a) Introduction:

This topic is intended to enable participants identify what to monitor, and the tools and skills to use during the monitoring of functional adult literacy programme.

b) Objectives:

By the end of the session, the participants should be able to:

 

• Identify what to monitor in functional adult literacy programme.
• Identify the tools to use for monitoring FAL programme.
• Describe the skills to be used in monitoring FAL.

c) Time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

d) Learning Aids: Newsprint, cards, markers, masking tape, or blackboard, chalk.

e) Procedure and Learning Points:

Step 1: Role play.

[15 min.] A District Officer is conducting a monitoring exercise in Butansi village. She moves around the homesteads, asking questions and ticks off from a sheet of paper.

Step 2: Questions about the role play:

 

a) What was happening in the role-play?
b) What could have gone wrong?
c) How could it have been performed better?

Step 3: Group Work.

[30 min.] In groups of 5-7 persons, the participants work on the following tasks:

 

a) What issues would you monitor in a FAL programme (indicators)?
b) What tools would you use to carry out such monitoring?
c) What skills would you need to carry out monitoring of a FAL programme?

Step 4: Plenary session.

[30 min.] Groups present their work which is discussed and compared with the facilitator’s input.

Possible responses:

 

a) What to monitor:

 

• output.
• attendance.
• drop-outs.
• enrolment.
• facilitation.
• level of participation, quality of discussions.
• who reads and how often.
• supply and use of materials.
• time taken per activity.
• resources.
• visits.
• content and quality of participants’ books.

 

b) Tools to use to monitor FAL programme:

 

• village profile.
• class registers.
• village record books.
• timetables.
• questionnaire.
• self-evaluation techniques (such as a woodmeter)
• records at health/educational/administrative units.

 

c) Skills to use during monitoring:

 

• Interviewing skills:

 

- ability to ask clear questions.
- ability to link questions.
- ability to concentrate.
- repeating what you have heard.

 

• Observation skills:

 

- can tell whether a participant is happy or not.
- can tell whether some members are dominating others.

 

• Listening skills:

 

- ability to concentrate.
- repeating what you have heard.

 

• Recording skills:

 

- ability to record the facts or main ideas.
- ability to operate recording equipment.

 

• Analysis skills:

 

- ability to bring out important issues, pointing out differences, advantages, disadvantages.

Wrap-up:

It is important that the various actors in FAL programme such as the co-ordinator, the trainers, the instructors, the supervisors and the learners are all involved in the monitoring exercise. This therefore, calls for the setting of issues to monitor (indicators) acceptable to each category of actors.

f) Assessment:

[10 min.] Of the issues to monitor, which ones do you think would be relevant for learners, and which ones for the instructor or supervisor?

g) Follow-up:

Work out your own tools that you will use for monitoring FAL programme.