Social Sciences

This paper analysed the issues of market access, trade agreements of trade and environment on sustainable forest management towards sustainable development. Sustainable forest management is a part of sustainable development. It is a controlling system that participates and stabilities societal, monetary, environmental, racial and mystical requirements to current and forthcoming peers. Firstly, we discussed the market access and trade agreements of trade and environment on sustainable development. Secondly, we analysed the criteria & indicators for sustainable forest management in Malaysia. Finally, we related the sustainable forest management through sustainable development of trade and environment. The purposes of this learning were to high light and simplify the analysing of trade and environment on sustainable development. This study found the potential impacts of the development of market access, trade agreements, criteria & indicators for sustainable forest management and sustainable development in Malaysia.

Since independence, the governance of development in Kenya has for the most part been centralised under the armpit of government officials. As such devolution is vaguely understood especially by grassroots leaders and communities. Consequently, central government officials have continued to determine the path of development at the grassroots especially so since they also control financial resources through the district treasury. However, the government has recognised this top-down development archetype as a major bottleneck to welfare and has been implementing policies to bring on board the beneficiaries. One major attempt was the District Focus for Rural Development Strategy of the early 1980s, which made the district the local level planning and development coordination and implementation unit. This policy faced several challenges which necessitated more focussed strategies to move decision-making powers from the centre to margin. The early years of the 21st century marked increased resource devolution and decentralized decision-making to the grassroots including Constituencies Development Fund, recruitment of some cadre of staff, management of health facilities and water resources among others. The Constitution of Kenya endorsed by about 70% of votes cast during the August 4th 2010 Referendum and subsequently promulgated by the president on August 27th 2010 is yet another devolution stab to enhance development and governance at the grassroots. This paper highlights the devolution proposals and the envisaged benefits to grassroots communities in Chapter Eleven of the Constitution of Kenya.

Loneliness is the result of defect in individuals' social communications qualitatively and quantitatively, and also inaccessibility to close and desired relationships with others. So the aim of this research was to analyze effectiveness of social skills training on the reduction of loneliness in single parents (led families). The research design was quasi-experimental with pre-test post-test and control group. The research population was all the single parents (led families) supported by Komite Emdad institution. For this, 30 single parents (led families) aging from 35 to 55 were selected based on purposeful sampling method and were assigned to the two groups of experiment and control groups. Subjects of the experiment group went under eight sessions of 1.5 hours of training, while the subjects of the control group did not. Instrument used in this study was the Revised Questionnaire of Loneliness (UCLA). Data were analyzed with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings showed that social skills training results in the reduction of loneliness in single parents (led families) (p<0.05). Social skills training results in the reduction of loneliness in single parents (led families). And using such trainings we can help single parents (led families) to feel less lonely.

Every year on December 1 the whole world celebrates World HIV/AIDS Day. This date reminds us that this disease still remains and is the basis of many cases of death. Based on this provision, the new Framework Law No. 14/004 of February 11, 2014 on national education on the organization and functioning of education in its article 9 in point 11 insists on the fight against endemic and epidemic diseases including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Higher physics education can cultivate students’ science literacy, experimental ability and creative ability. According to the current situation of students and our university, we have paid more attention to the absorption of current advanced education ideas and implement into teaching behaviors. We carried out some reform measures to improve the quality of higher physics education. By teaching reform, we have effectively improved the quality of advanced physics education.

This study investigated the feelings of loneliness felt by older adults in Keelung City as well as the relationship between demographic variables, voluntary service participation, social support, and the feelings of loneliness felt by older adults. This study looked at the predictive ability of demographic variables, voluntary service participation, and social support in predicting levels of loneliness. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on a population consisting of older adults aged 65 and above. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a valid sample of 364 people. Tools used include the UCLA Loneliness Scale and a structured questionnaire (prepared by the author) which factored in demographic variables, voluntary service participation, and social support. Statistical analysis of the data obtained was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 (Windows version). Significant differences were found for education level and self-perceived health status. Respondents who graduated from high school or above felt lower levels of loneliness compared to respondents who were illiterate or had only graduated from elementary school; respondents who perceived themselves as having poor health felt greater levels of loneliness compared to normal or healthy respondents. Voluntary service participation and social support were found to be significantly and negatively correlated to the level of loneliness, indicating that respondents felt lower levels of loneliness when they had stronger intentions of participating in voluntary service or received stronger levels of emotional and social support. Together, voluntary service participation, social support, education level, and self-perceived health status explained 36.4% of the variance in loneliness levels. Of these factors, voluntary service participation was the main predictor of loneliness, followed by social support.

This research examines the influence of motivation towards academic achievement among gifted students in Saudi Arabia. The discussion in the study is base on the theoretical framework of the emotional intelligence Theory Goleman’s (1995), the Mayer and Salovey Model (1995) and achievement motivation Theory. These theories are appropriate for the study because they allow the reader to understand how academic achievement is significantly influenced by motivation among gifted students in Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of this study was to see whether any significant relationship exists among EFL learners’ self-esteem, autonomy, and reading comprehension; and whether there is any significant difference between EFL learners’ self-esteem and autonomy in predicting their reading comprehension skill. For this purpose, 121 EFL participants who were studying English Language Literature and Translation at Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, were randomly selected. The researcher tested different ranges of students with different levels of proficiency. The Coopersmith self-esteem inventory, autonomy questionnaire and reading comprehension section of Preliminary English Test (PET) were administered. Correlation and regression analysis demonstrated that there is a significant relationship among EFL learners’ self-esteem, autonomy, and reading comprehension. There is also a significant difference between EFL learners’ self-esteem and autonomy in predicting their reading comprehension.

Student violence has been a problem in the Kenyan educational system for a long time now. The first case of student unrest in Kenya was reported at Maseno School at the beginning of the 20th century (1908). To date, the situation is still unabated. The trend is rather alarming and the magnitude of violent acts by students is high and worrying. The paper therefore using a random sample of 251 students who were selected from five purposively chosen secondary schools in Njoro division were interviewed using a standardized research questionnaire. The students were selected using a combination of stratified random sampling and the systematic sampling techniques, which are probability sampling procedures. The data collected was analysed using both the descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found out that three factors related to the school social environment determined the students’ participation in violence in secondary schools as discussed in this paper. The paper recommends that there should be a better understanding of the school social environment factors as aggravators of student violence in secondary schools.

Community based tourism is taking its place in the world as an alternative to traditional tourist destinations, especially in developing countries. This form of tourism allows for greater contact with the local community and for the tourist to experience new sensations while enabling the economic and social development of the geographic area. In this paper, the results of fieldwork carried out in the Latpanchar Village (Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India) is presented, assessing the opinion and perception tourists visiting this area have of both the quality of the services offered by community based tourism enterprises, as well as the potential of the tourism resources in the area. The main results of the investigation endorse the quality of services offered to tourists by local businesses and highlight the hospitality of the local community, a key element for the development of this kind of tourism, particularly in different villages of this district. Similarly, it highlights the tourist satisfaction with services received and the need to strengthen the training to tourism staff through aid. The originality of this research comes from analysis of the demand made on a concrete base for Latpanchar, a village which is producing a huge economic development through the community based tourism approach.