Zaire, 28 October - 15 November 1985 : CEPLANUT food/nutrition and agriculture education project evaluation

Special evaluation covers the period 1984-85 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with project staff and students (beneficiaries). The curriculum devised by the staff of the National Center for Human Nutrition Planning (CEPLANUT) is far more innovative and participatory than the curriculum guide provided by the government, and marks the first attempt to introduce such a detailed course into the public school system. The curriculum, 300 lessons in agriculture and 300 lessons in nutrition/health, will cover grades one to six, and is being pilot-tested in four representative rural schools. After preliminary evaluations and revisions, project staff plan to print the curriculum and expand the project to include several hundred schools in the Kikwit subregion during the 1986-87 school year. Because the curriculum was developed before any evaluation activities began, important preliminary research was not undertaken; hence the medium- and long-term effects of the project will not be clearly documented. However, during the two remaining years of the project"s life, a number of evaluation activities will be conducted: bimonthly monitoring in each of the pilot schools; four separate attitudes/practices surveys for grades three through six; a test of teachers" knowledge; a curriculum-based test of student knowledge for grades three through six; and an observational study in the pilot villages to document changes in attitudes and practices. A thorough curriculum revision/review will be made to ensure that the material is not overwhelming to untrained teachers; and a final assessment will be made of the project"s impact on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the target children. Because these activities will overburden the present staff, it is recommended that an additional Zairian staff member join the nutrition education/monitoring team, at least from 1/1/86-7/1/86.