Kwame Nkrumah University

The biochemical compositions and bioactive properties of red seaweed species Gelidiella acerosa, Gelidiella papillosa, Kappaphycus alvarezii, Sargassum pachycarpum, and Sargassum wightii were characterized. The crude protein (13.9 ± 0.28%) and dry matter (91.4 ± 2.1%) contents were highest in K. alvarezii and G. acerosa, respectively. The ash content was high in S. pachycarpum (28.9 ± 0.22%). The highest phenolic (3.27 ± 0.019 gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry wt) and flavonoid (3.372 ± 0.002 catechin equivalents (CAE)/g dry wt) contents were detected in S. wightii. The antioxidant activity ranged from 58.5 ± 0.44 to 81.5 ± 1.1% in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The half maximal inhibitory concentration values (IC50 values) of the seaweed extracts ranged from 0.61 ± 0.021 mg/mL to 0.79 ± 0.027 mg/mL according to the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, which were lower than those of the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method (0.76 ± 0.027 to 1.39 ± 0.015 mg/mL). The seaweed extracts exhibited moderate acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibition activity. The highest inhibition activity was observed for the K. alvarezii extract (49.3 ± 1.3%), while S. wightii presented the highest α-glucosidase (83.2 ± 1.8%) inhibition activity. The G. papillosa extract exhibited the highest a-amylase inhibition activity (57.4 ± 2.4%).

This study focused on Discovering Ways of Mitigating Challenges Experienced by Special Education Teachers in selected Mainstream secondary schools of Western Province Zambia. The research objectives were to establish special education teacher’s challenges experienced in mainstream schools, to determine how the challenges experienced by special education teachers affect their roles and to discover ways of mitigating special education teachers challenges experienced in the two selected mainstream schools of Mongu District Western Province Zambia. The study was qualitative in nature and employed the interpretivism paradigm. The study used the Hermeneutic research design. The study used research instruments that targeted 23 respondents and these were semi structured interview guide, observation checklist and focus group discussion guide for special education teachers who taught in mainstream schools, school administrators and a PTA chairperson from one of the two selected schools. The findings of the study reviewed the following challenges; inadequate assistive technology devices in mainstream schools, insufficient trained inclusive education specialists, inadequate teaching and learning resources, lack of special education departments in mainstream schools and special educational duties being undermined as significant challenges. The study discovered ways of mitigating the challenges experienced such as adequate financial and human resource support, creating a special education department, collaboration with regular teachers, using assistive technological devices, need for flexible classroom layouts, involving parents in the need to advocates for incorporating inclusive practices into daily routines. Based on the study findings, it was recommended that school administrators allow special education teachers to submit budgets for teaching resources required, new technological assistive devices be used in mainstream schools, establish partnerships with non- governmental organizations to provide additional resources and support required, PTA chairpersons to support school initiatives on community engagements programs concerning inclusive education and furthermore to advocate for the creation of a special education departments in mainstream secondary schools. A further research on discovering ways of mitigating challenges experienced in mainstream schools can be carried out in other districts mainstream schools.

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of parental control on teenage pregnancy in Chipete Village, Chembe District as a Phenomenological Exploratory study. The following objective guided the study; to establish the role of parental control on teenage pregnancy in Chipete Village, Chembe District. A qualitative Phenomenology design was used. The data was collected using interview guides and focus group discussion guide, while thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. The study revealed that some of the roles of parents in controlling teenage pregnancy included; providing basic needs, offering spiritual and emotional support, education on sex and relationships and protection against bad company. The study recommended; Traditional leaders to stiffen punishment for teenage pregnancy in Chipete chiefdom to discourage would be perpetrators, existing Non-Governmental Organisation such as Natwampane to be more proactive on teenage pregnancy advocacy. Comprehensive Sexuality Education to be prioritised and integrated into existing subjects and taught as a cross-cutting issue to the pupils.

Education boards in Zambia are legally mandated to oversee teacher performance and contribute to school improvement. However, empirical evidence on how they perform this role and whether their involvement is associated with school outcomes remains limited. This study examined the relationship between education board involvement in teacher performance review and secondary school performance in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. The study was guided by two complementary theoretical frameworks: Carver's policy governance model, which distinguishes between governance and management roles, and Epstein's school-family-community partnership model, which emphasises the conditions under which stakeholder involvement contributes to educational improvement. The study employed a concurrent embedded mixed-methods design within a pragmatic worldview. The target population comprised 700 respondents, including teachers, department heads, deputy head teachers, accounts assistants, head teachers, Parent-Teacher Committee (PTC) chairpersons, and learner representatives from ten secondary schools across five districts of Zambia's Copperbelt Province. The quantitative sample comprised 187 respondents selected through stratified and simple random sampling. The qualitative sample comprised 14 participants (head teachers, PTC chairpersons, and learner representatives) selected through expert and homogeneous purposive sampling. Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire that measured board participation in teacher performance reviews (8 items; α = 0.792) and in school performance (8 items; α = 0.815). Qualitative data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide, with interviews lasting 45 to 75 minutes. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS Version 26, employing descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations), Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. Qualitative data were analysed using deductive thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke's six-phase framework, with assistance from NVivo 12 software. Descriptive results indicated weak Board participation in teacher performance reviews (grand mean = 2.60 on a 5-point scale). Pearson correlation revealed a modest positive relationship with school performance (r = 0.231, p = 0.001). However, multiple regression analysis demonstrated that teacher performance review did not independently predict school performance after accounting for other governance functions (β = -0.102, p = 0.392). Qualitative insights explained these patterns through three mechanisms: role ambiguity regarding the board's responsibilities for teacher oversight, limited technical capacity to interpret performance data effectively, and professional tension stemming from poorly executed involvement. The study concludes that mandating board participation alone is inadequate; effective involvement requires clear role definition, structured governance practices, and targeted capacity-building efforts that clearly differentiate governance oversight from instructional management.