Effect of School-Based Income Generating Activities on the Financial Performance of Public Secondary Schools in Kenya

This study was conducted to determine the value added by Income-Generating Activities （IGAs） on the financial performance of public secondary schools, in terms of assets, liability portfolio, and net worth. Secondary school managers have the gigantic task of balancing meager resources between subsistence and development needs as well as good performance in national examinations. However, macro-economic shocks such as inflation, fuel shortage, and crop failure, among others, often militate against the success of public schools. School-based IGAs enable public schools to cope with external economic shocks, without necessarily passing down budgetary adjustments to parents. However, the country lacks a clear policy guideline to facilitate the initiation, management, accounting, reviewing, and financial reporting of IGA projects. Besides, there is no documented information regarding the value added by IGA initiatives to the financial performance of public secondary schools. The study found that IGA and non-IGA schools were significantly different in terms of category, student population, age, annual income, and number of paid workers. Schools having IGAs were 1.9 times more likely to own as many assets as schools not having IGAs. Besides, IGA schools were about 2.2 times less likely to have their liability in excess of the median threshold. Regarding net worth, the study found that schools having IGAs were about 2.1 times more likely to be operating above the median threshold; suggesting that schools having IGAs were wealthier than non-IGA schools. Based on the findings, this study concludes that IGA projects were beneficial to schools by improving the ability of schools to accumulate assets and manage their liabilities. The study recommends the need to： formulate an appropriate policy framework to guide and standardize IGA activities; initiate suitable training programs for school IGA managers; as well as engage business development managers to advice schools on IGA matters.

Architectural Research and Reutilization of Lvshun Public High School Site

Public high school in Lvshun is a typical example of modern school architecture in Dalian during the Japanese colonial period. This paper summarises the historical background, development and current situation of the old site of public high school in Lvshun by approaches such as historical literature research and present situation surveying. Then, it analyses the characteristics of public high schools in Lvshun in four aspects: architectural scale, plane function, architectural style and material structure. After that, the school is judged to have four dimensions of value: historical, technological, and cultural and use value. In the end, this paper explores the protection and reuse of the building from the aspects of authenticity, suitability and integrity. It is intended to provide a theoretical basis for the protection and reutilization of modern architectural heritage.

Choosing Mandarin Senegal’s public and private schools keep up with demand for study of the Chinese language

In Dakar, Happy Kids Kindergarten has set itself an ambitious challenge： to teach Senegalese toddlers to speak Chinese. This kindergarten, located in Ngor District, boasts of being the first trilingual school in Senegal. In addition to French （the country＇s official language） and English, the school also teaches Mandarin. With China being the world＇s most popu lous country and second largest economy, there is much to benefit from it this decision.

Peer Pressure and Family Smoking Habits Influence Smoking Uptake in Teenage Boys Attending School: Multilevel Modeling of Survey Data

Introduction: Among young teens, about one in five smokes worldwide. Adolescents spend a considerable amount of their time in school, and the school environment is therefore important for child health practices and outcomes. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the impact on smoking behavior of the school environment and the personal characteristics of male teenage students attending schools in Pakistan, taking into account the survey sampling structure. Methods: A two-stage cluster sampling with stratification was employed, and we interviewed 772 male secondary school students. We adopted random effect and generalizing estimating equation models. Results: Peer pressure in particular had a strong influence on adolescents smoking;those whose friends smoked were up to 6 times more likely to smoke. Family smoking was also significantly associated with adolescents smoking, but those students whose mother was educated were 50% less likely to smoke. The fitted random effect model indicated that the between school variability was significant (p-value < 0.01), indicating differences in smoking habits between schools. A random coefficient model showed that variability among schools was not significantly different for public and private schools. Conclusion: Public health campaigns for smoking cessation should target not only the individual but also the families of adolescents attending schools.

“Screening”or“Meritocracy”:Does the Choice of a Private School Help Students Achieve Higher Academic Performance?-Based on the PISA 2018 Analysis of Four Provinces and Municipalities in China

The introduced policy of“synchronized enrollment of public and private schools”has once again triggered the debate on the effectiveness of public and private schools.Based on the data of the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2018 from four Chinese provinces and municipalities,this paper explores whether private schools gain a relative advantage in student academic performance through student“screening”or academic“meritocracy,”through a hierarchical linear model(HLM)and an empirical test of the propensity score matching(PSM).It has been found that the academic performance of students in private schools is significantly better than that in public schools.But with background,metacognitive ability,and learning hours of students in private schools controlled for,such academic performance is not significantly superior,suggesting that private schools rely heavily on student“screening”to achieve a relative advantage in student academic performance.This finding has also verified the scientific nature of the above policy.