of training, resources, and personal will.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial intention, business creation, al akhawayn university, secondary school curriculum

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Authors: Adebusoye Michael, Okunola Olayinka, Owolabi Abdulateef, Jacob Anayo

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Introduction: Child undernutrition remains one of Africa’s most fundamental challenges for improved human development because the time and capacities of caregivers are limited; far too many children are unable to access effectively amenities they need for a healthy life. Methods and procedures: This cross-sectional, descriptive study evaluated the maternal care practices on nutritional status of pre-school children, 150 mothers were selected by systematic random sampling in Dass L.G.A., Bauchi-State, Nigeria. Information on relevant parameters were collected by questionaire, analysed by various indices of descriptive statistics using SPSS version 16.0.Spearman’s rank correlation was used to test for associations between the variables. Results: Thirty-five (23.3%) of the respondents were aged 21-25 years. Thirty-three (28.0%) had secondary education, while forty-nine (32.7%) were full housewives. Majority 79(52.7) earned NI,000- N10,000 monthly versus 10(6.7%) who earned N11,000- N20,000.113(75.3%) married while 7(4.7%) of respondents were separated. Sixty-one (40.7%) practiced exclusive breastfeeding within six months. Only seventy-one (47.3%) initiated breastfeeding between 7 and 13 months. Five (3.3%) of children were mildly underweight while nine (6.0%) were severely stunted. Conclusion: The outcome suggested that working time of mothers is a major determinant on their child nutritional status. However, there is a significant relationship on the working time of mothers, income level and educational level of mothers to the nutritional status of their children (P<0.05). Recommendation: Good policy programmes should aim at eradicating poverty, better child care practices that would reduce malnutrition among under-five children.

Keywords: maternal care, nutritional status, preschool children, Dass L.G.A.

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Authors: Lemar Blake, Chris Oura, Ayanna C. N. Phillips Savage

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Improved DNA sequencing technology has greatly enhanced bacterial identification, especially for organisms that are difficult to culture. Mycobacteriosis with consistent hyphema, bilateral exophthalmia, open mouth gape and ocular lesions, were observed in various fish populations at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Aquaculture/Aquatic Animal Health Unit. Objective: To identify the species of Mycobacterium that is affecting aquarium fish at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Aquaculture/Aquatic Animal Health Unit. Method: A total of 13 fish samples were collected and analyzed via: Ziehl-Neelsen, conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR. These tests were carried out simultaneously for confirmation. The following combination of conventional primers: 16s rRNA (564 bp), rpoB (396 bp), sod (408 bp) were used. Concatenation of the gene fragments was carried out to phylogenetically classify the organism. Results: Acid fast non-branching bacilli were detected in all samples from homogenized internal organs. All 13 acid fast samples were positive for Mycobacterium via real-time PCR. Partial gene sequences using all three primer sets were obtained from two samples and demonstrated a novel strain. A strain 99% related to Mycobacterium marinum was also confirmed in one sample, using 16srRNA and rpoB genes. The two novel strains were clustered with the rapid growers and strains that are known to affect humans. Conclusions: Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated two novel Mycobacterium strains with the potential of being zoonotic and one strain 99% related to Mycobacterium marinum.

Keywords: polymerase chain reaction, phylogenetic, DNA sequencing, zoonotic

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Authors: Virginia Andrea Garrido Meirelles

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Noah Webster was a lexicographer and a language reformer and is considered the ‘Father of American Scholarship and Education’ because of the exceptional contributions he made as a teacher and grammarian. The goal of this study is to show that the success of his plan can be explained by the fact that it matched the language-in-education policies of his time. To accomplish that goal the present study analyzes the Massachusetts School Laws of 1642, 1647 and 1648 and compares them to the preface of the first edition of The Grammatical Institute of the English Language. The referred laws were three legislative acts enacted in the Massachusetts Colony and replicated almost identically in the other New England colonies. The purpose of those laws was to eradicate pauperism and poverty, on the one side, and to disseminate the idea of right citizenship, on the other. However, until the Declaration of Independence in 1776, all the primers used in the colony were printed in Britain. In 1783, Noah Webster published the first part of his Grammatical Institute of the English Language. In this book, the author states that his goal is to promote the republican principles that guide the civil rights of that time. The material included many texts taken from the Bible to inspire aversion to inadequate behavior and preference for service and good manners. In addition, its goal was to present ‘a new plan of reducing the pronunciation of our language to an easy standard,’ and in that way, create a unified language to abolish ignorance and language corruption. The comparison between the laws and Webster’s Spelling Book shows that the book is the result of the historical and political situation when it was conceived and it satisfied the requirements of the language-in-education policies of the time.

Keywords: American English, language policy, the Massachusetts school laws, webster's spelling book

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Authors: Bismark Agbemble

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This paper talks about how project-based learning (PBL) is being infused or implemented in the educational sphere of Africa. The paper navigates through the liminal aspects of PBL as a pedagogical approach to bridge the divide between theoretical knowledge and its application within school curriculums. Given that contextualized learning can be embodied, the abstract vehemently discusses that PBL creates an opportunity for students to work on projects that are of academic relevance in their local settings. It presents PBL’s growth of critical thinking, problem-solving, cooperation, and communications, which is vital in getting young citizens to prepare for the 21st-century revolution. In addition, the abstract stresses the possibility that PBL could become a stimulus to creativity and innovation wherein learning becomes motivated from within by intrinsic motivations. The paper advocates for a holistic approach that is based on teacher’s professional development with the provision of adequate infrastructural facilities and resource allocation, thus ensuring the success and sustainability of PBLs in African education systems. In the end, the paper positions this as a transformative educational methodology that has great potential in helping to shape an African generation that is prepared for a great future.

Keywords: student centered pedagogy, constructivist learning theory, self-directed learning, active exploration, real world challenges, STEM, 21st century skills, curriculum design, classroom management, project base learning curriculum, global intelligence, social and communication skills, transferable skills, critical thinking, investigatable learning, life skills

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Authors: Charles Deodat Otami

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This paper documents an ongoing investigation which seeks to explore the consequences of repeated science curriculum reforms at basic level of education in Ghana. Drawing upon data collected through document analysis, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations linked with a study of teaching practices in Junior High Schools of educational districts that are well served with teachers and yet, produce poor students’ achievements in science in the national Basic Education Certificate Examinations. The results emanating from the investigation highlight that the repeated science curriculum reforms at the basic level of education have led to the displacement of scientific knowledge in junior high schools in Ghana, a very critical level of education where the foundation for further science education to the highest level is laid. Furthermore, the results indicate that the enactment of centralised curriculum reforms in Ghana has produced some unpleasant repercussions. For instance, how the teachers interpret and implement the curriculum is directly related to their own values and practices as well as students feedback. This is contrary to the perception that external impetus received from donor agencies holds the key to strengthening reforms made. Thus, it is argued that without the right of localised management, curriculum reforms themselves are inadequate to ensure the realisation of the desired effects. This paper, therefore, draws the attention of stakeholders to the fact that the enactment of School Science Curriculum reform goes beyond just simple implementation to more complex dynamics which may change the original reform intents.

Keywords: basic education, basic education certificate examinations, curriculum reforms, junior high school, educational districts, teaching practices

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Authors: Marinella Majorano, Rachele Ferrari, Tamara Bastianello

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The recent technological advance allows for applying innovative and multimedia screen-based assessment tools to test children's language and early literacy skills, monitor their growth over the preschool years, and test their readiness for primary school. Several are the advantages that a computer-based assessment tool offers with respect to paper-based tools. Firstly, computer-based tools which provide the use of games, videos, and audio may be more motivating and engaging for children, especially for those with language difficulties. Secondly, computer-based assessments are generally less time-consuming than traditional paper-based assessments: this makes them less demanding for children and provides clinicians and researchers, but also teachers, with the opportunity to test children multiple times over the same school year and, thus, to monitor their language growth more systematically. Finally, while paper-based tools require offline coding, computer-based tools sometimes allow obtaining automatically calculated scores, thus producing less subjective evaluations of the assessed skills and provide immediate feedback. Nonetheless, using computer-based assessment tools to test meta-phonological and language skills in children is not yet common practice in Italy. The present contribution aims to estimate the internal consistency of a computer-based assessment (i.e., the Simo-syl assessment). Sixty-three Italian pre-schoolers aged between 4;10 and 5;9 years were tested at the beginning of the last year of the preschool through paper-based standardised tools in their lexical (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), morpho-syntactical (Grammar Repetition Test for Children), meta-phonological (Meta-Phonological skills Evaluation test), and phono-articulatory skills (non-word repetition). The same children were tested through Simo-syl assessment on their phonological and meta-phonological skills (e.g., recognise syllables and vowels and read syllables and words). The internal consistency of the computer-based tool was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = .799). Children's scores obtained in the paper-based assessment and scores obtained in each task of the computer-based assessment were correlated. Significant and positive correlations emerged between all the tasks of the computer-based assessment and the scores obtained in the CMF (r = .287 - .311, p < .05) and in the correct sentences in the RCGB (r = .360 - .481, p < .01); non-word repetition standardised test significantly correlates with the reading tasks only (r = .329 - .350, p < .05). Further tasks should be included in the current version of Simo-syl to have a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach when assessing children. However, such a tool represents a good chance for the teachers to early identifying language-related problems even in the school environment.

Keywords: assessment, computer-based, early identification, language-related skills

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Authors: O. D. Adegbehingbe, S. D. Eyono Obono

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The education sector is constantly faced with rapid changes in technologies in terms of ensuring that the curriculum is up to date and in terms of making sure that students are aware of these technological changes. This challenge can be seen as the motivation for this study, which is to examine the factors affecting computing students’ awareness of the latest Information Technologies (ICTs). The aim of this study is divided into two sub-objectives which are: the selection of relevant theories and the design of a conceptual model to support it as well as the empirical testing of the designed model. The first objective is achieved by a review of existing literature on technology adoption theories and models. The second objective is achieved using a survey of computing students in the four universities of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Data collected from this survey is analyzed using Statistical package for the Social Science (SPSS) using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Pearson correlations. The main hypothesis of this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics and the prior conditions of the computing students and their awareness of general ICT trends and of Digital Switch Over (DSO) a new technology which involves the change from analog to digital television broadcasting in order to achieve improved spectrum efficiency. The prior conditions of the computing students that were considered in this study are students’ perceived exposure to career guidance and students’ perceived curriculum currency. The results of this study confirm that gender, ethnicity, and high school computing course affect students’ perceived curriculum currency while high school location affects students’ awareness of DSO. The results of this study also confirm that there is a relationship between students prior conditions and their awareness of general ICT trends and DSO in particular.

Keywords: education, information technologies, IDT, awareness

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Authors: Shehu Aliyu

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This study investigated the effects of instructional materials on academic achievement among senior secondary school students on the concept of Heat Transfer in physics in Fagge Educational Zone, Kano State Nigeria. The population consisted of SSII students from 10 public schools. Out of this, 87 students were randomly selected from which 24 males and 22 females formed the experimental group and 41 students as control group. A quasi experiential design with pretest and post-test for both the groups was adopted. Two research questions and null hypotheses guided the conduct of the study. The experimental group was exposed to teaching using instructional materials while the control group was taught using the normal lecture mode. Head Transfer Performance Test (HTPT) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by experts in the science education field. A Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to determine the reliability co-efficient and was found to be r=0.83. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics while the hypotheses were tested at p≤ 0.05 level of significance using t-test. The result obtained from the data analysis showed that students in experimental group performed significantly better than those in the control group and that there was no significant difference in the academic performance between male and female students in the experimental group. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that the physics teachers should be receiving regular training on the importance of using instructional materials whether ready made or improved in their teaching.

Keywords: heat transfer, physics, instructional materials, academic performance

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Authors: Kazi Enamul Hoque

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Initiatives on sustainable development are currently aggressively pursued throughout the world. The Malaysian government has developed key policies and strategies for over 30 years to achieve the nation’s policy objectives which are designed to mitigate the issues of security, energy efficiency and environmental impact to meet the rising energy demand. Malaysia’s current focus is on developing effective policies on renewable energy (RE) in order to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and contribute towards mitigating the effects of climate change. In this light mass awareness should be considered as the highest priority to protect the environment and to escape disaster due to climate change. Schools can be the reliable and effective foundation to prepare students to get familiar with environmental issues such as renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Teachers can play a vital role to create awareness among students about the advantages and disadvantages of using different renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Thus, this study aims to investigate teachers’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards renewable energy through a survey aiming a sustainable energy future. Five hundred sets of questionnaires were distributed to the school teachers in Malaysia. Total 420 questionnaires were returned of which 410 were complete to analyze. Finding shows that teachers are very familiar with the renewable energy like solar, wind and also geothermal. Most teachers were not sure about the Photovoltaics and biodiesel. Furthermore, teachers are also aware that primary energy in Malaysia is imported fossil fuels. Most teachers heard about the renewable energy in Malaysia and only few claims that they did not hear of such things and the others said that they never heard of it. The outcomes of the study will assist the energy policy makers to use teachers to create mass awareness of energy usages for future planning.

Keywords: Malaysia, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, school teacher

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Authors: Yohannes Bisa Biramo

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This study examined the meditational role of surface acting and deep acting on the relationship between calling orientation and work engagement of teachers in secondary schools of Wolaita Zone, Wolaita, Ethiopia. A predictive non-experimental correlational design was performed among 300 secondary school teachers. Stratified random sampling followed by a systematic random sampling technique was used as the basis for selecting samples from the target population. To analyze the data, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the association between the independent variables and the dependent variables. Furthermore, the goodness of fit of the study variables was tested using SEM to see and explain the path influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the validity of the scales in the study and to assess the measurement model fit indices. The analysis result revealed that calling was significantly and positively correlated with surface acting, deep acting and work engagement. Similarly, surface acting was significantly and positively correlated with deep acting and work engagement. And also, deep acting was significantly and positively correlated with work engagement. With respect to mediation analysis, the result revealed that surface acting mediated the relationship between calling and work engagement and also deep acting mediated the relationship between calling and work engagement. Besides, by using the model of the present study, the school leaders and practitioners can identify a core area to be considered in recruiting and letting teachers teach, in giving induction training for newly employed teachers and in performance appraisal.

Keywords: calling, surface acting, deep acting, work engagement, mediation, teachers

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Authors: Tanimola Kazeem Abiodun

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In Nigeria, both formal education and distance learning opportunities are used in teacher training. Practical courses aim to improve the skills of teacher candidates in a school environment. Teacher candidates attend kindergarten classes under the supervision of a teacher. In this context, the guiding skills of teachers gain importance in terms of shaping candidates’ perceptions about teaching profession. In this study, the teachers’ perceptions related to the guiding skills within the practical courses were determined. Also, the perceptions and applications related to guiding skills were compared. A Likert scale questionnaire and an open-ended question were used to determine perceptions and applications. 120 questionnaires were taken into consideration and analyses of data were performed by using percentage distribution and QSR Nvivo 8 program. In this study, statements related to teachers’ perceptions about the guiding skills were asked and it is determined that almost all the teachers agreed about the importance of these statements. On the other hand, how these guidance skills are applied by teachers is also queried with an open-ended question. Finally, thoughts and applications related to guidance skills were compared to each other. Based on this comparison, it is seen that there are some differences between the thoughts and applications especially related with time management, planning, feedbacks, curriculum, workload, rules and guidance. It can be said that some guidance skills cannot be controlled only by teachers. For example, candidates’ motivation, attention, population and educational environment are also determinative factors for effective guidance. In summary, it is necessary to have prior conditions for teachers to apply these idealized guidance skills for training more successful candidates to pre-school education era. At this point, organization of practical courses by the faculties gains importance and in this context it is crucial for faculties to revise their applications based on more detailed researches.

Keywords: teacher training, guiding skills, education, practical courses

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Authors: Kadidiatou Toure

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Mali has started experimentation of teaching the national languages at school through the convergent pedagogy in 1987. Then, it is in 1994 that it will become widespread with eleven of the thirteen former national languages used at primary school. The aim was to improve the Malian educational system because the use of French as the only medium of instruction was considered a contributing factor to the significant number of student dropouts and the high rate of repetition. The Convergent pedagogy highlights the knowledge acquired by children at home, their vision of the world and especially the knowledge they have of their mother tongue. That pedagogy requires the use of a specific medium only during classroom practices and teachers have been trained in this sense. The specific medium depends on the learning content, which sometimes is French, other times, it is the national language. Research has shown that bilingual learners do not only use the required medium in their learning activities, but they code switch. It is part of their learning processes. Currently, many scholars agree on the importance of CS in bilingual classes, and teachers have been told about the necessity of integrating it into their classroom practices. One of the challenges of the Malian bilingual education curriculum is the question of ‘effective languages management’. Theoretically, depending on the classrooms, an average have been established for each of the involved language. Following that, teachers make use of CS differently, sometimes, it favors the learners, other times, it contributes to the development of some linguistic weaknesses. The present research tries to fill that gap through a tentative model of didactization of CS, which simply means the practical management of the languages involved in the bilingual classrooms. It is to know how to use CS for effective learning. Moreover, the didactization of CS tends to sensitize the teachers about the functional role of CS so that they may overcome their own weaknesses. The overall goal of this research is to make code switching a real tool for bilingual education. The specific objectives are: to identify the types of CS used during classroom activities to present the functional role of CS for the teachers as well as the pupils. to develop a tentative model of code-switching, which will help the teachers in transitional classes of bilingual schools to recognize the appropriate moment for making use of code switching in their classrooms. The methodology adopted is a qualitative one. The study is based on recorded videos of teachers of 3rd year of primary school during their classroom activities and interviews with the teachers in order to confirm the functional role of CS in bilingual classes. The theoretical framework adopted is the typology of CS proposed by Poplack (1980) to identify the types of CS used. The study reveals that teachers need to be trained on the types of CS and the different functions they assume and on the consequences of inappropriate use of language alternation.

Keywords: bilingual curriculum, code switching, didactization, national languages

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Authors: T. Jivita, M. S. Salmiah

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The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of smoking, reasons for tried smoking, factors that influence smoking, and knowledge level on health risk among male Tamil primary school students. Seven urban Tamil primary schools in Kuala Lumpur were identified based on cluster sampling. A cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2014 and a total of 380 male children in standard 4 and 5 were selected. Survey included information on history of ever smoking even a puff, smoking a whole cigarette, smoking every day at least for 7 days, reasons for tried smoking, potential factors of smoking and knowledge related to smoking and health. Fifty seven had previously smoked, with a prevalence of 15.0% (95% CI = 11.4, 18.6) and 17 had smoked a whole cigarette (4.5%, 95% CI = 2.42, 6.58) while 8 had at least smoked 7 days continuously (2.1%, 95% CI = 0.66, 3.54). The reasons for tried smoking were because of curiosity (63.2%), it is not allowed (42.6%), it is relaxing (35.2%), it is cool (33.3%), to lose weight (20.4%), style (1.8%), by mistake (0.5%), for prayers purpose (0.3%), given by uncle (0.3%), and introduced by elder brother (0.3%). None of these reasons were associated with age factors (p > 0.05). Of those who had smoked a whole cigarette, 42.9% were significantly influenced by father (χ2 (1) = 6.42, p = 0.040) and 47.8% were significantly influenced by friends (χ2 (2) = 6.27, p = 0.043). Overall 91.5% had good level of knowledge about smoking, where the majority knew that smoking was dangerous to their health. However only 61.7% and 63.1% of them knew that smoking can cause high blood pressure and stroke, respectively. There is no significant different in mean rank between 10 years old and 11 years old students (p=0.987 < 0.05) for level of knowledge, tested by Mann-Whitney U Test. Odds of smoking increased 1.37 times having seen actors smoking (95% CI= 1.01, 1.86), 1.55 times having a father who smokes (95% CI= 1.26, 1.92), 1.64 times having siblings who smokes (95% CI= 1.32, 2.04), and 10.55 times having friends who offered cigarette (95% CI= 4.17, 26.68). As a conclusion, cessation of smoking in family members, who are role models, so as to reduce rates to taking up smoking among children.

Keywords: factors influence, knowledge on smoking, prevalence on smoking, reasons

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