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"Ogawa, Keiichi"
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Future-readiness and employable ICT skills of university graduates in Bangladesh: an analysis during the post-covid era
The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on our society, changing both the workplace and educational landscapes. This study aims to evaluate the ICT readiness of university graduates. It examines the usefulness and accessibility of the existing technology infrastructure found in the institutions of Bangladesh. In this study, a mixed-method inductive approach has been employed. This study utilized surveys and in-depth interviews to collect data from participants. The study's total sample size is 500. Snowball sampling and random purposive sampling have been used to select study participants. This study utilized human capital theory and consensus theory to provide a comprehensive underpinning of the situation in Bangladesh. The findings of this study indicated that the graduates have adequate ICT skills for future readiness for employability (A = 39.6%, SA = 29.4%). The result also indicates that the universities in Bangladesh have adequate opportunities to improve their ICT infrastructures for students (A = 49.4%, SA = 24.4%). To improve ICT skills among graduates, the study prescribes several policy recommendations, including collaborative efforts, career counselling, and industry-academia collaboration. By recognizing the need for ICT skill advancement initiatives and infrastructures during the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) period, this study also advises and contributes to future graduates, researchers, academicians, university faculties, policymakers, and government officials.
Journal Article
What drives academic achievement? A deep dive into demand and supply factors in Myanmar's primary schools
This study examines the sources of variability in the academic achievements of primary students in Myanmar, focusing on both demand- and supply-side factors. Using data from the South East Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019, a comprehensive learning assessment conducted among Grade 5 students in six Southeast Asian countries, this study employs the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) approach. The findings reveal that approximately one-third of the variability in academic achievement can be attributed to differences between schools, whereas the remaining variance occurs within schools. Demand-side factors contribute to one-fifth of the student-level differences and two-fifths of the school-level differences. Conversely, supply-side factors explain only one-fifth of the school-level differences. When both the demand and supply sides are integrated, half of the variance is explained between schools, and nearly one-fifth is explained within schools. The key predictors on the demand side include repetition status, positive attitudes toward school, parental education, and involvement, whereas teacher absenteeism, the student-teacher ratio, and shortages of instructional materials emerge as significant factors on the supply side.
Journal Article
e-Learning as a Doubled-Edge Sword for Academic Achievements of University Students in Developing Countries: Insights from Bangladesh
e-Learning is popular in various developed countries, but it is still underutilized in many developing countries. During COVID-19, when technology was utilized to overcome these obstacles in delivering education globally, e-Learning became widespread in developing nations. In turn, this promoted e-Learning in all types of educational institutions, specifically in higher-level institutions, such as universities. e-Learning has become vital to students’ learning and academic achievement. Despite the positive global impact of e-Learning, Bangladesh’s situation is quite different. Where socio-economic inequality and the digital divide are pervasive, it results in unequal learning gains and opportunities for university students. Consequently, this affects students’ academic achievements. Despite the importance of the topic, there is an existing knowledge gap. This study aims to fill the gap by investigating the effect of e-Learning on the academic achievements of university students in Bangladesh. The study utilizes a mixed methodology. A total of 275 university students participated in this study. The findings of this study demonstrated that students lack access to technological devices and digital literacy, which, in turn, has negatively affected their academic achievement in conjunction with the advancement of e-Learning. Hence, this study recommends that the government offset adverse effects to ensure students utilize e-Learning appropriately.
Journal Article
The Role of Home-Based Parental Involvement in Student Learning in Cambodian Secondary Schools
This study investigates the influence of home-based parental involvement on secondary school students’ academic achievement, accounting for factors including gender, grade, repetition, siblings, parental literacy, working in paid jobs, family resources, school type, and location. It focuses primarily on four activities at home, namely (a) discussing school performance, (b) eating meals together, (c) encouraging children to get good grades, and (d) talking about future education with children at varying frequency levels. It uses Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to assess the associations between these activities and academic outcomes. The findings reveal that activities such as discussing a child’s performance, eating meals together, and encouraging children positively correlate with test scores. In contrast, frequent discussions regarding future educational plans are negatively associated with academic achievement. These results underscore the nuanced influence of home-based parental involvement on educational outcomes, providing evidence to inform targeted parental engagement strategies in the context of developing countries.
Journal Article
Bridging the gap: an examination of teacher deployment in Cambodian preschools
The current study examines teacher deployment strategies in Cambodian preschools and identifies challenges related to the supply and deployment of teaching staff in early childhood education by assessing the adequacy, efficiency, and quality of teacher deployment. This study employs multiple approaches in data collection, including desk review of existing policies and literature, analysis of school-level administrative data, and in-depth interviews at the national, sub-national, and school levels. The findings from the study highlight the severe teacher shortage, uneven distribution of qualified teachers and disparities in teacher quality in Cambodian early childhood education. Newly graduated and well-trained preschool teachers are disproportionately deployed in urban areas, while preschool teachers in rural schools are not adequately trained to be preschool teachers. Existing efforts to expand preschool access are insufficient without simultaneously addressing the urgent need for properly trained preschool teachers. Based on these findings, the study offers policy recommendations, including scaling up pre-service training, strengthening teacher workforce planning through improved data systems, and implementing targeted incentives to ensure a more equitable and sustainable ECE teacher workforce.
Journal Article
Determinants of exports performance: Evidence from Indonesian low-, medium-, and high-technology manufacturing industries
This study explores the determinants of the export performance of Indonesia’s low-, medium-, and high-technology manufacturing industries by focusing on the role of raw-material imports and technical efficiency. Micro firm-level data from 2010–2015 were utilized for the analysis in this study. The stochastic frontier analysis was employed to measure technical inefficiency and to determine its effect on export performance. Our findings indicate that in all categories of industry technical efficiency, raw materials imports, foreign direct investment (FDI), location, firm size, labour productivity, and concentration of industries were significant determinants of export performance. While high efficiency increases exports in low- and medium-technology firms, exports decrease in firms with high efficiency accompanied by high imports, FDI, size, and labour productivity. Furthermore, in high-technology industries, efficiency reduces exports and again increases them when mediated by a concentration of industries and location. The empirical strategy also supports the positive effect of imports on export performance in both industries, which also aligns with decreased exports in firms with high imports accompanied by high FDI, efficiency, labour productivity, the concentration of industries, and size. To this end, the study has implications for low-, medium-, and high-technology manufacturing that are mainly concerned with increasing exports.
Journal Article
Importance of Skills Development for Ensuring Graduates Employability: The Case of Bangladesh
Graduate employability is a multifaceted concept considering the Sustainable Development Goals. Graduate employability and skills development are also significant determinants for future career success. Graduate employability has seen more sweeping emphasis and concerns in national and global job markets, due to the ever-rising number of unemployed people, which has increased even more due to COVID-19. Due to its importance, this study investigates the current state of skill development initiatives in Bangladesh and the perceptions of university graduates regarding skill development for their future employability. This study uses mixed-method research. Data was collected through surveys and in-depth interviews; various probabilistic and non-probabilistic sample selection methods were used. A total of 437 participants responded to this study. After analysis, the data was shown descriptively. The empirical findings of this study demonstrated that university graduates are well-aware of the skill development requirements for their future employability. However, university graduates face many obstacles in acquiring these necessary skill development opportunities. Therefore, the government and relevant stakeholders must work together to alleviate the obstacles. Furthermore, this study includes recommendations that can assist in developing a model for skill development programs and initiatives in the country for university graduates to ensure their future employability.
Journal Article
Parental perception on school choice for quality early childhood education in Bangladesh: a socio-economic analysis
The choice of an Early Childhood Education (ECE) institution for children is influenced by various aspects, including school costs, parental socio-economic rank, parental impression of the institution, and the school's quality. Insufficient research exists regarding the influence of parental perspective and socio-economic status on school selection within Bangladesh's setting. This study investigates the fundamental aspects that influence parental decision-making about school selection. This study employs a qualitative method using a case study approach. In-depth and key informant interviews were conducted with the parents to acquire data. The participants were chosen using a random purposive method to fulfil the research objectives. The participants included parents who had already registered their children in ECE schools and those contemplating enrolling them. The findings demonstrate that parental viewpoint has a substantial influence on the selection of an ECE school. In contrast, parental socio-economic condition does not exert a noteworthy effect on school choice. Additionally, this study investigates the cost disparity across various ECE schools and other pertinent elements influencing parents' decision-making regarding school choice.
This research explores the factors influencing early childhood education program selection in Bangladesh. Parents should emphasize their viewpoints and sentiments about a school, including trust, environment, and reputation, rather than concentrating on the school's financial or social standing. Through in-depth interviews with parents from various backgrounds, this study aims to shed light on the challenges and priorities families face when selecting a preschool for their children. In addition, it demonstrates how the significant price differences among early childhood education programs impact parents. As a result of the findings, communities, politicians and educators may be better able to appreciate parents' desires and goals to expand access to high-quality early education for all families, regardless of their socio-economic circumstances.
Journal Article
Irreversible thermodynamics of ideal plastic deformation
Thermodynamics for ideal plastic deformation causing no disorganization of the structure in the deformed body, which was discussed by P. W. Bridgman studied (1950), revealed that the concept of entropy was still applicable to its irreversible process. Noting that the structural invariability in an ideal plastic body is physically equivalent to the prerequisite of thermodynamics, namely, thermodynamic quantities must be independent of the macroscopic body shape, the generalized concept of entropy can be extended to the other thermodynamic potentials such as internal energy, free energies and so on. Here the extended generalization for ideal plastic deformation is theoretically justified on the basis of the irreversible thermodynamics constructed by Prigogine and his discipline. Thermodynamic state of the ideally deformed body is found to be specified both by the generalized thermodynamic potential (S, U, F, H or G) and by the irreversible potential energy J which drives the plastic deformation.
Journal Article