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A comparative study of the Roma population in Romania and Spain can provide a detailed insight into the different aspects of the life of these communities in the two countries. This research could be conceived using a mixed approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain a comprehensive and contextualized image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Antenatal education provides parents with strategies for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood. There is not enough evidence of the positive effect of prenatal education on childbirth and maternal outcomes. The present scoping review using a systematic approach, evaluates the effectiveness of prenatal education on fear of childbirth, pain intensity during labour, childbirth experience, and postpartum psychological health. Methods We used Google Scholar and systematically reviewed databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Scopus, and SID (Scientific Information Database). Randomized controlled and quasi-experimental trials examining the effect of structured antenatal education and routine prenatal care compared to routine prenatal care were reviewed. The participants included pregnant women preferring a normal vaginal delivery and had no history of maternal or foetal problems. The outcomes considered in this study included fear of childbirth, pain intensity during labour, childbirth experience (as primary outcomes) and postpartum psychological health (as secondary outcomes). The grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the quality of evidence. Results Overall, 3242 studies were examined, of which 18 were qualified for the final analysis. The meta-analysis showed that providing prenatal education and routine care compared to only routine care may decrease the fear of childbirth, postpartum depression, and pain intensity during labour. However, we found no study examining the outcome of the childbirth experience. In addition, the inconsistency of included studies prevented conducting a meta-analysis on the rest of the outcomes. Conclusions Our investigations showed that there are very few or no studies on the effect of prenatal education on outcomes such as childbirth experience, postpartum anxiety, and maternal attachment, and the existing studies on the effect of prenatal education on outcomes such as the fear of childbirth, postpartum depression, and pain intensity during labour lack sufficient quality to make definitive conclusions. Therefore, high-quality, randomized trials with a more extensive sample size are suggested to provide clear reports to make definitive decisions. Prospero ID CRD42022376895.

Background: Antenatal education provides parents with strategies for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood. There is not enough evidence of the positive effect of prenatal education on childbirth and maternal outcomes. The present scoping review using a systematic approach, evaluates the effectiveness of prenatal education on fear of childbirth, pain intensity during labour, childbirth experience, and postpartum psychological health. Methods: We used Google Scholar and systematically reviewed databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Scopus, and SID (Scientific Information Database). Randomized controlled and quasi-experimental trials examining the effect of structured antenatal education and routine prenatal care compared to routine prenatal care were reviewed. The participants included pregnant women preferring a normal vaginal delivery and had no history of maternal or foetal problems. The outcomes considered in this study included fear of childbirth, pain intensity during labour, childbirth experience (as primary outcomes) and postpartum psychological health (as secondary outcomes). The grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the quality of evidence. Results: Overall, 3242 studies were examined, of which 18 were qualified for the final analysis. The meta-analysis showed that providing prenatal education and routine care compared to only routine care may decrease the fear of childbirth, postpartum depression, and pain intensity during labour. However, we found no study examining the outcome of the childbirth experience. In addition, the inconsistency of included studies prevented conducting a meta-analysis on the rest of the outcomes. Conclusions: Our investigations showed that there are very few or no studies on the effect of prenatal education on outcomes such as childbirth experience, postpartum anxiety, and maternal attachment, and the existing studies on the effect of prenatal education on outcomes such as the fear of childbirth, postpartum depression, and pain intensity during labour lack sufficient quality to make definitive conclusions. Therefore, high-quality, randomized trials with a more extensive sample size are suggested to provide clear reports to make definitive decisions. Prospero ID: CRD42022376895. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction Georgia, like other Eastern European countries, showed a dramatic increase of international labour emigration after becoming independent in 1991. The collapse of the Soviet Union caused economic instability, unemployment and poverty resulting in labour migration. Since then, thousands of children have been left behind in the care of extended family members while their parents work abroad. The aim of this study is to explore schoolteachers’ perceptions on parental migration and left-behind children (LBC) in Georgia as schoolteachers are the main contact persons for LBC and their caregivers. Methods We conducted six focus-group discussions with public school teachers, namely class-tutors and six in-depth interviews with school principals from two migrant sending regions. We applied reflexive thematic analysis to systematically analyse the data and identify main and sub-themes. The contextual model of family stress underpins this study. Results We identified the following themes expressed by both, teachers, and school principals: social and economic impact of migrant labour and relationships between schools and migrant families. School teachers and principals acknowledged some positive aspects of migrant labour, but primarily perceived parental migration as a negative experience for children leading to problems in mental health, well-being, and academic performance. Structural factors, lack of support and lack of community involvement were expressed to further worsen the situation. Teachers saw themselves as one of the main supporters for LBC while they described the role of caregivers ranging from caring to unhelpful or even destructive. School principals stated mitigating the situation by regular meetings with class tutors, extra-tutoring for LBC, psychological counselling, and developing/enacting internal guidelines. Conclusions Our findings suggest that LBCs and transnational families could benefit from the provision of psychological services at schools.

Pandemic and online learning have added to barriers to education. Lack of digital access, difficulty in communication with teachers and lack of peer support create major hurdles in learning for a large proportion of the student population. New entry barriers to better jobs, level and quality of higher education, will add to existing social barriers of gender, caste and nepotism. This will perpetuate a vicious cycle of low education and low incomes. In this paper, we investigate whether there is a threshold of level of education for better jobs in India? We find that higher secondary education is a threshold required for entry into good jobs. We observe increasing returns to private investments in higher levels of education and higher returns to education in the formal sector jobs compared to the informal sector. Will deficits in education during the pandemic reduce investments in education? We study these issues mainly using secondary data from the National Sample Office (NSO). The purpose of this short paper is to build research hypotheses regarding the relation between investment in education and employment, which we highlight in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When one exists outside the boundaries of what it means to be a person, let alone a ‘good’ womxn, the simple act of existing is a threat to the heteronormative standards present in one’s life (Alexander, 1994; Kempadoo, 2004, p. 27). Within the Caribbean, many colonial discourses on sexuality and race still exist today, where Caribbean womxn are harmed through dehumanizing stereotypes that pin their sexuality and agency with perversion, rejection of nature, and deviancy along with hypersexuality, immorality and purity, despite countries’ ‘independence’ of the colonial world (Reddock, 2007, p. 3-5; Kempadoo, 2004; Alexander, 1994). Using three visual pieces, I will put three of these harmful stereotypes in conversation with decolonial thought found in third-world feminism and Queer thought: “My Labour is Not Unskilled” with rejection of nature, “My Love is Not Unnatural” with perversion, and “My Body is My Own” with agency and opposition of hypersexuality.

Introduction: Georgia, like other Eastern European countries, showed a dramatic increase of international labour emigration after becoming independent in 1991. The collapse of the Soviet Union caused economic instability, unemployment and poverty resulting in labour migration. Since then, thousands of children have been left behind in the care of extended family members while their parents work abroad. The aim of this study is to explore schoolteachers' perceptions on parental migration and left-behind children (LBC) in Georgia as schoolteachers are the main contact persons for LBC and their caregivers.  METHODS: We conducted six focus-group discussions with public school teachers, namely class-tutors and six in-depth interviews with school principals from two migrant sending regions. We applied reflexive thematic analysis to systematically analyse the data and identify main and sub-themes. The contextual model of family stress underpins this study.Results: We identified the following themes expressed by both, teachers, and school principals: social and economic impact of migrant labour and relationships between schools and migrant families. School teachers and principals acknowledged some positive aspects of migrant labour, but primarily perceived parental migration as a negative experience for children leading to problems in mental health, well-being, and academic performance. Structural factors, lack of support and lack of community involvement were expressed to further worsen the situation. Teachers saw themselves as one of the main supporters for LBC while they described the role of caregivers ranging from caring to unhelpful or even destructive. School principals stated mitigating the situation by regular meetings with class tutors, extra-tutoring for LBC, psychological counselling, and developing/enacting internal guidelines.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that LBCs and transnational families could benefit from the provision of psychological services at schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the eastern Indian steel town of Rourkela, Adivasis are widely stereotyped as uneducated, jangli ('wild'), and drinkers, and they are therefore held to make for a special type of worker. Their Adivasi 'nature' makes them an ideal fit for facing the heat, dust, and fumes in the so-called 'hot shops' of the local public-sector steel plant. It is also said that Adivasis are, in fact, not well suited for the permanent and well-paid jobs the public-sector steel plant provides, and that they are better employed as contract workers who are paid little and by the day, and on whom the industry has increasingly relied since the 1970s. Critically engaging with Bourgois' concept of 'conjugated oppression', I will show how these casteist stereotypes entrench the class position of Adivasis in the local steel industry, but also how this position has nevertheless changed over time—for some for the better, for many for the worse. Furthermore, although this polarization is driven by larger political economic changes it is exacerbated by the ways in which the better-off among the stereotyped Adivasi workers respond to them. This calls, I argue, for close attention to be given to the historical dynamics in the relations between class and caste (or 'tribe') and in the struggles related to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the direct and indirect impact (via educational achievement) of student work during secondary education on later employment outcomes. To this end, we jointly model student work and later schooling and employment outcomes as discrete choices, while correcting for these outcomes' unobserved determinants. Using unique longitudinal Belgian data, we find that pupils who work during the summer holidays are more likely to be employed three months after leaving school. This premium to student work in secondary education is higher when pupils also work during the school year. Decomposing this total effect shows that the direct return to student work during secondary education overcompensates its non-positive indirect effect via educational achievement. This effect is also found to decline over time, with the premium to a combination of work during the summer and the school year becoming statistically insignificant five years after graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a popular belief that economic growth of the East Asian countries is a result of free market, but at the same time, there are scholars who argue that State always played a major role in the industrial development of the East-Asian countries. The Republic of Korea has been a perfect example of this, where the State helped, promoted, and controlled the activities of chaebols.1 This paper brings out the role of education, especially the vocational education, and industrial policy in the development of a country. The paper is divided into three parts except the conclusion. The first part gives a brief description of the Republic of Korea's economic development during and after the Cold War. The second part looks at the role of the State in creating a productive and skilled labourforce. The third part of the paper discusses the economic reforms undertaken by the State and an education policy designed keeping in mind the skill requirements of industries. The paper concludes that the Republic of Korea's experience shows that, State intervention in the form of a coherent vocational education and industrial policy can bring any country on the path of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interview with globally distinguished Canadian philosopher and author, John McMurtry, presents dialogue discussing capitalism, asymmetrical power relations, life capital, social theory, common life interest, life value, global problems, market theology, media, values of the market and free market ideology today in relation to public education, academia, intellectual fads and the broader intellectual culture in relation to enabling public understanding of meaning-making and power, totalising market culture, climate, dispossession, health, influence, energy, labour, income, slavery, corporate welfare, neo-liberalism, the global ecosystem, and inequalities of class and power.