Social Impact of Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS) in Nadia District of West Bengal

Aims: The researcher has endeavored to analyze impacts of PACS in-terms of selected social parameters using perception of the sample respondents. The study is significant to evaluate the perception of members PACS. Place and Duration of Study: The researchers have employed 290 members in 29 PACS out of the 365 operating PACS found in the Nadia district of West Bengal. Primary data for the study have been collected during 2017-2019. Methodology: The researchers have employed a multi-stage random sampling technique for selecting 290 members in 29 PACS in the Nadia district of West Bengal. The Likert-scale used with 5 points in the questionnaire in which, the respondents were required to grade the scale of their satisfaction for particular thing. Data have been standardized for in the study with Zero mean and Unit Standard Deviation. Qualitative as well as quantitative techniques of data analysis were used to describe and analyze the research questions. The data collected from household survey were organized, coded and entered into statistical package, TANAGRA and Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics such as, frequency distribution, percentages etc. multivariate analyses for data reduction, Principal Component Analysis, K-means Cluster Analysis, analyses related to Group Characterization have been done to arrive meaningful interpretations for conclusions of the study. Results: The score obtained from the PCA are then grouped through cluster analysis. Social perception is to arrange the score according to deviations from Standard Deviation (SD). More than 76 percent of the total members fall in the group implying the perception of the members on social development by PACS is mostly homogeneous in nature. The researcher has find two variables namely, PACS role on empowering women in decision making and PACS Social business with other rural institutions comprise the first factor. Similarly second factor consist of the two (2) variables namely, PACS role in sensitizing women leadership in PACS management and role in skill development of women though training/ handholding etc. The second factor may be viewed as the factor of woman empowerment. Conclusion: The study concludes that PACS play important role in social development of the family. Most of the members agreed upon the positive role of the PACS Empowering women in decision making, Generating awareness of ongoing social development schemes of Government, Mobilizing of weaker sections, Educating Co-operative principles and Social business with other rural institutions. Moreover, PACS help to improve education level and improve habit of agricultural loan at the time of cash requirement particularly during peak season of agricultural operations.

Together but Not Together: Challenges of Remote Learning for Students Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural South African Universities

The purpose of the study was to examine the challenges of remote learning that were faced by students in four rural institutions of higher learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is well documented that in South Africa as well as globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the teaching and learning in higher institutions of education. A call was made by the Department of Higher Education and Training that mandated universities to adopt remote learning to save the academic year. That call was a blanket statement that did not consider the context of different universities, given the inequalities that existed prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 between the historically disadvantaged universities and the well-established ones. The study adopted a qualitative approach that made use of a desktop research methodology, as well as the media (Television, radio and newspapers), and social media as sources of data gathering to document the challenges. One of the key findings was that some students studying at rural institutions of higher learning experienced challenges of limited skills as well as the convenience of and access to technology and other tools of trade. The paper concludes that such students were proposing that, ‘we are together but not together”. The root of such grievance is that they were grossly affected by the geographical and historical position of the universities they were enrolled at and the situation was deepened and exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper recommends the equal redistribution of resources especially to previously disadvantaged Black universities. The paper further recommends that the Department of Education introduce online learning to students from as early as high school so that there will be continuity and ease in remoting learning.

Magnitude of Covid-19 on Rural Universities in the Eastern Cape Province: Lessons Learnt

This research paper aims at assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural institutions of higher learning in South Africa. It further explores lessons learnt from the magnitude of the pandemic. Covid-19 does not discriminate – it spares no institution, no organisation, and no country but infects and affects everyone. Some institutions of learning, when hit by Covid-19 were better prepared to fight it because their alert levels were higher than that of African countries. This study adopted a desktop approach which relied on published data. The paper concludes that the impact of Covid-19 on institutions of higher learning was catastrophic. The magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural institutions of higher learning in South Africa was devastating because some universities had no strategy to counter the challenge. One of the lessons learnt was that the universities’ think-tanks should plan in advance, be proactive, and be ahead of any challenge. Keywords: Covid-19; e-learning; higher learning; impact; lessons; pandemic ;

“Invented tradition”: Restoration and Reconstruction Process of Rural Institutions on Lý Sơn Island, Quảng Ngãi Province, Vietnam

This article discusses and analyses the restoration and reorganization of traditional Vietnamese village institutions in Lý Sơn Island, Quảng Ngãi Province since Đổi mới (Reform, 1986). After understanding this topic, we conducted qualitative research on ethnographic field surveys during the intermittent period from March 2008 to August 2019. Our survey results show that the villagers’ self-government organization in Lý Sơn has been cultivated from the beginning of the establishment of the Vietnamese to today, forming a “village – hamlet – neighborhood (sub-hamlet)” hierarchy (làng – thôn – lân). Despite the severe effects of destruction and war, the system is stable and is playing an increasingly important role in maintaining the religious practices of the community. We use Eric Hobsbawm’s concept of “invented tradition” to explain the changes in rural systems, especially the interaction and mediation between tradition preservation and reconstruction to meet the needs of the community and adapt to the specific social environment of each period.

Analyzing academic mobility of U.S. professors based on ORCID data and the Carnegie Classification

This paper uses two open science data sources—ORCID and the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (CCIHE)—to identify tenure-track and tenured professors in the United States who have changed academic affiliations. Through a series of data cleaning and processing actions, 5,938 professors met the selection criteria of professorship and mobility. Using ORCID professor profiles and the Carnegie Classification, this paper reveals patterns of academic mobility in the United States from the aspects of institution types, locations, regions, funding mechanisms of institutions, and professors’ genders. We find that professors tended to move to institutions with higher research intensity, such as those with an R1 or R2 designation in the Carnegie Classification. They also tend to move from rural institutions to urban institutions. Additionally, this paper finds that female professors are more likely to move within the same geographic region than male professors and that when they move from a less research-intensive institution to a more research-intensive one, female professors are less likely to retain their rank or attain promotion.

Introduction

This chapter provides a overview of the state of research on rural institutions in the ancient world, with a focus on Egypt. It is divided in three main sections. The first section explores the reasons behind the scholarly importance of studying village institutions in Egypt in the longue durée, from the early Roman to the Arab period. The second section includes a review of the most representative village studies of the ancient world and their key features and shows how this volume stands out from existing works. Finally, the last section examines the best attested village institutions as they are investigated in the eleven papers of this volume.