Assignment 3: Monitoring and evaluation of the project

1. Write a list of the major assumptions you have made in designing your project. Identify 3 key things you want to learn more about.

The major assumptions I have made while designing my project include:

§  The schools will readily accept the project and follow all the project guidelines that will be provided to them by the project staff to safely and successfully run the project within the schools.

§  Enough funding will be provided by funders to fund the project and run all the project activities as planned. And that all the provided funding will be used only for activities that help the project attain its objectives.

§  The community will be acceptable to the schools’ efforts to help them improve their plastics disposal habits and learn from the students talks.

§  Students at the schools will readily participate in project activities and also improve their plastics disposal habits and also share with the rest of the students online in the iEARN YouthCaN project all over the world.

§  Recycling companies will readily purchase the plastic products so the project can make profits from the used plastics collected.

§  Students will easily understand the objectives and intentions of the project and will be able to implement the project activities even on their own.

§  The project staff will be able to partner with a non-profit dealing with environmental issues interested in having programs in schools and will conduct free trainings at the schools with the students.

The three key things I want to learn more about:

§  Enough funding will be provided by funders to fund the project and run all the project activities as planned. And that all the provided funding will be used only for activities that help the project attain its objectives.

§  Students at the schools will readily participate in project activities and also improve their plastics disposal habits and also share with the rest of the students online in the iEARN YouthCaN project all over the world.

§  Recycling companies will readily purchase the plastic products so the project can make profits from the used plastics collected.

2.  Following the 8 steps in this module, develop an evaluation plan for your project. Use the headings below as a guide as well as the questions included throughout the module (see the  sections). You can also refer to the ‘Evaluation Plan Case Study’ in this module for help.

Project title: Learning through recycling.

Project Manager: Allan Kakinda       

Purpose of evaluation: The purpose of my project evaluation will be to share with funders and any other stakeholders the outcomes and impact of the project and to provide them with accurate information about how the money was spent. Through the evaluation, we will be able to determine whether the project was successful or not, what worked and what did not work and also make suggestions on how better it could be continuously implemented given the availability of funding. I also hope to reflect on the results of the evaluation so I can improve my ability to design and run good projects.

 

Involvement of Stakeholders: The following people will be involved in the evaluation process:

Students of the 3 schools involved in project: We will continuously involve the students by asking for feedback during and at the end of each project activity. Project staff will also ask students to write testimonies of their experiences as they participated in project activities and how they have affected their attitudes towards the environment and education in general.

                       

Lead contact teachers at the 3 schools: These teachers will always be leading the students in the project activities and will report directly to the project manager on the continued project progress at the schools and surrounding communities. They will also be reporting to the school administration to keep them updated with the project activities and progress.

                       

Project staff members: Project staff will responsible for ensuring the project evaluation takes places at each stage of the project and the compilation of the evaluation of the project report. They will be responsible for asking the students and teachers questions and ensuring that they obtain and document all the responses. Project staff will also be charged with the responsibility for ensuring the continued progress of the project and will always keep travelling to the schools to see how the project work is going on there and ensure all is going as planned.

                       

Contact at the Non profit partner: S/he will be responsible for conducting the trainings with the students and therefore will be interviewed to obtain his views on the effectiveness of the trainings they would have conducted with the students.

                       

Project funder: The project funder will provide guidance and support in the planning of the evaluation. They will also provide a report format for us to use in writing up the final report. They will read the final evaluation report and give us feedback and may also ask additional questions.

            Indicators of achievement:

            Objective 1:

To empower young people in 3 start up schools so they can be at the forefront of the reuse and recycling of the plastics and plastic bags while in schools by giving talks at the school assemblies     

Indicator:

§  Conducting of the training at the first assembly at each of the schools

§  Number of students who express interest in being part of the project at the end of the assembly.

Evidence required	How often/ When	Obtained from
Statements from students after the assembly	At the end of each assembly	Sandra Najuna
Written report about the training session conduct at the training	At the end of all the assemblies of the 3 schools	Allan Kakinda
Photographs  of the participants and the trainer during the training session at the assembly	At the end of all the assemblies of the 3 schools	Sandra Najuna
Number of students who express interest in being part of the project	At the end of each assembly	Lead contact teacher at each of the schools.

Objective 2:

To provide 5-8 trash cans at each of the 3 schools (depending on the number of canteens at each school) so that students can safely dispose-off the plastics in an environmentally friendly manner.

Indicators:

§  Number of trash cans provided at each of the delivered at each of the schools

§  Students making use of the trash cans at the canteens.

Evidence required	How often/ When	Obtained from
Photographs of the truck delivering the trash cans at each of the schools	On delivery of the trash cans	Hansa Phillpa Nabateregga
Number of trash cans delivered at each of the schools	On delivery of the trash cans	Hansa Phillpa Nabateregga and lead contact teachers at each of the schools
The amount of plastic waste collected from the different schools	At the end of each week when collecting the plastic waste from the schools	Najuna Sandra and lead contact teachers at the schools.

Objective 3:

Provide students with an opportunity of collaborating with other students carrying out similar activities (recycling and other environmental conservation related activities) in other parts of the world through the iEARN YouthCaN project forum.

Indicators:

§  Students posts in the forums.

§  Students receiving responses from other students around the one and learning about what is happening elsewhere.

Evidence required	How often/ When	Obtained from
Students posts in the forums	every after a project activity	Allan Kakinda and lead contact teachers
Responses to students posts by students from other countries	After making postings in the forum	Allan Kakinda, lead contact teachers and student leaders
Responses from students to other posts by other students	Whenever other students in other parts of the world make posting	Allan Kakinda, lead contact teachers and student leaders

                        Objective 4:

To establish partnerships with recycling centres around the 3 schools so that students can sell off the collected plastics to these centres.

Indicators:

§  The amount of used plastics and plastic bags sold off to the recycling centres.

Evidence required	How often/ When	Obtained from
Amount of money raised from sold off plastics	After selling off plastic waste to recycling centres	Hansa Nabateregga Phillpa

Evaluation tools and techniques to be used: We will get feed from the students on what they have learnt from each of the project activities at the end of each of these project activities. We will also conduct video interviews to document the effectiveness of how project activities have conducted by the different stakeholders of the project such as partners and project team staff. We will also hold stakeholder and project team staff meetings at the end of each school term to see what has been achieved and how more sustainable the project can be made. Photographs of the activities as they take place will also be taken as evidence of that the activities took place.

Baseline information required: We will have a needs assessment report that details the situation before the project started which we can refer to during the evaluation. We will also have information on the situation that existed before the project intervation.

Logistical & resource considerations:

Time – Since most of the evaluation will be going on as project activities are being carried out, the final annual project report will be produced at least 2 months after the end of the project year.

Money – The main costs of the project will be the project vehicle, the midterm review meeting and training, and the trash cans to be used for the collecting of the plastics and plastic bags.

People – I will manage the people involved in the project with the assistance of the other stakeholders and partners of the project.

Approach to the analysis of information: Analysis of the findings from the project evaluation will be discussed between the project staff, stakeholders and the schools before the final report is complied. Conclusions on the project’s successes and what did not work inclusive.

Reporting and communication of outcomes / learning: Reports of project activities and their impact will be produced at the end of each term and an annual report will be produced indicating the project activities that took place, their impact on the students and the local community of the schools and project future prospects and what can be done to scale up the project.