Ethnicity and education policy in Malaysia： Managing and mediating the ethnic diversity

This paper discusses the issues of ethnicity and how they have been involved in the production of Malaysian education policy in achieving the aim of uniting the multiethnic society of the nation. The central focus in this paper was a discussion of the educational policies in Malaysia that had been produced to mediate the multiple demands, varying interests and ideological differences within Malaysian pluralistic society and amongst its various ethnic groups. This article also considered issues of policy implementation. The focus was on education policy, the politics of ethnicity in education, and the issue of language in education policy production in relation to produce a Malaysian outlook education system.     

Educational Leadership＂ What Can China Teach the West About Inclusive Decision-Making Practices

This paper focuses on educational decision-making in a Chinese context, but starts from a critique of distributed leadership educational theory as an instrumentalist and Western device of analysis. It is based upon a 2012 research project which reports on the academic insights of 51 Chinese school leaders who were also students studying ＂Masters of Educational Leadership＂ at an Australian university. The project explored these Chinese school leaders＇ perceptions of decision-making in education settings. It considered who would make decisions and how those decisions would be made in various hypothetical education scenarios. A unique feature of this research is the significant number of female school leaders from China who were in the participant cohort, so this study offers a rare insight into their thinking. Overall, this research offers an important first step in broadening out the theoretical discussions on leadership decision-making into a non-Western education environment. It also shows how educational research in the 21 st century is shifting away from Western---only analysis and instead broadening out to explore what the unique and important trends are in an Asian nation that is a global powerhouse.     

Educational challenges after year 2007 post election violence in Kenya

This paper sorts to examine the effects of post election violence on education in Kenya, after the presidential election results were disputed over by the two main presidential candidates. The rationale of the paper is due to the fact that among many other aspects of society that were affected in such a case is education. All levels of education were affected, and particularly primary and secondary education could not proceed on schedule as had earlier been planned. Other issues raised in this paper include the trauma experienced by students, loss of parents and guardians among others. The objectives of this paper therefore include： （1） To determine the effects of political violence on the education system in Kenya; （2） To establish the challenges facing students in Kenya after the post election violence; （3） To analyze individual attitudes of students towards the role of education in promoting national unity; （4） To determine how to re-imagine the role of education in promoting peace and peaceful coexistence in Kenya.     

The understanding of the laws and bylaws and the methodology for drafting in the socialist regime

The methodology for drafting is one of the most important concepts in drafting of a policy paper and translating this policy into legislation. Regarding this, it is necessary to know how the legislative drafting developed in the past during the socialist regime, and how it has changed with time after the beginning of the democratic processes of the country. Due to the correct methodology of drafting, we enable a good correct legislation as an important element of good governance, where the concept of law lays on its foundations and the democratic system is the major goal.     

English literacy： Consuming the Kapampangan oral antecedent

This paper discusses the effects of American colonial rule on the cultural life of the Kapampangans and inhabitants of the province of Pampanga. The colonial masters, who seemed to deliberately marginalize the local language of the community and succeeded in eventually arresting its natural development. The American policy to ＂educate＂ the Filipinos resulted in the waning of the Kapampangan language and literature. A brief overview of Kapampangan literary history will be given to emphasize the folk tradition, the oral nature of Kapampangan verbal art as well as the worldview and ethos of the people embedded in their literature. To be mentioned are two Kapampangan writers, Crisostomo Soto and Jose Gallardo, who represented the periods during and after the American regime respectively. Each responded to his time and scene; both struggled against the most powerful colonial machine which was the English language. They were aware that this medium and its message were one, and that their own language would, sooner or later, be a lost medium and a lost message. The shift from orality to literacy, as a consequence of western education, will also be discussed. In particular, the reaction of Kapampangan verbal artists to the reductive pressure exerted by literacy upon their literature will be focused.     

Influence of Khat （Miraa） on Primary School Dropout Among Boys in Meru County,Kenya

Despite introduction of Kenya＇s Free Primary Education in 2003 to achieve Universal Primary Education （MDG2）, primary school boys＇ enrolment in Kangeta is declining while dropout rates are increasing. This study investigated the influence of Khat （Catha edulis） on the boys＇ dropout rates. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 210 randomly selected dropouts and 10 primary school head teachers. Content validity of the teachers＇ questionnaire and boys＇ interview guide was ascertained by education experts, while reliability coefficients determined through a pilot test was 0.83a and 0.72a respectively. Peer pressure, Khat chewing, and easy money from Khat trade forced boys to leave school. Khat was highly regarded, socially accepted, and promoted the local people＇s economy and culture but was partly responsible for the boys＇ dropout. About 62% of the dropouts regretted leaving school and would re-enroll if given a chance. About 89% of the money from Khat was spent on food rather than investment. Parents and education stakeholders should help pupils complete education by discouraging them from engaging in Khat. Those involved in Khat should be encouraged to invest part of their income.     

About Historical Centers： Is the Trend Toward D6cor Really Irresistible？

In this paper, it is set out that projects in the historical centers of the large European cities are characterized either by historical truth, by authenticity, or by spectacle （d6cor）. There is always a formatting of space and behaviors, but it is either for culture or for entertainment （＂atmospheres＂）. This is confirmed when companies using Internet, which are specialized in ＂events＂, manage historical monuments. Also, a monument can be used for entertainment, as if it was a piece of d6cor. Possibly, preservation of heritage leads to d6cor. Therefore, the question of the limits of the trend toward d6cor is posed, and the topic is dealt with in the paper. The ideas of the French philosopher Lipovetsky are used. In a society with these characteristics, democracy, individualism and consumption, when in a group tastes and desires are shared, it can obtain decisions in accordance with the preferences of its members. The opinion of consumers （visitors or tourists） and inhabitants is paramount. Therefore, the set of the projects in the historical center of some cities should be somewhere in a triangle made up of historical truth, authenticity and spectacle. It is because if there is a need of entertainment, there is also a need of authenticity （and memory）. This ambiguity exists for a long time in tourism, architecture and even in the science called history. No wonder if it exists also in the projects chosen to fashion the historical centers.     

Capacity building of sea level and climate monitoring in the Pacific region： Fiji case study

In order to enhance capacity building in the Pacific region, and to raise awareness on climate change and sea level issues, teaching and training modules were made available to the Pacific community through the ＂South pacific sea level and climate monitoring project＂ funded by AusAID. Numerous training workshops have been conducted through the project since its inception in 1991 and the project is now in its fourth and final phase. It was hoped that the goals of capacity building for the stakeholders on correct information of climate change and sea level have been understood and taken heed of. In addition, ＂The scientific educational resources and experience associated with the deployment of Argo＂ （SEREAD） project was also set up especially for ocean science in the Pacific island schools in 2001. However, it has been realized that the data from this project is more relevant to tertiary level rather than to secondary level students. Consequently, a survey was carried out to gauge the students＇ outlook towards the physical side of marine science. The survey revealed that more than 80% of both tertiary level and high school non-physical science students decided not to take the physical aspect of marine science sighting reasons that it is either a difficult subject, boring, too hard to understand or difficult to pass in the examination. Even amongst students taking physical science, only about 50% believe that the physical aspect of marine science is enjoyable. A minority of students at USP and high school take science as a subject and a small proportion from them take the physical science. From this scenario, it can be predicted that there will be a shortage of physical science graduates in the future. The confidence of the Pacific community in the work of scientists is built on faith. They appreciate the effect of science on their lives and support it but are unaware of the scientific methods involved. Therefore, for the sustainability of physical aspect of marine science in the future for the Pacific region, public awareness of climate change and sea level is vitally important and it should be widely promoted in the community as a matter of urgency.     

The equalization pattern and process of gender educational inequality in Taiwan： Some evidence for the threshold hypothesis

The existing literature on women＇s educational attainments and gender inequality in education excludes the pattern and process of gender educational equalization. In this research, we review the relevant literature first and then set hypotheses to be tested based on the different expectations of modernization theory and the threshold hypothesis. We have access to the 1990-2001 data files of the Taiwan social change survey and the 1950-2000 data files of the Statistical abstract of national income in Taiwan to obtain the information which is used in this research. We employ the bi-variate logistic regression model to estimate the net effect of gender on the likelihood that the subject completes his or her high school education or earns a degree from a college or a university from 1950 to 2000. Our empirical results show that, when compared with the educational attainments of men, the women＇s relative disadvantage in terms of educational attainment diminishes with economic development, but the extent of such a decline varies with the different levels of economic development and stages of educational expansion. This indicates that the equalization pattern of gender inequality in education is not linear, but rather ladder-like, and is consistent with the assumption of the threshold hypothesis. Furthermore, the equalization process of gender educational inequality differs according to socio-economic backgrounds. A boy with an upper class background is more likely to complete his high school education or obtain a degree from a college or a university than a girl with an upper class background, followed by a lower class male, and a lower class female, respectively.     

Does the multi-phased high school entrance program affect the equity of educational opportunity？

The Taiwan Government has proposed many educational reform programs in these years. Since 2000, in addition to the joint high school entrance examination, new ways of entering senior high school have included recommendation, application, register-and-distribution, as well as direct promotion. In 2001, the joint high school entrance examination was further annulled for good. However, contrary to the Taiwan Government＇s anticipation, the multi-phased high school entrance program has been severely criticized due to its controversial operating process. Based on our in-depth interviews and analyses of data collected by the Taiwan Education Panel Survey, the results demonstrate that the multi-phased high school entrance program has divided the selection process into several critical parts. Firstly, students have to face the requisition both on and off campus. Secondly, the selection and recommendation criteria are not uniform among different schools. Thirdly, students with better family backgrounds are still benefiting from the advantages of being recommended to public senior high schools. Finally, the selection process and related criteria can easily be influenced by the parents or relatives of students with higher socio-economic status. We therefore argue that the issues related to the selection and recommendation criteria, timing of assignments, school categorizations, as well as the review process for the multi-phased high school entrance program should all be re-considered.     

Educational offer,education demand and institutional capacity

The present world is subject to some structural and institutional transformations unprecedented. The education-a public goods, a product and a process at the same time, is not different especially, since late modernization and modernity make education an essential vector of development. The present study insists on the triad educational offer, education demand and institutional capacity. It starts from the imperatives of knowledge society in globalization era and re-defines the educational market in the context of late modernity. Although the approach of the educational supply, the demand of education and competition on the educational market aims at a factorial analysis initially related to the realities in Romania, the issue is extended globally. The demonstration is simple enough, though the potential capacity （and the real one） of any institution of higher education management must be mediated on educational market. To this effect, the study insists on the objectives and aims of educational management. The premise to fundamentally define this type of management is that the intelligent models, the creative models and the strategic models of thought may contribute to the development of institutional （organizational） culture with axiological appliance, giving both identity and openness to diverse education. The study poses the problem of a new type of educational order, an educational order of a society based on knowledge.     

Bribery Problem in Kuwaiti Public Administration

This empirical study examines the bribery, problem in Kuwaiti public administration, its conception, magnitude, reasons, and its consequences. The study is a field research which is based on a random sample consisted of （600） people from various spheres of life in society. Study findings have shown that bribery in Kuwaiti administration is widespread and increasing, transcends nationality, gender, position, education level, and agencies in Kuwait which require paying attention to what kind of measures need to be taken to eradicate it. Recommendations are suggested on ways how to eradicate this problem in order not to become a phenomenon.     

Determinants of FDI Into Turkey： A Componentwise Analysis

For two decades, the questions of what really motivates foreign investors to invest in a certain country remain unanswered and a controversial issue. Moreover, previous studies have overwhelmingly treated FDI （foreign direct investment） as unidimensional rather than multidimensional. In reality, FDI is rather multidimensional in that it is composed of components （equity capital, reinvested earnings, and other capital）, each with its intrinsic characteristics in response to the same economic fundamentals, such as growth, institutional quality, exchange rate, taxes, market size, skill abundance, etc. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to seek the major determinants of the total FDI inflows in Turkey by treating total FDI as multidimensional to avoid a distorted empirical prediction concerning the total FDI, which is greatly neglected in the FDI literature. Accordingly, the author employed the panel corrected standard error （PCSE） model for annual data between 2003 and 2012, he found that FDIs are responsive to the country risk （CR） indices of both Turkey and EU （European Union） and to the tax measures of 2006.     

Internet as a source of information for tourists The case of Croatia

This paper presents the results of empirical research conducted during the summer 2007 on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia about how much tourists used the Internet as a source of information. Precisely, because tourism is an important part of Croatian economy, it is in everyone＇s interest for information about Croatia as a tourist destination to be available to potential guests. A variety of media are used in achieving that aim--starting with conventional speech and conversation amongst friends, through radio, television and the press, and now the Internet. This paper has the aim of exploring the share of Internet usage as a source of information compared to other media and showing some characteristics of tourists who have used the Internet as the main source of information and spent their vacations in Croatia in July and August in 2007. The main hypothesis is the continuing problem of the generation and education gap and that the Internet does not jeopardize direct communication.     

Citizen Participation Models in the Local Government

This research pretends to propose and test a new explanatory model relating to citizen participation, which will help us to implement participatory public policies in the local government scheme, comparing with the models of citizen participation derivatives of structural theories and choice theories. The author refers to the case of Spain and he tests five hypotheses derived from these theories, using structural equations. This study used an open and cross-sectional design. He uses ＂Citizenship, Participation and Democracy Survey＂ from Sociological Research Center of Spain. The model proposed in this study has taken into account both structural variables from the macro context of participation （political opportunity structure） and individual variables （individual resources）, thus considering that the most recent literature on citizen participation tells us that it is necessary to overcome the reductionist perspectives limited to individual factors. Based on the above, we saw the importance of structural variables and individual variables for the participation of people. In line with that, we find that a citizen is involved in participatory policy when they have individual resources such as education, interest in politics, non-political disaffection, civic social norms, personal effectiveness, and community pride. Another find from this research, according to the empirical results, is that structural variables are predictive of citizen participation： resources, mobilization, membership of deprived group, economic deprivation, interpersonal trust, membership of associations, ties to the local community, and membership of an informal network.     

The Effectiveness of Citizen Participation in Public Hearing of Current China

Public hearing system is regarded as the soul and core of modem administrative procedure; it plays a more and more important part in modem administrative affairs. Public hearing is an important way to listen to the voice of the public, and the main method to gauge public opinion before making public policies, laws, and regulations. In recent years, with the growing awareness of civic participation, public hearing system has played a big role in public policy-making process in contemporary China, but there is also a phenomenon that citizen participation is largely symbolic in most of the hearing, citizen participation cannot play its due role, and the effectiveness of citizen participation in public hearing is limited. Based on this background, the analyses about how to strengthen public hearing system construction, improve the representativeness of the representative and information disclosure system, are all very important to improve the validity of citizen participation in public hearings now to China.     

Unleashing the power of consultations and partnerships through Aboriginal participation

What are the extent to which and the means by which Canada＇s Aboriginals are involved in consultation and more importantly, partnerships with other political actors to achieve indigenous-based change？ This paper examines this question in the larger framework of new public management （NPM） theory. NPM postulates that consultation involving public sector engagement with citizens （community engagement/ participation） will improve the quality of decisions regarding the content and delivery of policies and programs. The degree to which the public is empowered to engage with the public sector can be measured along a public participation spectrum, developed by the International Association for Public Participation （IAP2）, which measures varying degrees of public participation resulting in different forms of consultations and/or partnerships （inform, consult, involve, collaborate and empower）. This paper will examine the existing literature on public consultation and public participation which will help identify the level of Aboriginal involvement in the policy process. More specifically, this paper will examine the Government of Alberta＇s 2004 ＂Grades 10-12 Social Studies Consultation＂ and the Government of Canada＇s 2008 ＂Environment Canada＇s Aboriginal Consultations on Wastewater＂, each of which involved government initiatives to carry out consultation with various Aboriginal actors. Ultimately, this paper argues that the different levels of governments in Canada have only employed the first two stages of the public participation spectrum （＂inform＂ and ＂consult＂） and therefore, have not empowered First Nations communities to become meaningful partners in the policy-making process and the democratic process at large.     

Main operational issues of medium term budget plan： The case of Albanian Ministry of Defence

This article is mainly concerned with some technical issues of preparing the medium term budget plan （MTBP） in Republic of Albania. This is a period of three years into the future. A period of three years is the right period for some realistic planning. Planning for one year only is not realistic planning, because decisions taken in one year will have consequences for later years. In Albania, there are a number of policy development processes, for example those related to the government programme, the sector and national strategy process and European integration process. The medium term budget programme seeks to complement other policy processes by drawing on their results and linking the associated policy objectives explicitly to expenditure programmes in a formal management process. Albanian Government is adopting an international sample of composing a good MTBP, so we found a very interesting research on this topic. The article is composed of three lines： The first part, named as ＂introduction＂, treats the work done by Albanian Government in preparing MTBP document; second part deals with main components of MTBP document prepared by an Albanian Ministry （14 in total）; while the third part refers to an MTBP for a programme taken as an example at the Albanian Ministry of Defence.     

A road to institutionalization： China＇s corruption and struggle for political reform

This essay is a study of China＇s political corruption and countermeasure for it. The author will focus on the cultural factors and the incompleteness of the market economy because these show us the reason why the corruption became severe after the initiation of the economic reform. The author will move on to search a solution within the field of political reform. The author will deal with the problem by two approaches. The first one is to focus on the democratization and the second one is to focus on the political institutionalization. The goal of the author＇s analysis is to examine which approach will work as a proper solution. The author＇s argument is that institutionalization will be the better one. The author will outline the grounds briefly. Firstly, unlike democratization, this solution shows possibility of realization. Secondly, political institutionalization has its own value of political development which was not considered sufficiently before. And finally there are advantages of strengthened accountability and limit discretion. To consolidate the author＇s argument the author will use Hong Kong＇s case where have been successfully controlled the problem by political institutionalization.