PANA V : Evaluation of a Literacy Project

PANA V Evaluation of a Literacy ProjectSUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSThis evaluation set out to explore the impact of the literacy work carried out through PANA V. It focussed on clarifying effects such as empowerment and poverty reduction in relation to the civil society. Two specific objectives were to evaluate the methodological approach and the didactic materials and to evaluate the sustainability of the project.Although the focus of the evaluation has been PANA V, the project has been evaluated in its context, as one in a series of five projects located in Rwanda ten years after the war and genocide. The conclusion will consider future plans in this field.The evaluator has striven to create a holistic picture of the effects of the project, although the given time for the evaluation was short. Only three weeks were spent in the field study and only ten days in the actual field. Although there were some organisational and logistic problems, as is common when carrying out a study like this in a poor country, many literacy sites were visited and quite many participators were interviewed. The overall impression from the study is overwhelmingly positive. So many people commit themselves in this task of teaching Rwandans reading, writing and numeracy. Despite harsh conditions learners strive to learn and group leaders devote themselves to the task. Many leaders on different levels try their very best to manage their difficult and demanding task. The main objective was to explore the impact of the project on poverty reduction, particularly on empowerment and strategies for everyday life. Women were to be regarded particularly. From the results it is clear that the project has a strong, positive impact both on poverty reduction and empowerment of marginalised groups. Among those who have benefited from the alphabetisation are mainly women. Unfortunately, when it comes to leaders in PANA, who may also be said to have benefited from the project, only a small minority is women. This is something that is recommended that it be reconsidered inside the organisation. As a majority of the targeted learners are women, and as the economic and social situation of women in Rwanda is generally weak, this is a question that I recommend the Pentesostal church and ADEPR to look particularly into. With many women being single breadwinners of their households, it is important that also women get access to positions that may bring benefits of different kind.It is also clear that the project has positive effects for the civil society. In the present situation in Rwanda, during the process of reconciliation and rapid progress, basic education for the poor majority is a democratic issue. In a country with a plethora of internet-cafés in the capital and a small minority that use cars and mobile-telephones to communicate nation-wide, it is of outmost importance that the majority acquires basic education, of which literacy is a central part. To strengthen the civil society in Rwanda literacy is important. One central issue is then that Rwanda develops toward becoming a country where literacy is used for the benefit of the citizens and it is a democratic issue that all citizens get an opportunity to participate. Crucial for this is that strong efforts are put into primary schools nation-wide. Literacy projects for adults, like PANA, may only complement these efforts, but they constitute important and necessary complements. Other relevant ways to promote literacy are campaigns in Radio and TV and through cultural events such as festivals, music and theatre. News papers, magazines and books are natural parts of such campaigns as well as adult education. As stated under the results not much can be said about the didactics in this evaluation. On the whole the methodology and the materials fill their function well and receive a high reputation. As people learn to read and write under very simple conditions, obviously the approach is appropriate. A few suggestions may be given from the study:•Focus groups leaders’ attention on clearness, that they show very clearly what is to be read. Good structuring is probably of great importance for many learners.•Make clear what is tested in the tests and consider the possibility to use a holistic test that would be more congruent with the methodology. The possibility to use only one grade, pass, would enable a more practical test, such as reading a short, relevant text, writing something relevant and solving practical mathematic problems. Avoid tests that demand school knowledge.•Avoid using methaphors such as “fight against illiteracy” and connections between illiteracy/literacy and darkness/light. It is not true that illiteracy causes bad things and that literacy only brings good. •Be prepared that it may be more difficult in the future to achieve the goals as it may be the case that the early learners where the ones who achieved easily. The goal of “literacy in six month” in PANA will probably hold only for some learners but also those who do not manage in six months need literacy skills.A third objective was to secure sustainability. As for sustainability of the project in itself, and of the literacy process, the main conclusion is that there is a good potential. The commitment and devotedness among many involved in PANA proves good. One weakness is individual leaders in ADEPR who do not see this as an important task for the Pentecostal church in Rwanda. Other weaknesses are the unwillingness to mention explicitly the wish, for example among group leaders, to get some kind of incentive and the fear of loosing believers by cooperation with other organisations. A higher degree of transparency in this issue would probably solve some irritations and tensions.As for the sustainability of the literacy skills much may be done to improve. The acquired skills seem to be comparably relevant. The level achieved, and the level tested, may be defined as basic literacy skills, consisting of basic reading, writing and numeracy skills. However, these skills are very restricted and there is a high risk that the skills will decline, which means that there is a high risk that people will forget how to read and write because of lack of exercising. From these conclusions a few suggestions for future development will be given.

Le long trajet vers le Nord : de la traduction de la littérature de jeunesse française en suédois

Depuis très récemment, un changement est en train de se produire dans le domaine de la traduction de la littérature jeunesse: auparavant et pendant de nombreuses années, les ouvrages traduits venaient le plus souvent de la Suède pour être traduits en français (Gossas & Lindgren, 2011). Dans l’autre sens, on trouvait des imagiers plus ou moins sans texte, des bandes-dessinées (surtout franco-belges), des retraductions et quelques classiques comme les très populaires ouvrages de Jules Verne ou Le Petit Prince. Or, la littérature jeunesse française est certes abondante – et ce même si l’on s’en tient aux livres publiés en France, mais aussi souvent de grande qualité littéraire et iconique, ce qui devrait a priori encourager sa diffusion. Cette littérature a de surcroît la chance de pouvoir surfer sur la vague actuelle des traductions du français au suédois de livres ne faisant pas partie de cette catégorie. Mais il est bien connu que le système littéraire suédois de la littérature jeunesse comporte peu de livres traduits, en dehors des traductions massives d’ouvrages en anglais. Les questions auxquelles nous répondrons lors de notre présentation sont : Quels sont les livres actuellement traduits du français vers le suédois ? Qui les traduit (quels éditeurs et quels traducteurs) ? Nous allons ainsi montrer quelle a été l’évolution depuis 1970 jusqu’à nos jours. Nous ferons aussi le lien avec nos études précédentes concernant le sens inverse, c’est-à-dire la traduction en français de la littérature suédoise contemporaine pour la jeunesse et de nos résultats en la matière sur les livres traduits, les éditeurs et les traducteurs. Nous utiliserons comme base théorique la théorie du polysystème (Even-Zohar), notamment concernant le rôle de la littérature traduite dans un système littéraire, et les études descriptives de la traduction (voir Toury, Shavit, etc.).

IAS 40 ur ett Nordenperspektiv : Jämförelse av regelverkets efterlevnad 2014 jämfört med 2009

Börsnoterade bolag ska i sin koncernredovisning redovisa enligt IFRS och förvaltningsfastigheter skall redovisas enligt IAS 40 Förvaltningsfastigheter. Detta examensarbete undersöker hur Nordiska börsnoterade bolag tillämpar vissa punkter inom IAS 40 i 2014 års redovisning jämfört med 2009 års redovisning. Syftet med undersökningen är att undersöka skillnader mellan de granskade företagens redovisning 2014 och 2009, med utgångspunkten i en tidigare publicerad undersökning (Hedlund & Ersson, 2011). Det som undersöks är om företagen använder samma värderingsmetod, om de informerar om hur värdering av förvaltningsfastigheter skett, om var i resultatrapporten de rapporterar justeringar av verkligt värde samt hur väl de lämnar upplysningar enligt IAS 40 punkt 75. Undersökningen har skett med en kvantitativ metod då det är årsredovisningar som granskats. Undersökt data är årsredovisningar från 2014 och 2009 för samma företag som granskats i den tidigare undersökningen. Några företag har utgått då de inte ingår i urvalsramen Nordiskt börsnoterat fastighetsbolag. Totalt granskades 14 stycken företag. Resultatet visar att efterlevnaden totalt sett är något bättre 2014 jämfört med den tidigare undersökningen. Till stor del beror det på urvalet där de företag som utgått var dåliga på att lämna upplysningar enligt IAS 40 i 2009 års redovisning. Sett till de företag som är med i båda undersökningarna är efterlevnaden likartad de jämförda åren. Det är få företag som lämnar upplysningar om begränsningar i rätten att sälja förvaltningsfastigheter, avtalsenliga förpliktelser att köpa eller hur de skiljer på rörelsefastigheter och förvaltningsfastigheter. Tolkningen kan då göras att det inte finns någon restriktion eller förpliktelse om det inte lämnas några sådana upplysningar. Om det är ett fastighetsbolag så kan det tolkas som att de inte har några rörelsefastigheter. Med dessa tolkningar blir efterlevnaden bland de undersökta företagen god.

Biståndshandläggaren och samvetsstressen : En kvalitativ intervjustudie

Syftet med studien var att utforska socialarbetares upplevelse av arbetsrelaterad samvetsstress. Vi ville identifiera vad samvetsstress kan vara för yrkesgruppen socialarbetare vars arbetsuppgift innefattar myndighetsutövning och vad i arbetet som orsakar samvetsstress. Sex stycken kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med socialarbetare vars yrke innefattar myndighetsutövning. Resultatet visar att samtliga intervjupersoner upplever samvetsstress när de beskriver sig ha svårt att hantera sitt dåliga samvete och att detta leder till negativa psykiska och fysiska stressymptom. Intervjupersonerna beskriver dock upplevelsen av samvetsstress i olika grad vilka kategoriserades: ständig närvaro av samvetsstress, närvaro av samvetsstress i vissa situationer samt medveten bortträngning av samvetsstress. Resultatet visar vidare att samvetsstress kan skapas av de krav och förväntningar som organisationen, brukare och anhöriga samt socialarbetaren själv har om de upplevs som övermäktiga och motstridiga. Vår studie indikerar på ett behov av vidare forskning om samvetsstress hos socialarbetare.

Exploring self-rated health among adolescents : a think-aloud study

BACKGROUND: Despite extensive use of self-rated health questions in youth studies, little is known about what such questions capture among adolescents. Hence, the aim of this study was to explore how adolescents interpret and reason when answering a question about self-rated health. METHODS: A qualitative study using think-aloud interviews explored the question, "How do you feel most of the time?", using five response options ("Very good", "Rather good", "Neither good, nor bad", "Rather bad", and "Very bad"). The study involved 58 adolescents (29 boys and 29 girls) in lower secondary school (7th grade) and upper secondary school (12th grade) in Sweden. RESULTS: Respondents' interpretations of the question about how they felt included social, mental, and physical aspects. Gender differences were found primarily in that girls emphasized stressors, while age differences were reflected mainly in the older respondents' inclusion of a wider variety of influences on their assessments. The five response options all demonstrated differences in self-rated health, and the respondents' understanding of the middle option, "Neither good, nor bad", varied widely. In the answering of potential sensitive survey questions, rationales for providing honest or biased answers were described. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a self-rated health question including the word 'feel' captured a holistic view of health among adolescents. Differences amongst response options should be acknowledged when analyzing self-rated health questions. If anonymity is not feasible when answering questions on self-rated health, a high level of privacy is recommended to increase the likelihood of reliability.