ABSTRACT The Central Asia Stunting Initiative (CASI) is a program designed to address malnutrition among women of reproductive age and children under five in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, a region facing significant nutritional challenges. This study used a pre‐post design to assess the impact of CASI interventions, with cross‐sectional surveys conducted at baseline and midline among non‐pregnant women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and children under five using a two‐stage stratified random sampling approach; data collection included anthropometric measurements and hemoglobin assessments. Between the baseline and midline surveys, access to safe drinking water improved from 80.9% to 90.7%, and sanitation improved from 37.4% to 88.3%, while the severe food insecurity rate dropped from 94.7% to 30.5% ( p < 0.001). Exclusive breastfeeding among children aged 0–5 months increased from 64.0% to 80.9%, and dietary diversity among children 6–24 months rose from 7.5% to 20.7% (both p < 0.05). Child under nutrition declined significantly, with underweight decreasing from 35.0% to 15.5% (Cohen's h = 0.46) and stunting from 52.3% to 37.3% (Cohen's h = 0.30). The prevalence of moderate anemia among children fell from 59.7% to 41.1%, while normal hemoglobin levels rose from 39.2% to 58.1% (both p < 0.001). Among women, underweight prevalence declined from 20.0% to 9.4% ( p < 0.001), while overweight prevalence rose from 5.4% to 10.7% ( p = 0.003). Adjusted models confirmed lower odds of stunting, underweight, and anemia at midline compared with baseline. These findings suggest that CASI was associated with substantial improvements in maternal and child nutrition indicators in Badakhshan, and policymakers should focus on scaling up effective interventions and ensuring continuous monitoring. However, given the single‐group pre‐post design without a comparison group, these findings should be interpreted as temporal associations rather than causal effects.
Imran A. Chauhadry, Aminah Jahangir, Muhammad Umer et al.
Any mainstream school’s trajectory of ‘Inclusive Education’ is dependent on the key factors playing out their roles for the actualisation of the proposed concept. The concept of ‘Inclusive Education’ envisions an environment where key factors: educators, administrators, and educational policies cater to diverse learners in an all-inclusive learning environment. ‘Mainstreaming’ of Children with Learning Difficulties (LD) in a system of ‘Inclusive Education’(IE) enhance the quality of learning of students with Learning Difficulties as well as those without. In this context, the paper examines classroom teachers’ attitude regarding ‘Inclusive Education’ in selected mainstream schools of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. A study was conducted with the help of a questionnaire schedule administered on 100 teachers. Responses to crucial questions were statistically computed by Chi-Square Test, interpreted and analysed. Of the two hypotheses drawn for study, the first states that mainstream school teachers ‘attitude towards Children with LD will be positive. The second hypothesis states that teachers will show a positive attitude toward providing additional guidance to children with LD in mainstream classrooms. The majority of responses supported the first hypothesis but rejected the second. Interviews of the respondents were recorded for a qualitative analysis, as well. Emerging traits from quantitative and qualitative analyses are discussed in the manuscript. This study may have implications for an expansive and in-depth research into the apprehensions of teachers of Secondary schools and lacunae in the education system to make ‘Inclusive Education’s success.
Education is widely recognized as a central instrument of social transformation and human development. However, its equitable distribution remains a persistent challenge, particularly among marginalized populations residing in urban slums. This study critically examines the status of primary education among children living in the slum settlements of Chetru and Salangari near Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. Using a qualitative research design, the study draws upon field-based evidence collected through interviews with parents, teachers and school administrators, supplemented by direct observation. The findings reveal a complex paradox, while enrollment rates are nearly universal largely due to policy interventions such as the Right to Education Act (RTE) and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme however issues of irregular attendance, low learning outcomes and limited educational continuity persist. Socio-economic deprivation, parental illiteracy, child labour, and institutional constraints emerge as key barriers to meaningful education. The study interprets these findings through the lenses of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, Sen’s capability approach and Freire’s critical pedagogy, arguing that access to schooling does not necessarily translate into educational empowerment. The paper concludes that structural inequalities continue to shape educational experiences, thereby limiting the transformative potential of education in slum contexts. Policy recommendations emphasize the need for quality-focused interventions, community engagement and systemic accountability. Keywords: Slum education, educational inequality, learning outcomes, cultural capital, capability approach, India, primary education, social exclusion
Abstract Despite progress towards universal primary education, children in India lag in age and grade-appropriate learning competencies. This paper studies the effect of women’s political leadership in state legislatures on primary school-aged children’s learning outcomes. I use close elections won by women against men as an instrument for the election of a female politician and find significant gains in math and reading proficiency in children 8–11. Using a rich set of school and household-level data, I evaluate the impact on public and household investments. There is an increased likelihood of public schools receiving grants and inputs beneficial for learning. Further, female politicians lead households to exhibit more confidence in the ability of public schools to provide a better education. Consistent with this perception change, there are reduced time allocation and spending on supplementary household resources. The net positive effect suggests the policy effect outweighs the crowding out of private resources.
The study aims to assess the machine learning techniques in predicting students' associated factors that affect their academic performance.The study sample consisted of 5084 middle and high school students between the ages of 10 and 17, attending public and UNRWA schools in the West Bank.The 'Health Behaviors School Children' questionnaire for the 2013-2014 academic year was used for data collection, and was then analyzed through machine learning techniques in order to evaluate their relationship with student academic outcomes.Six machine learning techniques (Random Forest, Neural Network, Support Vector Machine, Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes, and Logistic Regression) were used for prediction.The results indicated that the logistic regression and Naïve Bayes models had the highest accuracy levels (94.3%, 94%) respectively, followed by a decision tree, Neural Network, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machine (93.3%,91.9%,91.7%,and 80.2%) respectively.Thus, the Logistic Regression and Naïve Bayes had the best performance in classifying and predicting student academic performance with the associated factors.Furthermore, Decision Tree, Random Forest, and Neural Network had better predictive performance than Support Vector Machine.The results indicated that perception, Smoking, Depression, PTSD, Healthy Food Consumption, Age, gender, Grade Level, and Family income are the most important and significant factors that influence student academic performance.Overall, machine learning techniques prove efficient tools for identifying and predicting the features that influence student academic performance.The deployment of machine learning techniques within schools' information systems will facilitate the development of health prevention and intervention programs that will enhance students' academic performance.
Radwan Qasrawi, Stephanny Vicuna Polo, Diala Abu Al-Halawa et al.
Various research results show that independent learning provides many benefits for students. On that basis, this community service was carried out to motivate students in Satengah Village, Sinjai Regency to utilize their time outside of school by doing independent learning. Therefore, this community service is important so that students can learn independently after helping their parents. The method used in this community service is in the form of lectures and counseling. The stages of implementation are activity planning, preparation, socialization, and implementation of activities. The results of the community service activity show that this activity received attention from the local government, and the participants of the activity, namely students and their parents, were very enthusiastic about participating in this activity.
Abdul Hafiz A. Rahman, Parham Taufik, Andi Kasmawati et al.
Learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) starting at an early age is considered a better alternative than learning EFL at an older age. This study aims to examine the development of children's English capability especially in speaking after they have studied at home with Indonesian parents and at school with Indonesian teachers. This study is a longitudinal case study examining 2 children aged 80 and 52 months. The data were in the form of children's English utterances and were taken within 1-2 year intervals. The data were collected by recording their speech, interviewing both children and parents, and carrying out participant observations during data collection. Data analysis was performed using MLU (mean utterance length); UB (Upper Bound) or the number of morphemes of the longest utterance and Morpheme Acquisition (the types of morphemes acquired). The result is that in general they were able to converse in English, but they had different levels of MLU, UB, and Morpheme acquisition. This difference was ascribed to differences in the EFL intervention and learning experience. The first research subjects learned English with Direct Learning in courses and schools, she got her English in no time and her MLU was moderate. The second research subject experienced learning English from a very early age at home with his parents, his MLU was high.
Processing speed is one of the measures of cognitive efficiency. It refers to the ability to automatically and fluently execute relatively easy or overlearned cognitive tasks, especially when high mental efficiency is required. Contemporary research has shown that the speed of information processing is dynamically associated with mental capacity, reading performance, and development and reasoning by the conservation of cognitive resources and the efficient use of working memory. While the impact of chess training on intelligence and academic performance has been unequivocally established, its impact on processing speed needs to be researched. This study, funded by the Cognitive Science Research Initiative, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, analyzed the effect of 1-year chess training on the processing speed of children. A pretest–posttest with control group design was used, with 88 children in the experimental group and 90 children in the control group. The sample was selected from children studying in four city schools (grades 3–9), which included both genders. The experimental group underwent weekly chess training for 1 year, while the control group was involved in extracurricular activities. Processing speed was measured by two subtests of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV India), namely Coding and Symbol Search. The training methodology comprised Winning Moves Chess Learning Program with the demonstration board, on-the-board playing and training, chess exercise through workbooks, and working with chess software. Analysis revealed significant gains in processing speed in the experimental group compared with the control group. The present study clearly establishes a link between chess training and processing speed. Enhancing processing speed in children is especially important because of its relationship to other cognitive and academic performance indicators.
Ebenezer Joseph, Veena Easvaradoss, David Chandran et al.
This study examines how visit purpose and visit configuration (family versus school groups) are associated with engagement patterns in an out-of-school science learnıng environment, specifically the Izmir Natural Wildlife Park. Drawing on Falk and Dierking’s Contextual Model of Learning, learning motivation is conceptualized not as a latent psychological trait but as a contextually expressed process observable through engagement behaviors. A qualitative case study design was employed with 119 middle school students aged 11–14. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and systematic observations, focusing on dwell time, label reading, interaction patterns, and reported learning outcomes. Findings indicate that visit purpose differed substantially between groups: family visitors predominantly reported entertainment-oriented goals, whereas school-group visitors emphasized learning-oriented purposes. These orientations corresponded to distinct engagement patterns. School groups demonstrated longer exhibit dwell times, higher rates of label reading, and more frequent articulation of specific content knowledge. In contrast, family groups engaged more socially within their own units but interacted less with interpretive materials. Despite these differences, children in both groups perceived school-led visits as more effective for learning. Interpreted within the contextual model framework, the findings suggest that visit purpose (personal context) and group structure (sociocultural context) shape how engagement becomes behaviorally visible within the same physical environment. Rather than indicating differences in intrinsic motivation, the results highlight how motivational activation is mediated by social configuration and institutional framing. The study contributes to the literature on science education in out-of-school learning environments by comparatively examining family and school visits within a wildlife park context and by operationalizing learning motivation through observable engagement indicators. Implications for exhibit design, teacher preparation, and out-of-school science learning environments policy are discussed.
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of using Scratch Edugame in enhancing coding skills among elementary school students. The research employs a qualitative approach, utilizing direct observations and questionnaires to gather data on students' engagement and understanding during coding lessons. The findings reveal that students demonstrated a high level of engagement and enthusiasm, actively exploring various command blocks in Scratch and collaborating with peers. Furthermore, students were able to solve basic coding problems independently, showcasing their problem-solving skills. The study concludes that Scratch, as an interactive and game-based learning tool, not only helps in teaching basic coding concepts but also fosters creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration among students. The use of Scratch in coding education contributes to a positive learning environment, enhancing students' motivation and confidence in technology-related subjects. This research highlights the potential of Edugame platforms like Scratch in elementary education, suggesting further exploration of its long-term impact on student learning.
