Miguel Blanco Canto, Lydia Bares López and Oksana Hrynevych
The economic crisis of 2008 has caused a significant increase in the number of unemployed in Spain and a decrease in investments in active training policies. In this context, it…
Abstract
Purpose
The economic crisis of 2008 has caused a significant increase in the number of unemployed in Spain and a decrease in investments in active training policies. In this context, it is even more necessary to demand improvements in the degree of efficiency of the training programs aimed at unemployed people.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the opinions of a group of experts in labor intermediation on the need to include transversal competences in the training contents of employment courses aimed at the tourism sector to improve the degree of employment of the unemployed.
Findings
All the experts consulted have indicated the need to enrich the subjects of the training courses by incorporating workshops that favor the implementation of certain transversal competences such as team work, management in stress situations, problem-solving, willingness to learn, self-initiative, verbal communication and mastery of social networks.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations are given by the small number of experts in the field. However, their long career and participation in employment programs make their opinions valuable.
Practical implications
The main practical implication is in the fact that the proposed suggestions about modifications in the contents of the training courses for employment in the tourism sector are perfectly applicable, and according to the expert’s opinions, they would improve the degree of labor insertion of the participants.
Social implications
The improvement of the degree of employability of the unemployed who participate in the training actions and a greater adaptation to the specific characteristics of the jobs offered by the entrepreneurs of the sector.
Originality/value
The adaptation of the formative contents of the courses focused on the unemployed can make possible two desirable effects. On the one hand, the improvement of the quality of the tourist resources and on the other hand, increase the degree of employability of the unemployed, and in this way improve the efficiency of training programs.
Details
Keywords
Reenu Kumari, Malik Shahzad Shabbir, Sharjeel Saleem, Ghulam Yahya Khan, Bilal Ahmed Abbasi and Lydia Bares Lopez
This study examines the long-term and causal relationship among foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, trade openness and economic growth from India.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the long-term and causal relationship among foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, trade openness and economic growth from India.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has used annual time series data from the period 1985–2018 and applied the Johansen cointegration and vector autoregression (VAR) model.
Findings
The results of Johansen's cointegration confirm no long-term relationship among all the above three variables. Further, the results of VAR Granger causality indicate that FDI causes economic growth and economic growth causes FDI, which confirms the bi-directional causality. In contrast, this study found that there is no bi-directional causality between trade openness and economic growth.
Social implications
Through this study, the government could take the decisions related to foreign investment after adopting more trade openness because the study results revealed that if India follows more trade openness, then how FDI will flow (upward and downward). With impulse analysis, researchers, government and policymakers take the decision-related FDI inflows for the forthcoming ten years after 2018.
Originality/value
This study has found the most exciting results from the impulse functions of FDI inflows, trade openness and economic growth, which showed the situation of these three variables as increase and decrease in the forthcoming ten years.
Details
Keywords
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of education. This led to educational institutions deploying blended and online systems for teaching and learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of education. This led to educational institutions deploying blended and online systems for teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of blended learning in promoting quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research design was deployed in this study and enabled the researcher to collect data via in-depth interviews. Twenty-five (25) tertiary institutions accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) were randomly selected to participate in this study. The registrars of the institutions were purposively selected and served as the participants for the study. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data collected via the interview. Ethical considerations were adhered to during the study.
Findings
The study established that COVID-19 had a devastating effect on tertiary institutions; multiple technological and open-sourced systems were deployed for teaching and learning; blended learning was adopted to augment the traditional face-to-face mode of teaching and learning due to its ease of use, usefulness and accessibility as it was used for quizzes and assignments, accessing lecture notes, among others. Despite these, the deployment of technological and blended systems was met with challenges that somehow affected effective teaching, learning.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to 25 tertiary educational institutions in Ghana. It was again limited to the COVID-19 era.
Practical implications
This research aids in understanding the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning and how blended learning is currently deployed and used in tertiary institutions in Ghana. The findings are relevant to policymakers and management of educational institutions as it informs them of the right method and tools to deploy for teaching and learning during pandemics.
Originality/value
As educational institutions globally are dealing with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is prudent to look into how tertiary institutions in Ghana deploy blended learning to facilitate teaching and learning. Thus, this paper is original as it fills the relevant literature gap in terms of scope, setting, methodology and findings.