Institute of Extra Mural Studies (National University of Lesotho)

Combined PES/midterm external evaluation covers the period 10/81-10/83 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with project personnel and participants. The project is basically on track, though somewhat behind schedule. Progress has been hampered by: (1) economic pressures; (2) lack of coordination with other nonformal educational institutions within and without Lesotho; (3) the loss of expected third-country donor funding for regional centers; (4) delays in GOL funding for construction of the Maseru campus (due to administrative snafus); and (5) the absence of Basutu personnel for long periods of U.S. training. In sum, good progress has been made in laying the groundwork for the accomplishment of several project outputs, including, inter alia, the development of institutional development plans, management procedures, and a research and evaluation capacity. Shortages of staff, facilities and funding have delayed implementation of these plans, however. For example, expansion of IEMS rural and urban extension services is impossible without regional centers, and several activities (e.g., development of the part-time studies program) are dependent on the return of participant trainees. Satisfactory, though delayed, progress is being made in revising the business education and adult education curricula and broadcasting IEMS programs to more students. As a result of these delays, projections about enrollment levels and size and scope of IEMS operations have been revised downward. A key action decision is to consider extending the project for a year to allow for completion of Maseru campus construction and for other outputs to be achieved. The decision not to contract a U.S. educational institution to implement the project has had the positive effect of allowing direct NUL involvement in implementation, but has also increased USAID/L"s workload inordinately. Other lessons learned are: the need for greater emphasis on the immediate development of management procedures and a research/evaluation capacity - e.g., a management information systems (just now being developed) would have been invaluable from day one; the difficulties posed by having host country staff absent for long periods of training; the importance of a unified physical plant (lacking in this project); and the difficulty of coordination with other agencies involved in similar activities.