SECOND CHANCE EDUCATION FOR

OUT-OF-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN CHINA

(supported by UNICEF)

Project
Impact Assessment Report

UNICEF, China
September 2001
 Contents
Pages

Contents 2
I. Acknowledgements 5
II. Acronyms 6
III. Executive Summary 7

1. Introduction 9

2. Background 9

2.1 Objective of the project 10

2.2 Purpose of the impact assessment 10
2.3 Users of the study 11

3. Methodology of the Study 11

4. Evaluation findings 13

4.1 Was the design appropriate? 13

4.1.1 Management structure/organization 13
4.1.2 Outline of main activities 15
4.1.3 Feedback from stakeholders on project activities 16
1) Functional literacy and numeracy 16
2) production skills 17
3) Life skill and hygiene education 18

4.2 Has the implementation been effective? 18

1) Monitoring 19
2) Leadership and coordination 20

4.3 What are the outcomes? 20

1) Success of training 20
2) Innovation in the “ Second Chance” project : Peer Education 22

4.4 How has the project brought impacted on the lives of

adolescent children, especially girls and their families? * 22
1) Betterment of economic conditions 22
2) Increased confidence 23
3) Promotion of gender equality 24
4) Sustainability : How sustainable are the ideas and
process introduced through the project 24

4.5 What are the inputs from beneficiaries? 25

4.6 Summary of good practices 25

5 Lessons learned and recommendations 25

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6 Future perspective of the Second Chance Education 26

Annex

Semi-structured Questionnaires

1. Questions for out-of-school girls/boys 28

2. Questions for the parents of participated children 29
3. Questions for trainers 30
4. Questions for community leaders 31
5. Questions for project leaders of provincial and county level 32
6. Questions for project leaders of national level 33
(UNICEF and CAST staff)

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 I. Acknowledgements

Valuable inputs for this report were provided by Dr. Anjana Mangalagiri (Programme
Officer, UNICEF Beijing), Mr. Kang Yunjong (Project Officer, UNICEF Beijing), Ms. Niu
Lingjiang (Project Director/Director General of the Department of Children and Youth
Affairs, CAST), Mr. Peng Xi, Deputy Project Director and Mr. Wang Tianjiang (Project
Officer, CAST).

The report is in large part based on findings of field surveys, which were conducted in
Inner Mongolia and Hunan Province in August 2001. These surveys were benefited
greatly from meetings and support from a number of staff and officers of a variety of
agencies. In particular, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and generous
assistance provided by various levels of government officials and field workers,
including the office of the respective county governments of Dalate Banner (Inner
Mongolia) and Guzhang County (Hunan Province), the project leading group and the
Second Chance Education Project Offices of these provinces and counties. The
assessment also benefited greatly from the generous co-operation of out-of-school
adolescents and other community members. Their assistance and participation is very
much appreciated. It is hoped that this report contributes further to the economic and
human poverty reduction efforts and promotion of education of China and for the
betterment of Chinese adolescents.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank Mr. Kang Yunjong and Mr. Peng Xi for their
advice in the writing of this report.

Dr. Guan Yijie

Consultant
September 2001
Beijing, China

5
 II. Acronyms

CAST China Association for Science and Technology

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child
FFL Facts for Life
FGD Focus Group Discussion
GoC Government of China
IDD Iodine Deficiency Diseases
IGA Income Generation Activities
NFE Non-formal Education
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
RMB Renminbi - Chinese Currency (Yuan)
SES socio-economic Status
SPPA Social Development Programme for Poor Areas
UNF UN Foundation
UNFIP UN Fund for International Partnership (UNFIP)
UNICEF United Nations Children’ s Fund
UNICEF HQ UNICEF Headquarters

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 III. Executive Summary

The “ Second Chance Education” project for Out-Of-School Adolescents in Poor Areas
in China began in February 1999. The first phase of the project was due to end in
December 2000 but was extended for a six-month period until June 2001. China
Association for Science and Technology (CAST) implemented the project with financial
and technical assistance from the United Nations Children’ s Fund (UNICEF). An
amount of $110,002.97 was approved in support of activities for the first phase.

On completion of the first phase, an impact assessment on the project was carried out
during August 2001. The objective of the assessment was to find “ best practices and
innovations” , to draw lessons for the national level policies on non-formal education
(NFE), to provide options for the future development of the Second Chance Education
project and to identify areas where improvement may be necessary to enhance impact.

Further, the study was to provide a qualitative and quantitative assessment and
analysis of the processes and results of the project as per project objectives. The
techniques of data collection included focus group discussions (FGD), in-depth
interviews and visits to families at villages.

Because of time and resource constraints, the study was restricted to 2 out of 15
project counties (Dalate Banner of Inner Mongolia, Guzhang county of Hunan
Province) from 2 out of 5 provinces where the Second Chance Education project was
undertaken. In each province the samples were selected independently, including 28
adolescents in Inner Mongolia and 17 in Hunan Province making up a total of 45.

By December 2000, 2,250 children were trained in all 15 project counties and 450-750
(30-50 in each county) of them were trained as peer educators. Several workshops
were held for the training of peer educators and peer assistants. The new concept of
peer education has been accepted by both trainers and adolescents.

As a whole, the project design was flexible enough to accommodate changing

situations, children’ s ages and their educational levels. Most of participants dropped
out of school because of poverty. They were eager to acquire income generation skills
to improve their family’ s economic conditions. The training provided by the project
included: functional literacy and numeracy; livelihood skills training, popularizing
scientific knowledge and information on Facts for Life such as HIV/AIDS prevention,
reduction of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and so on.

The study concluded that the implementation of the project was quite effective. Project
management was clearly set out in the Framework of Monitoring System for
Cooperation Project between CAST and UNICEF. There were project leading groups at
province, county and township level. The members of leading groups came from local
governments, CAST and other NGO’ s. The leader of the group was usually the
governor or the vice governor responsible for science, technology and education
development of the project provinces, counties or townships respectively. An effective
monitoring and reporting system was built in. Project offices of CAST are located at
province, county and township levels. With the project leading group, the local
government lent support to the project office in the implementation.

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The project provided a second chance for out-of-school adolescents in remote poor
areas to continue learning activities that will be useful as life skills. The communities,
families and adolescents were all appreciative of the project. The adolescents tried to
attend every class of the training with the support of parents and community. Through
training, the adolescents not only learned skills and knowledge, but also became more
self-confident, especially the girls.

The project also generated hope for the whole community. Using the skills learned,
some adolescents improved their family economy and provided a good example for
other adolescents. Through training and experience exchange between peers, more
and more adolescents took part in learning activities. This means the whole
community took a step towards improving quality of their lives.

From the interviews and field visits the impression gained is that both CAST staff and
local government officers have put in a great deal of effort to improve local economy
and educational development in areas where the assessment was conducted. They
appreciated UNICEF’ s assistance to their counties and hoped for continuation of
project activities given the extreme backward nature of their counties.

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1. Introduction

The Second Chance Education Project was designed to meet the requirements of the
most disadvantaged youth, especially from poor families, who have been forced to drop
out of schools largely by circumstances beyond their own control. The objective of the
project, therefore, was to provide alternative education opportunities to out-of-school
adolescents, especially girls. The project offered opportunities for obtaining basic
literacy, numeracy, income-generation skills and health information.

After the completion of the first phase of project implementation (February 1999 - June
2001), CAST – the project implementing agency and UNICEF commenced the process
of designing the next phase for 2001-2004. Prior to submission of such a project
proposal for funding from a donor, it was agreed between CAST and UNICEF that a
project impact assessment would be undertaken.

The time given to this assessment study was limited to one month (August 2001). The
study tried to capture the essence of project impacts within the given period. This
report is the outcome of the study.

The objective of this exercise was to draw lessons from the project to enable both
UNICEF and CAST at the national level to provide options for the future development
of the Second Chance Education Project and to identify areas in which improvements
would be necessary to enhance its impact.

2. Background

There are a large number of young adolescents in remote and rural areas in China who
do not complete their school education, mainly due to imbalanced economic
development and the disparities in the natural and geographical conditions of the
provinces. The non-formal education project assisted by UNICEF during the
programme cycle (1996-2000) provided opportunities for out-of-school children to
acquire basic literacy and skills in order to improve their livelihoods.

With the indication of potential funding from UN Foundation (UNF), China Association
for Science and Technology (CAST) and UNICEF Beijing organized a workshop in
Beijing in early 1999, involving 8 adolescent school drop-outs from remote and rural
areas to gain first hand information on their problems and needs. The design of the
project proposal was discussed and opinions from children were requested on how to
promote/enhance their development and participation rights. This was a follow-up to
an initial planning meeting for inter-country project on adolescent girls’ rights to
participation and development, held in New York from 5 to 11 February 1999, and
participated by CAST and UNICEF. Out of 17 countries, UNICEF’ s support for a total
amount of US$ 111,000 was allocated to China as a planning grant. The continuation
of the project beyond this start-up project was based on the review of this first phase.

China’ s project proposal to the funding from UNF reflected the focus of the
Government of China (GoC)-UNICEF cooperation agreement on meeting the needs of

9
the most disadvantaged youth, from poor families, whose children have had to drop out
of school mainly on account of poverty and poor schooling facilities.

It was planned that the project would be carried out in two phases - the first phase in
1999-2000 as a pilot project and the second phase during 2001-2003. The purpose of
this evaluation at the end of Phase 1 is to identify innovations and “ best practices”
drawn from the project counties, as the basis to formulate a Phase 2 (2001-2003). The
focus of Phase 2 would be on establishing sustainable mechanisms for youth
participation in the initial counties, and expanding the youth participation initiatives into
additional counties and provinces. The expansion will take place through a process of
advocacy and experience exchange strategies and will promote development of cogent
project designs for implementation on a wider scale. The proposed plan in Phase 1
envisioned an amount of $ 1,575,000 (1999-2000). However, an amount of $
110,002.97 was approved.

2.1 Objectives of the project

• To enhance the knowledge of out-of-school adolescents for self-protection and

the realization of their rights, and to increase their skill and capacity to access
resources for improving their and families’ quality of life

• To develop methodologies for definition of problems and the processes of

capacity building for substantive participation by adolescents in the formulation
and implementation of programmes

• To develop examples and approaches for an enhanced involvement by the

governmental institutions and civil society to address issues for providing
development and participation rights of adolescents

• In each of the project counties that implement the project, 150 out-of-school
adolescents annually will receive literacy and skills training, and 50 of them will
receive training as facilitators and peer educators

4.5 Purpose of the impact assessment

1) To assess the extent to which :

• has enabled out-of-school children to continue their education through non-

formal means
• participation of children, especially girls was promoted in livelihood skills
provided
• organized learning, especially on rights and girls’ empowerment through peer
education

2) To review the lessons learned from the process of project implementation and
prepare a comprehensive summary of the results compared with the goals and
objectives outlined in the project document.

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2.2 Users of the Study

• UN Foundation and other potential donors

• China Association for Science and Technology
• Ministry of Education, GoC
• UN Basic Education Theme Group in China
• UNICEF

The study will also be used for preparation of comprehensive report by UNICEF HQ to
the UN Foundation for International Partnership (UNFIP) and submission of a new
project proposal by UNICEF in China to the UNFIP.

3. Methodology of the Study

Two project counties out of 15 (13.3%) in two provinces out of 5 project provinces
(40%) were selected as samples. They are :

• Guzhang County, Hunan Province

• Dalate Banner(county), Inner Mongolia

In each province, samples were selected independently, including 28 adolescents in

Inner Mongolia and 17 in Hunan Province. The children taking part in focus group
discussion were those who participated in the activities under the Second Chance
Education Project such as training on literacy, numeracy, livelihood skill and peer
education during 1999-2001. Major targets for the assessment were adolescent girls.

Random method was used when selecting children in project villages. The study was
carried out to provide a qualitative and quantitative (where data was available)
assessment and analysis of the processes and results of the project as per project
objectives.

The assessment was based on open-ended questions administered through focus

group discussions with stakeholders, mainly adolescent girls, community, and parents
of adolescent girls and CAST project staff. Interviews were held with a smaller number
of individual girls to obtain greater insight into their personal experiences and the
manner in which the project had changed their lives. Questions were designed to raise
basic issues on the assessment. Qualitative data was supplemented with quantitative
data on the number of days attended by children. Semi-structured questions were
designed to use in the FGDs and focused on the following areas :

• To understand knowledge gained by the target group on issues related to

a) Promotion of child participation
b) Child rights
c) Vocational skills
• To explore the extent to which the target group were able to access resources for
bettering family economic conditions.
• To understand methodologies developed by project to encourage participation of
adolescents in programme implementation.
• To understand the extent of the involvement of government institutions and civil
society in promoting adolescents involvement in issues affecting their lives.

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Different sets of questions were prepared for each group of stakeholders, namely
project, leaders, children, and parents of children, community leaders and trainers.
The topics of questions changed according to the role of each set of stakeholders in
the project. The questions explored changes in the perceptions of adolescents related
to their development, protection and participation rights.

At the beginning of group discussions, icebreakers and games were conducted in order
to make the adolescents to feel more relaxed with strangers. During discussions,
participants were facilitated to discuss aspects of the project amongst themselves.
Documentation of group discussions was done through photographs, audiotapes and
written notes. During individual interviews, questions explored girls’ experience,
knowledge, practice and attitudes.

The data collection process was undertaken through:

• A review of project documents.

• Discussions with project officers of Education Section of UNICEF.
• Discussions with CAST staff at national, provincial and county levels.
• Interview with the project leaders at the county level.
• Site visits to project provinces, counties, townships and villages.
• Focus group discussions through lead questions with stakeholders (adolescents,
peer educators, trainers at the learning centers, community leaders at the
villages).
• Interviews with identified individual girls.
• Visits to the families and other places (such as the animal pens, the field and the
orchard, etc)

Interview with an out-of- schoolgirl and her father

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4. Evaluation findings

The Second Chance Education Project provided non-formal/learning opportunities for

dropout girls and boys. The initial project period was from March 1999 until December
2000, and was extended for a period of 6 months until June 2001.

4.1 Was the project design appropriate?

4.1.1 Management structure/organization

The organization chart below shows the structure and linkages between the different
levels. CAST at the national level is responsible for the overall co-ordination and
implementation of the project. At the provincial level, the “ Second Chance Education”
project offices were set up within CAST to provide management, technical and
monitoring support for the project implemented in their respective counties. At
provincial, county and township levels, project offices are established to carry out the
planned activities in the villages.

Organization chart

UNICEF cooperation
CAST Project
(Beijing) (National) Office
(National)

Financial and
technical assistance

CAST GoC
(Project province) (Project province)
Project
Office
(provincial)

CAST GoC
(Project county) (Project county)

Project
Office
(county)

GoC
(Project township)

Project office
(township)

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The project management offices were set up in the office of the county CAST. The
CAST project offices at the township level have been established in the office of the
township government and are actually overseen by one of the township vice-governors.

The project was designed with the objectives of proving training on literacy, numeracy,
health and livelihood skills to out-of-school children between the ages of 13-18.

The design was largely flexible. Interaction flow was mainly top-down.
Project leading groups established at national, provincial and county levels were
responsible for project implementation. Training was provided to project staff and
trainers on project management and training on peer education provided to
adolescents at village level. Project staff heard the views and opinions of the
adolescents, requirements of which were reflected in training topics during the process
of livelihood skills training.

In the workshop held in 1999, representatives of out-of-school adolescents, besides

expressing their needs for literacy and numeracy, also requested training on livelihood
skills. The girls also desired to attain self-confidence. This lead to preparation of special
training on farming techniques and animal husbandry in some villages.

The project provided training in literacy, numeracy, health and livelihood skills. The
project introduced a new concept of “ Peer Education” as a training methodology. Apart
from teachers (trainers), adolescents who had been trained as peer educators assisted
the teachers with the training and referred to as “ Peer Education Assistants” . This was
an innovative strategy wherein adolescents taught and learned in the group on Facts
For Life and Child Rights. Several workshops were organized on Peer Education,
which also gave opportunity for exchange of experiences amongst adolescents.

The project has become increasingly responsive to local needs as evidenced through
visits to both the counties of Inner Mongolia and Hunan provinces. Project staff
considered the concept of peer education as an innovative educational approach and a
good training technique. Adolescent girls and boys found that it was easier to learn
from their peers in an informal atmosphere. Trainers too discovered the value of peer
assistants reaching out to children, since some villages were located quite far,
scattered around the county. The peer assistants also helped each other to organize
learning activities.

Discussions and interviews with county-level staff, project participants, instructors and
community leaders indicated that stakeholders were satisfied that their opinions were
sought and incorporated in the project design.

Mr. Zhang Baochao, project staff at Dalate Banner CAST said:

“Second Chance Education gave an opportunity to the adolescents
who drop out mainly because extreme poverty of family. ”

Zeng Qingmei, a 16-year-old girl, said: “Now I like the literacy

and numeracy training because I want to be a translator in the
future!”

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4.1.2 Outline of main activities

1) February 1999 - CAST and UNICEF organized a workshop in Beijing involving

eight adolescent school drop-outs (all aged 17) to consult with them on the
current project design (in which seven had participated), and on ways to enhance
development and participation rights for adolescents. Workshop participants
included five girls and three boys, coming from poor counties of three different
provinces.

2) May 1999 – a workshop on project preparation at Pawling, USA, and

a workshop on preparation of training modules for adolescents

3) September 1999 – a project design workshop by children in Zhengzhou, Henan

Province. Key members of project personnel of 5 project provinces participated in
the workshop.

4) Compilation of training information and teaching materials for training in

vocational skills was based on needs of local target group. In each project
province, experts and technical personnel were invited to do the compilation
according to local conditions. In cooperation with departments of local county
governments including agriculture, science and technology, education,
environment protection and health, the project offices at county level developed
and printed advocacy and training materials for distribution in project counties.

5) February 2000 - Internet Chat. This was an on-line communication that provided
a unique opportunity to out-of-school adolescents to communicate with senior
management of UNICEF, New York and the World Bank. Six children (4 girls and
2 boys aged 16-17), from Inner Mongolia who expressed desire to exchange their
ideas and opinions with peers in other countries, were selected.

6) March 2000 - Peer Education Training Workshop (pilot training course for peer
educators and training workshops for peer assistants) in Lanzhou, Gansu
province. Official from UNICEF, New York conducted the sessions on the new
methodologies related to participatory teaching and learning. Participants were
project personnel from five project provinces. After the workshop, a trial practice
was conducted in Yongdeng County, Gansu Province.

7) June 2000 - Peer Education Practice Workshop in Xi’ an, Shaanxi province. The
project personnel from all five project provinces participated. They familiarized
themselves with the concept and the methods of peer education using
participatory methods. Each project county developed a Guideline of Peer
Education Assistant Training on the basis of the contents provided during the
training workshops.

8) April 2001- Girls Education workshop in Huhhote, Inner Mongolia. 65 out-of-

school girls from not only project provinces, but also non-project provinces,
communicated with the project officers of UNICEF, Beijing, and CAST on their life
experiences and their needs for learning.

15
4.1.3 Feedback from Stakeholders on project activities

The following feedback was obtained from the various interviews and focus group
discussions on project activities.

Out-of-school adolescents eagerly took part in most of project activities. They wanted
to be associated with the project group. Apart from adolescents, community members,
especially the women also took part in the training provided by the project.

1) Functional literacy and numeracy:

The project organized training on functional literacy and numeracy for adolescent
participants. The objective of literacy training was to enable adolescents to read
brochures, training materials and guidelines published by CAST and UNICEF. The
objective of numeracy training was to enable participants to reach the level of
elementary school graduates. Most of the trainees were teachers from elementary
schools. They held classes for out-of-school adolescents at weekends or in the
evenings. Adolescents sat together in one “ classroom” (usually in a fixed place) to
attend class. Lessons in Chinese and arithmetic were provided.

Most of adolescents interviewed said they could read brochures, posters of scientific
knowledge and other training materials without help. They also developed
mathematical ability on multiplication and division, recordings on expenditures and
incomes. Literacy and numeracy skills enabled the adolescents, especially girls (there
are more out-of-school girls than boys since parents prefer interest on education for
boys to girls) to acquire new knowledge, feel confident, increase possibilities of
employment and reduce risk of being victimized by outsiders.

Realizing the significance of literacy and numeracy

The children narrated this story to demonstrate their desire for upgrading
their literacy skills.

An out-of-school girl in a village of Guzhang County, Henan Province

found a job outside her village. When she wanted to remit money home
through the post office, she had to ask other people to fill in the form for
remittance, as she was only semi-literate. This experience was not very
pleasant for her.

16
 Literacy and numeracy training in Pancao village, Guzhang County.

2) Production skills:

Training was provided to improve adolescents’ production skills in line with their major
production activities. Production skill training was particularly focused on agricultural
production and animal husbandry. The training changed according to local conditions.
In Inner Mongolia, for example, adolescents were taught how to plant corn and
vegetables, suitable for the dry climatic conditions there. They were also taught how to
feed pigs and sheep in the pen rather than herd the animals on grasslands. This
method protected soil in the grasslands from being blown away by the wind. In Hunan
province, adolescents were taught knowledge and skills of citriculture, the planting of
tea and Chinese traditional medical herbs suitable for the humid climatic conditions
there.

Vegetables at courtyard of an
out-of-school girl’ s house,
Dalate Banner, Inner
Mongolia.

17
Trainers from local agricultural and animal husbandry departments usually conducted
training on production skills. Apart from out-of-school girls, out-of-school boys and
women in the village also attended the training to increase their earnings. In Guzhang
County, the leader of Pancao village mobilized about 120 people to attend training
activity offered by an expert from Changsha who was invited by Guzhang county
CAST.

3) Life skill and hygiene education

Training on the skills-based health education emphasized personal and household

hygiene practices and behavioural changes. This also included promotion of sanitary
latrine use, HIV/AIDS prevention and eradication of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD).
Training was provided mainly by the medical staff of the local health bureau
responsible for prevention/control of epidemic diseases. These training helped in
changing conventional habits of villagers who have had no knowledge on such issues.
Adolescents shared the knowledge with their families, neighbours and peers.

Evidence of this was cited through examples such as in the past, the minority people in
project county used non-iodized salt, shared only one towel among all family members
and drank unboiled water. After training, knowledge on hygiene helped improve
practices for better hygiene and sanitation, reducing the risk of diseases. At present,
there is near universal use of iodized salt and boiled water amongst minority
communities.

Training was also provided for enhancing knowledge on environmental protection and
on the awareness on child rights.

Although the project was designed to meet local needs, there were increasing
demands for other skills relevant to the market economy. As a non-governmental
organization specializing in promoting scientific and technological knowledge among
children, CAST project staff at county level identified skills in farming, animal
husbandry and environmental protection as vital in meeting local needs and conditions.
But in the focus group discussions, the adolescents expressed their new aspirations to
learn other skills, such like hairdressing and facial make-up in line with the urbanization
of local areas.

Project planners had not envisaged future demands and changes for skill
requirements. This means that demands are increasing for additional skills training
such as for hair-dressing, dressmaking as well as skills typically required in urban
areas such as typing, business management, marketing knowledge, etc. Adolescents
also stressed the need for small loan schemes to enable them to utilize their skills in
starting small businesses.

4.2 Has the implementation been effective?

The project management mechanism was clearly set out as per the Framework of
Monitoring System for Cooperation Project Between CAST and UNICEF (on record at

18
CAST) in which information management, lines of communication, decision-making
procedures, report production, record keeping and a feedback mechanism were clearly
delineated at each level. Consultant was able to verify through FGDs, that project staff
at all levels did adhere to the framework, which has facilitated project management and
monitoring.

1) Monitoring

The project officers appointed at provincial level provided direct management and
monitoring support to the officers at county and township levels. The latter are involved
in routine management and monitoring of all project activities. Outcome of field visits,
reports from the lower levels and other project-related activities were reviewed at the
annual review meetings.

The general components of monitoring for the project implementation included :

• field visits by the project staff to villages

• activity reports by project counties
• evaluation of work by project counties
• project mid-term and annual reviews

Collection of documents, photos and video tapes of

the Second Chance Education Project in Guzhang County

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2) Leadership and coordination

In order to strengthen the multi-sectoral coordination and cooperation for the project
implementation, “ project leading groups” were established at provincial, county and
township levels. The head of the leading group is normally a governor or the vice
governor who is responsible for science, technology and education development.
Members of the leading group are from related local governmental departments such
as Education, Health, Finance, Information and other non-government organizations
(NGO) such as the All China Women’ s Federation. The project leading group at each
level thus representing a combination of various agencies and is thus an influential
support to the project office.

4.3 What are the outcomes?

The Second Chance Education Project provided an opportunity for education and skills
training to 12-18 year old out-of-school children from 15 counties of 5 provinces. It
promoted their capacities for self-protection and expression. It enabled them to access
resources to improve the economic conditions of their families.

1) Success of training

• In the implementation of the Second Chance Education Project, there has been
substantive participation by out-of-school adolescents in contributing to
programme content.

• In the project counties, on account of popular demand, training in literacy and

numeracy skills was held on a regular basis. Training in production skills was
sometimes combined with the activities of other agencies such as Women’ s
Federation, or other activities of local governments.

• Most of adolescents trained in vocational skills helped their families to increase

agricultural production. Some of them became principal producers for the family
economy.

• According to project records 2,250 adolescents of 15 project counties attended

training courses provided by the Second Chance Education Project, of whom
450-750 (30-50 in each project county) adolescents became peer assistants at
the end of the year 2000. Dropped-out girls have constituted a significant number
of the peer educators, who provided assistance to project staff in the
management of the project.

• Training on child rights enhanced the knowledge of out-of-school adolescents on

self-protection and their skills and capacities to access resources for improving
their poverty conditions.

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Skills learning

Du Haiyan, a girl in Dalate Banner, Inner Mongolia: Her family breeds

20-30 sheep and 3 pigs in the yard. Her father said proudly: “Haiyan
learned skills on how to make separate feed for sheep and pigs mixed with
corns and leaves of Mizi (a kind of grass). This has proven to provide better
nourishment to the animals. She also planted some vegetables in the yard.
Haiyan did all this herself thanks to the livelihood skills training under the
Second Chance Education!”

Du Haiyan, an out-of-school girl

Du Haiyan’ s father showing the feed that Du Haiyan made for sheep

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2) Innovation in the “Second Chance” Project : Peer Education

Peer education is a new training methodology introduced through the Second Chance
Education Project. In 2000, 30-50 of 150 participants in each county received training
as peer educators. Workshops on peer education were held in Zhengzhou, Lanzhou
and Xi’ an counties. These peer educators have successfully passed on skills and
knowledge to both peers and adults in their respective villages.

Han Xia, an out-of-school girl from Dalate Banner talking

about her understanding on peer education in the training class

4.4 How has the project brought impact on the lives of adolescent
children, especially girls and their families? *

1) Betterment of economic conditions

Despite the absence of baseline data, the participants in focused group discussions
and interviews reported having generated income as a result of using the skills
acquired through project training activities, with some participants more successful than
others on certain skills. The improved economic conditions of their families increased
their siblings’ opportunities to continue formal education and encouraged other out-of-
school adolescents to participate in the project activities.

Review of project documents and field visit to counties and townships also revealed
that training activities for out-of-school adolescents were organized on a regular basis,
which were quite popular and well attended by adolescents. There was greater
awareness on environmental protection and preservation, improved hygiene, sanitation

* Attempts were made to assess the project impact, but this has been difficult to accomplish, given
the scope of the project objectives, the lack of baseline data, and also limited period of project
implementation (Feb. 1999- June 2001).
22
and water security at homes and communities, and enhanced capacity of CAST project
staff to implement project activities.

2) Increased confidence

Participants in the Second Chance Education Project were very satisfied with the
training on vocational skills, since most of them were forced to drop out of school. (With
increased knowledge of literacy and numeracy, the possibility for the employment
prospects of out-of-school girls has increased, and the risk of being duped is perceived
to have been decreased. In addition, awareness on their rights provides them with a
greater sense of security. Acquiring one or two vocational skills have increased the
confidence levels of children.

Change of mind

Huang Chengjiao, a girl in Guzhang county, Hunan Province said shyly,

“Through training class, I not only learnt the skills and literacy but also felt a
sense of glory since I attended the training at the county! ”

Ma Erping said: “I feel a sense of pride as the training made me feel confident
and capable. It gave me the courage to communicate with others, change ideas
and dream about my future!

Ma Erping (right) and Qiao Xuezhen, out-of-school girls

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3) Promotion of Gender Equality

CAST project staff at county and township levels emphasized importance of training to
out-of-school girls and systematically expanded training opportunities. The adolescent
girls were able to progressively take more responsibilities in project implementation.
There was also a clear evidence of heightened self-esteem and aspirations among girls
and women as a result of this gender sensitivity. This was evidenced in that many girls
who were shy at the beginning of the project became volunteer peer educators passing
on learned knowledge and skills to other girls and boys.

4) Sustainability: How sustainable are the ideas and processes

introduced through the project

The project has facilitated the revitalization of community aspirations through the
provision of vocational skills training and generated hopes for the future among project
participants. Communities have also benefited in the process. Participation in the
project has contributed to enhance self-esteem, pride and economic betterment. Thus,
maintaining and sustaining project-initiated activities and facilities were important to the
project communities.

Experiences learned from the project were being applied in the two counties visited
even after completion of project activities at the end of 2000. Techniques on growing
medical herbs and animal husbandry breeding were applied to income generation
activities. This indicates the popularity of the project concept and the interests
generated in the community.

The out-of-school adolescents appreciated the opportunities provided by the project.

There was enthusiasm among girl participants for the livelihood skills training, which
greatly encouraged other out-of-school adolescents to participate in the project. The
adolescent girls who were interviewed for the study were reluctant to talk about the
reasons of their dropping out of schools because of their strong self-esteem. They did
not want to talk about living conditions of their families. Nevertheless, adolescents who
attended the discussions expressed their appreciation for the project and great
expectations of learning new skills for improvement of their living conditions.

The concept of Peer Education gained popularity in the project counties. In focus group
discussions, some girls said that many of their peers who were unable to attend the
training classes due to their pre-engaged work requested them to inform what they
learned from the class.

Intensive training, in particular peer education training for CAST staff, instructors and
advocators resulted in the improvement of the teaching methodologies. Teaching
experiences enabled them to better understand needs of out-of-school adolescents so
that they could develop better curricula and materials in the second phase of the
project.

Both project and county officials interviewed were appreciative of the project strategies.
They said they would continue their best to implement the activities with credit. The

24
counties visited are also included as project counties of the current Non-formal
Education Project (2001-2005).

Through interviews and field visits it was found that both CAST staff and local
government officers took considerable amount of work for improvement of local
economy and educational development. They expressed great enthusiasm about the
project achievements and appreciation for UNICEF’ s assistance to their counties with
hopes that the Second Chance Education Project would continue.

4.5 What are the inputs from beneficiaries?

Through focus group discussions the consultant found that apart from acquiring
knowledge on livelihood skills, the adolescents also shared their knowledge with their
parents, siblings and neighbours thus promoting achievement of project objectives.

Some parents who responded during interviews said that they had supported the
adolescents in participating in the project activities. Most of them wanted their children
to learn more in the training. Many parents helped their children’ s work during training
classes.

4.6 Summary of good practices

• Good relationship with local governments and their support to the project made it
possible for staff of CAST project offices at county levels to successfully carry out
project activities in respective project sites.

• Peer education was introduced to the non-formal education project as a new

training concept and many adolescent girls and boys were educated as peer
educators.

• Project staff at county level have developed training materials according to local
conditions and requirements in project areas, taking consideration of different
factors such as economic development status, climate and soil conditions and
the knowledge and educational level of adolescents. Flexibility was taken into
account design of training topics and methods in meeting the local needs.

• The project became part of the on-going non-formal education project assisted by
UNICEF. This enabled the project staff to manage the project in an efficient way.

5. Lessons learned and recommendations

• County governments have had difficulties in making advance payments for all the
costs related to project activities. This often caused delay or postponement of
project activities.

• Project counties visited were located in rural areas where there were many ethnic
minorities. It was found that family planning was not strictly practised in these

25
 counties as most out-of-school adolescents had more than one sibling. As the
families could only afford the education cost of only one child, there were many
cases that other siblings had to drop out of the schools. The target group of the
project was the adolescents up to the age of 18 years, who would become
parents after several years. Therefore, it is imperative to include health education
on the advantages of family planning.

• The objectives of project need to be designed to provide training according to the

educational level and age of adolescents. There were adolescent girls and boys
who dropped out of schools at some stages of primary or junior schools. It will be
beneficial to provide income-generation training to adolescents aged over 15
years, who have already finished junior high schools while providing training on
literacy and numeracy to children below 15 years.

• It is necessary to modify the training design in line with changing demands in the
market economy by widening the scope of training topics not only on livelihood
skills for agricultural production and animal husbandry but also skills on operation
and repair of farming tools, typing, haircutting and handicrafts.

• Access to information needs to be provided to adolescents in order to obtain

necessary skills conducive to enhancing their understanding and knowledge of
techniques. Provision of additional funds for subscription of newspapers and
magazines can help out-of-school adolescents to improve their reading ability
and knowledge of livelihood skills and techniques.

• It is necessary to include education on environmental protection. In the project

counties visited, communities did not pay attention to rubbish strewn around the
streets. Effective utilization of natural resources and social mobilization on
awareness of environmental protection will reduce environmental problems. In
addition, environmental cleanliness may promote tourism to bring additional
benefits and earnings.

• Consideration should be given by UNICEF and CAST to the idea of providing

funds in advance to ensure timely completion of project activities.

• After acquiring certain livelihood skills adolescents may need financial support to
start up their own income generating activities. It is suggested that the Second
Chance Education Project could incorporate a micro-credit programme, which
would be of great benefits to adolescents and their families to assist them in
utilising the skills they have learned from the project.

6. Future perspective of the Second Chance Education

The Second Chance Education Project has been implemented over a two-year period.
Though a great deal of effort has been inputted by project staff during this period, the
time constraint was found to be a major setback for achieving objectives of educational
development.

26
Several counties that benefited from the Second Chance Education Project took part in
the project activities of the Non-Formal Education Project supported by UNICEF for a
number of years. As noted, many positive achievements have been made under the
Non-Formal Education project. Continuation of the Second Chance Education through
integration with the Non-Formal Education Project will surely make significant changes
to the improvement of quality of lives of adolescents.

According to the proposal of the phase 1 of the Second Chance Education Project,
there will be a second phase project “during which focus will be on establishing sustainable
mechanisms for youth participation in the initial counties, and on expanding the youth
participation initiatives into additional counties and provinces”. With the outcome of the
phase 1 of Second Chance Education Project and the Non-Formal Education Project
(1996-2000), all the project personnel believed that in the phase 2 of the Second
Chance Education Project they would improve the project management for
achievement of greater successes. The out-of-school adolescents also have
expectations for the phase 2 project as a continuation of the Second Chance Education
Project.

27
Annex

1. QUESTIONS FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL GIRLS/BOYS:

1. Warm-up:
• ask about their families and themselves
• harvest of this year.
• any other local issue of interest.

2. Did you participate in training provided by the Second Chance Education project?
• What activities?
• When?
• For how long?

3. Did the training fit your needs?

• If yes, how?
• If no, why?

4. Do you know about Child Rights?

5. How many rights can you name?

6. What information did you get from Facts For Life (FFL)?

7. What aspects of training of the Second Chance Education liked/did not like?
• How do you suggest change of the training topics?

8. How many out-of-school girls in your village participated in training?

• If not all, why not everybody?

9. How did the training you received affect your lives?

• How did you apply training you learnt to your life?
• What changes has the project brought?

10. What do you think the benefit of the Second Chance Education Project on your
life?
• To what extent?
• Their attitude to life
• their self-confidence
• their plan for the future
• other girls attitude to the training/education
• family’ s attitude toward education

11. Did you receive peer education training?

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 • What did you learn?
• Was it clear why you got this training?
• Where and when did you participate in the training?
• Was it convenient for you to come?
• If yes, did you help others with the skills you learned? How did you do this?
• If no, did you ever receive any help from other peers who participated in the
peer education project?

12. How many children were you interacting with?

13. How did the children respond?

14. Were there different training topics for girls and boys?
• If yes, how?

15. Would you like it to be this way? How can such training be made better?

16. Are you using this training now?

• If yes, how?
• If not, why did you stop being a peer educator?

17. What is your opinion about peer education?

18. What is your peers’ opinion about Second Chance Education?

19. Do you plan to continue to participate in such a kind of training in future?

• Which activities?
• For how long?

2. QUESTION FOR THE PARENTS OF PARTICIPATED CHILDREN

1. Is your daughter/son out of school?

2. Did you allow your daughter/son to participate in any training?
• If no, why not?
• If yes, how do you think s/he benefited?

3. Did you support your child in participating the training?

• If yes, how?

4. What changes have taken place since your daughter/son received training on
some skills, knowledge or help from the Second Chance Education?

5. How many children do you have? Are they boys or girls? Will you allow them to
continue their formal education?

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 • If no, why not?
• If yes, how long?

6. What is your opinion about the Second Chance Education?

3. QUESTIONS FOR TRAINERS

(conduct this interview/discussions prior to focued group discussions)

1. How many out-of-school children are there in the county/township/village?

2. Under what age groups are they in?

3. What course/training did you provide to the children?

• Did you design yourself for preparation of such training topics? Did you
design the training yourself?

4. How many training and what kind of training did children participate in?

5. What successes do you think the training has achieved?

• Do you think the training is effective or not, according the objectives of
training?

6. Which training was most useful and interesting for children?

• Did the training use participatory approach – not lecture?
• Were you able to organize the training in a similar manner?

7. What were the objectives of the training programmes?

8. What difficulties have you encountered in training?

• teaching aid
• method
• students
• attitude toward training

9. What is your opinion about the Second Chance Education project?

• Did you notice any changes of your students in their behavior, attitude and
life?

10. A report last year said that training and literacy classes were not utilizing the
participatory method. Did you experience the same?
• Why?

11. What activities did you do on child rights?

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12. Did you use any posters?

13. Do you know about Facts for Life?

14. How did you introduce this to the children?

15. Do you think the training has met with the needs of out-of-school girls/boys?
Examples : (how?)

16. Were you able to provide training using participatory methods?

• If not, why not?

16. Were any peer training guidelines developed at the central level?

17. Did you use these guidelines for your training with children?

18. What good practices did you do in training?

• any innovation?
• If not, why?

19. What lessons did you find for improvement of the project management?
• For second chance education
• For peer training
• For Vocational training

20. Has it improved participation of children in school activities?

• Any evidence?

4. QUESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS:

1. What was your input in the project design and implementation?

• suggestion
• human resources
• financial support
• management mechanism

2. Were you consulted on design of second chance education project?

3. Do you think that your suggestions about project be considered for the next stage
of the project design?
• How were your suggestions incorporated?

4. How many children in your community have participated in training?

• What are the benefits of the Second Chance Education on community?
• the change of life-level of community (evidence)

31
 • the change of attitude toward education

5. Have you assessed progress/implementation of project?

• If yes, how and what was the outcome?
• Have the objectives been achieved?
6. What is your opinion on the Second Chance Education?
• Do you think such kind of project should be continued or not?

7. Do you think the training met the needs of participants as well as community?
• How did you assess and analyse the needs of drop-out children?

8. What sort of good practices did you introduce in project implementation?

• Any innovation?

9. What is the general situation of the economy of the community?

10. What lessons do you think you learnt after completion of the project?

11. How can this project be made sustainable?

5. QUESTIONS FOR PROJECT LEADERS OF PROVINCIAL AND

COUNTY LEVEL

1. Are you aware of this project on the Second Chance Education?

• What do you know about it?

2. What is your input in project design and implementation?

3. Who was responsible for the Second Chance Education project?

• suggestion
• human resource
• financial support
• management mechanism/monitoring system

4. Did your suggestions about project be considered at the stage of the project
design?
• How?

5. How did you select the project areas?

• Counties
• Townships
• villages

6. How was the progress/ implementation of the project evaluated?

32
 • Were the objectives realized?

7. How do you consider the needs of county, townships, and communities?

• Which way would be the best to meet the needs?

8. Is there any collaboration with other institutions?

• Who are they?
• In which way did the project cooperate with other organizations?

9. What are the good practices in the implementation of project?

• What is it?
• Any innovations?

10. Are the project objectives met?

11. Basic information about the project

12. Any other lessons learnt from this project?

13. How can this project be made sustainable?

6. QUESTIONS FOR PROJECT LEADERS OF NATIONAL LEVEL

(UNICEF AND CAST STAFF)

1. What is your input in project design and implement?

2. Who is responsible for the Second Chance Education project?

• Suggestion
• human resource
• financial support
• management mechanism/monitoring system

3. How did you design the project?

4. Were there any problems at the stage of the design?

• Any innovations in the design of the project?

5. How did you know the needs of project areas at the different level?
• Province
• County
• Township
• community

6. How did you select project areas at different level?

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7. Did you revise project objectives annually?
• When?
• Why?
• How?

8. Were there any collaboration with other projects and other organizations?
9. Does CAST have plan to continue the Second chance education project with
UNICEF in future?
• Why?
• For how long?

10. Do you think that the project is sustainable after support from UNICEF?

11. How did you monitor the project implementation at county level?

12. How did you ensure that new training methods were being used by all? It has
been reported that this was not universal. What are the reasons?

13. Did you finalize guidelines on peer education?

14. How did you design materials on Child Rights?

15. How can this project be made sustainable?

34