RURAL NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

This final evaluation covers the period from 10/1/77 to 6/3/80 and is based on a review of project reports and interviews with project personnel. The National Apprentice Service (SNPP) established a nonformal training unit (NFT) which capably instructed 2,572 illiterate and semi-illiterate rural adults in the areas of home management, livestock and poultry, basic agriculture and small farm development. A total of 29 specialized courses were developed in these four areas during the project"s life, with four more added later. Staffed by a director, eight instructors and four materials production specialists of exceptional quality, NFT developed programs responding to specific basic needs of each community. NFT also trained other Government of Paraguay (GOP) trainers and officials. Originally a pilot project in the village of Ita, NFT was incorporated into the system of SNPP education programs available in five regional centers throughout Paraguay. SNPP and GOP provided adequate financial support for NFT; SNPP also produced field-tested and validated materials for the total of 33 different training packages and can reproduce larger quantities. NFT is capable of absorbing more funding and sustaining a larger program. An increased demand for SNPP training programs and subsequent funding competition, however, restricts NFT activities to areas where additional financing is available from other institutions. SNPP failed to produce the planned budgeting and institutional requirements guide to expand the program to national scale. Language problems and GOP duplication caused NFT to drop the two planned teaching areas of handicrafts and health. A 7/78 survey of some project participants shows they were introduced to new cultivation and animal husbandry practices; 60% of those surveyed adopted a new practice and 26% demonstrated one to another person. Those surveyed also showed significant increases in productivity, between $10 to $800 in gross annual income and from 0.5 to 3.0 hectares of land cultivated.