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Education systems have been grossly negatively impacted by COVID-19 globally. Education Institutions including universities, colleges, and elementary schools were closed to prevent the disease from spreading. Lockdown and social distancing are some of the disease preventive measures that imposed the greatest challenges on the education system. Different training and learning strategies were adopted to ensure continuity in the provision of Business, Vocational, Entrepreneurship, and Technical Training (BTVET) education across the globe. These strategies include individual learning, online or remote training, and focus group discussion. Several Scholarly studies show that it was not easy for developing countries like some African countries to adopt the online or remote education mechanism while the developed ones took a temporary short period to adjust to the new system. In this article, we used systematic literature review methodology to examine the enabling and impeding factors associated with COVID-19 pandemic that impacted the provision of BTVET education in African the setting right from the onset of the pandemic. We also identify mitigation strategies that should be put in place to abate similar future occurrence. We argue that the lack of strategic foresight in emergency readiness was a major cause of national failures to promptly combat COVID-19 in most African countries including Uganda. BTVET education in Uganda was not spared the bitter effects of the pandemic. However, the pandemic taught a number of hard lessons to the Government of Uganda to strategically outmaneuver the effects of the pandemic. We recommend a number of strategies for outmaneuvering any future effects of pandemics on the provision of BTVET education in Uganda.

Efficacious menstrual health management (MHM) is critical to ensure effective physiological and psychological functionality as well as academic performance of school-going adolescent girls. This chapter presents an impact evaluation involving 60 [experimental (n = 30) and control (n = 30)] adolescent girls in primary five class in two distant schools in Tororo District in Eastern Uganda using a randomised controlled trial. A pencil and paper pre-test composed of English language, Mathematics, Integrated Science, and Social Studies was administered to both groups. The experimental group was entirely one school that was then engaged in storying and gamification of menstrual health management for sixty days. Participants in the control group were not provided with these. A pencil and paper post-test was again administered to both groups. Results indicated that the girls in the treatment group (provided with MHM) (t = 8.498, df = 29, p < .05), with (M = 16.67, SD = 10.74) obtained significantly higher scores than those in the control group (not provided with MHM), (t = 4.28, df = 29, p < .05), mean (M = 6.83, SD = 8.74). This implies that the provision of MHM to adolescent girls significantly improved their academic performance. We, therefore, conclude and recommend that provision of MHM in a story and game way to adolescent girls in primary schools, especially in the rural areas, be considered as a central policy issue in order to demystify menstruation and hence improve the academic performance of girls from those areas.

This study explored the levels of and relationship between ICT adoption readiness and ICT policy implementation in Secondary Schools in Mayuge District. The objectives included determining the level of ICT adoption readiness, establishing the level of ICT policy implementation and examining the relationship between ICT adoption readiness and ICT policy implementation. A cross-sectional survey research design employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches was used. A sample of 232 teachers was selected from both private and public secondary schools using simple random sampling technique to participate in the study. Three District Inspectors of Schools (DIS) selected purposively also participated in the study. A questionnaire containing closed ended questions was used to collect quantitative data from the teachers, while an interview guide was used to obtain qualitative responses from the DIS. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics: frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations, while the qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The results revealed a moderate overall level of ICT adoption readiness (M = 42.19, SD = 10.10), a moderate overall level of ICT policy implementation (M = 85.11, SD = 9.88), and a significant moderate positive relationship (r = .50, p < .01) between ICT adoption readiness and ICT policy implementation. From the results it was concluded that secondary schools in Mayuge District were in the early stages of domestication of ICT and ICT policy implementation. It was recommended that concerted effort be directed towards improving schoolsi¯ ICT adoption readiness in order to improve ICT policy implementation.

This study sought to establish the effect of knowledge of the Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) and school assessment environment on assessment practice among teachers of science and mathematics subjects in Eastern Uganda Secondary Schools. The study assessed the levels of knowledge and application of CTT and IRT in assessment, examined the suitability of school environment for assessment and established the influence of school environment and knowledge of CTT and IRT on teachers’ engagement in assessment. A census of 307 teachers of science and mathematics subjects attending SESEMAT training in Eastern Uganda participated in the study. The results revealed that the teachers were engaged in assessment (M = 17.04, SD = 2.00) and had moderate levels of knowledge of CTT (M = 10.19, SD = 2.23) and IRT (M = 17.5, SD = 3.50). Their levels of application of CTT (M = 28.08, SD = 3.85) and IRT (M = 6.86, SD = 1.47) were also moderate. The teachers reported that their schools had somewhat conducive environments for assessment (M = 14.37, SD = 3.44). In addition, school environment affected teachers assessment practices most ( = .211, t = 7.212, p < .05), knowledge of CTT also influenced teachers assessment practice, but less than the influence by environment ( = .112, t = 4.969, p < .05). In conclusion, enhancing the levels of knowledge and application of CTT and IRT as well as improving school assessment environment are paramount for meaningful engagement in assessment by teachers. The study recommended pre-service and in-service training of the teachers in CTT and IRT in addition to schools improving environments for effective teacher engagement and quality assessment.

Background The wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo have left indelible marks on the mental health and functioning of the Congolese civilians that sought refuge in Uganda. Even though it is clear that civilians who are exposed to potentially traumatizing events in war and conflict areas develop trauma-related mental health problems, scholarly information on gender differences on exposure to different war-related traumatic events, their conditional risks to developing PTSD and whether the cumulative exposure to traumatic events affects men and women differently is still scanty. Methods In total, 325 (n = 143 males, n = 182 females) Congolese refugees who lived in Nakivale, a refugee settlement in the Southwestern part of Uganda were interviewed within a year after their arrival. Assessment included exposure to war-related traumatic events, and DSM-IV PTSD symptom severity. Results Our main findings were that refugees were highly exposed to war-related traumatic events with experiencing dangerous flight as the most common event for both men (97%) and women (97%). The overall high prevalence of PTSD differed among women (94%) and men (84%). The highest conditional prevalence of PTSD in women was associated with experiencing rape. The dose-response effect differed significantly between men and women with women showing higher PTSD symptom severity when experiencing low and moderate levels of potentially traumatizing event types. Conclusion In conflict areas, civilians are highly exposed to different types of war-related traumatic events that expose them to high levels of PTSD symptoms, particularly women. Interventions focused at reducing mental health problems resulting from war should take the context of gender into consideration.

This chapter presents how differences in levels of research engagement arise with respect to levels of work-life balance and research skills proficiency among Master of Education students in Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among two cohorts of the students (N = 102). The work-life balance of the students was generally low (M = 107.48, SD = 23.56). Though the majority of the students, 94 (92.2%), reported high levels of proficiency in research skills (M = 68.96, SD = 10.44), they indicated low levels of communication skills. Significant differences in research engagement existed among the students of different religious affiliations (χ2 = 0.823, p = .05), marital statuses (U = 370.00, p = .027), and levels of research skills proficiency (U = 88.00, p < .01). Implications for educational policy and practice include careful selection and training of adult learners at master's degree level, and staking the students in the research process through effectively imparting 21st century skills.

Engagement in higher degree pursuit is a function of psychological constructs including core self-evaluations, academic motivation, work-life balance, and research skills proficiency. Core self-evaluations and academic motivation are precursors for student engagement in terms of effort expenditure, collaboration, institutional support-seeking, and relating with faculty. However, given that higher degree students are mainly working class, their work-life balance as well as research skills proficiency act as intervening variables to influence the relationship between the dispositional states and actual engagement of the students. Basing on empirical findings from various studies, the authors explicate in this critical review the (combined) mediation and moderation effects of the intervening variables on the links between academic motivation and core-self evaluations as predictors and the students' research engagement as a criterion variable. A conceptual model is theorized for the links between these concepts as a framework for research engagement and hence research completion among students.

The study examined experienced traumatic events and the related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) amongst a sample of 89 adolescent Congolese refugees (56 females and 33 males) at a refugee camp in Uganda. Data was collected using a questionnaire, and analyzed for trauma moderation by demographics and mediation by PTSD symptom scores. Findings indicate a prevalence of PTSD of 49.4% overall, with 75% of the female refugees meeting the PTSD criteria. The refugees with PTSD had high intrusive, avoidance and arousal scores, in addition to moderate to severe PTSD symptom severity scores. Trauma load was a significant predictor of PTSD among adolescent refugees. Our findings point to the high prevalence of PTSD resulting from an increased trauma load and being a female.

Adverse life experiences are a major risk factor for psychopathology. Studies from industrialized countries have consistently shown the detrimental effects of child maltreatment on the mental health of the victims. Research in war-affected populations, however, has mostly been restricted to the psychological damage caused by the war. Both war trauma and child maltreatment have rarely been studied simultaneously. In a comparative study of 2 generations living in severely war-affected regions in Northern Uganda, we determined the relationship between both trauma types and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and suicide ideation. A total of 100 adolescents, 50 with and 50 without a history of abduction by the rebel army with both their parents (100 mothers and 100 fathers) living in camps in northern Uganda were interviewed. The study showed that both generations were severely affected by war and child maltreatment. Both trauma types were independently correlated with psychological disorders in the adolescent group. Only child maltreatment, however, not war violence, accounted for PTSD symptoms in the parent group (β = .253, p = .002). We conclude that, even in the context of severe war, the impact of child maltreatment on psychological disorders surpasses the damage of war trauma.

The study examined posttraumatic growth, resilience and PTSD among a random sample of 426 (mean age: 35 years; 51.6% females) Congolese refugees resident at Nakivale camp, using a cross-sectional survey. Interviews were conducted using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Posttraumatic Diagnostic Survey. Prevalence of PTSD was 61.7%, with 58.6% female reporting PTSD. Female gender, low education level, and trauma load were significant predictors of PTSD. The regression model accounted for 12.2 percent of the variance in PTSD. Resilience, posttraumatic growth, number of displacements and trauma load were significant predictors accounting for 6.1 percent of the variance in PTSD symptom severity. There were no significant differences in the resilience and posttraumatic growth of refugees with and without PTSD. The high prevalence of PTSD is partly explained by risk factors including trauma load. Our findings also point to the protective role of resilience and posttraumatic growth among refugees.

This cross-sectional survey examined posttraumatic cognitions, avoidance coping, suicide and trauma-related disorders of Congolese adolescent refugees in Nakivale refugee settlement. We interviewed 89 adolescents (aged 18-24 years; 62.9% females) using the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory, Coping Response Inventory, MINI suicidality scale and Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostics Survey. Forty-four (49.4%) adolescent satisfied the PTSD diagnostic criteria. Twenty-six adolescents (29.2%) had moderate to high current suicide risk. Significant predictors including negative cognitions about self, emotional discharge, and acceptance or resignation explained 33.6 percent of the variance in PTSD symptom severity. About 50.8 percent of the variance in PTSD was explained by risk factors including age, trauma load, and negative cognitions about self. The findings suggest that for the adolescent refugees, negative appraisal and avoidance coping strategies used subsequent to trauma exposure have implication for current psychological wellbeing. Therefore there is need to provide psychological intervention to address these maladaptive posttraumatic problems.