Since its inception in 2013, “The Belt and Road Initiative” has become an important engine driving global economic growth. The initiative has not only promoted infrastructure construction in countries along the Belt and Road but also strengthened financial integration, unimpeded trade, people-to-people exchanges, and policy communication. In this context, higher education, as an important avenue for talent training and scientific and technological innovation, is of great significance to promoting the economic and social development of countries along the Belt and Road. By strengthening academic cooperation with Chinese universities, Kyrgyzstan can enhance its curriculum, adopt advanced teaching methods, and integrate cutting-edge research to foster more skilled labor. In addition, innovation and technology transfer through higher education partnerships can drive sustainable economic growth and diversification. This paper explores the strategic path of integrating higher education into the Belt and Road. Initiative, focusing on academic collaboration, enhancing R&D capabilities, and fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

A significant cohort of Southeast Asian women in Taiwan, having married locals, constitutes a disadvantaged group entangled in the issues of gender, marriage migration, and social class. The lack of human capital, social discrimination and urgent personal economic demands have caused immigrant women in Taiwan to become a source of inexpensive labor in the labor market, they usually prioritize vocational training for employment. Furthermore, the rapidly growing elderly population has resulted in a severe shortage of quality care services in Taiwan. Despite Taiwanese government training for immigrant women, diverse sociocultural factors hinder them from pursuing caregiving professions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of care service attendant (CSA) training based on culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and design thinking (DT) for immigrant women in Taiwan. Nine Vietnamese and Indonesian immigrant women in Taiwan attended and completed the training. The CSA training comprised core academic modules and practicum modules and was conducted in groups for 170 h over 5 weeks. This study employed a qualitative research approach, gathering data through interviews, observation, and document analysis. The results revealed that CSA training based on CRP and DT was effective in improving immigrant women’s satisfaction with training and their rate of employment as CSAs. Specifically, in addition to basic care service professionalism, the female immigrant trainees developed proactive attitudes toward problem-solving. Moreover, the integration of Taiwanese culture and frequent communication in the training facilitated the self-confidence of these trainees. In the workplace, these female immigrant CSAs’ commitment to meeting clients’ needs and innovating their service boosted the clients’ appreciation and their own cultural competency and empowerment. Overall, this study suggests that the application of CRP and DT in CSA training is a promising way of enhancing the workforce capacity of female immigrant CSAs and has value for low-skilled adult trainees. However, structuring the learning processes clearly and involving instructors with multicultural education and DT education competency are critical to implementing such vocational training.

The bubble milk tea industry in Malaysia which was thought to have slowed down in the recent years since its first appearance in 2010 has made a comeback. At the point of conducting this research, there are almost 100 brands of bubble milk tea in Malaysia and it is not surprising that some of these shops are selling more than a thousand cups a day. However, there has been limited research conducted on factors influencing brand equity on bubble milk tea brands in Johor Bahru. This study is to investigate whether brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association influence brand equity on bubble milk tea brands in Johor Bahru through distribution of online questionnaires. This study novelty is at the examining the factors influencing brand equity in the context of bubble milk tea in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Data derived from responses of 400 respondents through sampling were analysed using SPSS v29. Hypotheses testing performed through simple linear regression revealed that brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association have significant effect on brand equity of bubble milk tea brands in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It was also demonstrated that perceived quality has the most significance influence on brand equity. Organizations in the bubble milk tea industries are able to benefit from these findings by prioritizing their marketing strategies to gain competitive edge over their competitors. With findings that perceived quality having the most significance influence, marketers with limited resources can narrow down their options and focus on this specific dimension to increase their brand value.

The rise of financial inclusion has notably increased household engagement in risky financial asset allocation, posing challenges to macro-financial stability. This study explored the crucial role of financial literacy in enabling households to effectively engage with complex financial markets and products. Specifically, it examined how different aspects of financial literacy—knowledge, attitudes, and skills—influence both the participation and depth of household investment in risky financial assets in China. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey, which included 32,458 households, this study employed a robust indicator system and regression analysis via STATA 17.0 to assess these impacts. The results demonstrated that enhancements in financial literacy significantly foster increased engagement and deeper involvement in risky asset allocation, particularly through improved financial attitudes. Additionally, the analysis revealed that households led by women show a higher propensity towards risky asset investments than those led by men. These insights suggested the potential for targeted financial education to improve the financial health and economic resilience of Chinese households.

Homework is an indispensable basic link in classroom teaching, an important link in the consolidation of knowledge after class, and an important way for students to understand knowledge, digest knowledge, and improve their problem-solving ability. In the practice of mathematics teaching in primary schools, attention should be paid to the effectiveness of homework assignments in different links before, during and after class, and the content of homework should take into account the reality of students at different levels. This paper expounds the strategy of hierarchical design of mathematics homework from the aspects of the hierarchical design and arrangement of mathematics homework in the upper grades of primary school, aiming to effectively improve the quality of mathematics classroom teaching in the upper grades of primary school.

The economy, unemployment, and job creation of South Africa heavily depend on the growth of the agricultural sector. With a growing population of 60 million, there are approximately 4 million small-scale farmers (SSF) number, and about 36,000 commercial farmers which serve South Africa. The agricultural sector in South Africa faces challenges such as climate change, lack of access to infrastructure and training, high labour costs, limited access to modern technology, and resource constraints. Precision agriculture (PA) using AI can address many of these issues for small-scale farmers by improving access to technology, reducing production costs, enhancing skills and training, improving data management, and providing better irrigation infrastructure and transport access. However, there is a dearth of research on the application of precision agriculture using artificial intelligence (AI) by small scale farmers (SSF) in South Africa and Africa at large. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and Bibliometric analysis guidelines were used to investigate the adoption of precision agriculture and its socio-economic implications for small-scale farmers in South Africa or the systematic literature review (SLR) compared various challenges and the use of PA and AI for small-scale farmers. The incorporation of AI-driven PA offers a significant increase in productivity and efficiency. Through a detailed systematic review of existing literature from inception to date, this study examines 182 articles synthesized from two major databases (Scopus and Web of Science). The systematic review was conducted using the machine learning tool R Studio. The study analyzed the literature review articled identified, challenges, and potential societal impact of AI-driven precision agriculture.