Assisting the NSNP to improve programme performance by embedding quality Monitoring, Reporting and Response systems
Key Facts
- R 7.2bn = the value of the NSNP Conditional Grant for 2019/2020
- The average allocation per learner per day is as follows:
- R3.50 for primary school learners
- R4.25 for secondary school learners
- This allocation is to cover the cost of the meal, the cooking fuel and the stipend paid to meal preparers at schools
FUEL’s primary focus is supporting the Department of Basic Education towards improving implementation of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP).
The NSNP was introduced by President Mandela as a lead project within the RDP Programme in 1994 and for the first 10 years was managed by the Department of Health. Since 2004 the NSNP has been implemented by the Department of Basic Education with an annual budget in the region of R6 billion. The programme is funded through a conditional grant and it aims to provide a daily cooked meal to approximately 9 million of the neediest primary and secondary school learners across the country.
As with any programme on such a scale, there are a number of challenges in ensuring the right meal gets to the right learner at the right time.
FUEL aims to support the NSNP in achieving this by focusing on embedding effective Monitoring, Reporting and Response (MRR) systems and practices, and also by providing technical assistance in areas that affect overall performance improvement
All of this is done with a key emphasis on the system’s ability to take over, sustain and grow any interventions jointly initiated with FUEL
Monitoring, Reporting and Response (MRR)
The core of FUEL’s work centres on supporting provincial NSNP teams to build simple MRR systems that enable the programme to hold itself accountable for quality service delivery. We know that if district and provincial NSNP officials have access to good information, then they are well positioned to make good decisions about how to support school stakeholders to improve the implementation of the programme.
So, the MRR methodology is intended to assist NSNP officials to consistently:
- Collect the right information (monitor)
- Analyse, understand and share this information in the right way (report))
- Use this information to improve performance (respond)
This means we work with NSNP officials to develop:
- objective measures of programme performance
- methods for collecting these indicators objectively
- simple ways of capturing and analysing the information collected to meaningfully report on programme delivery
SO THAT:
- they can use the information to respond appropriately to areas of weakness in the programme for sustained programme improvement
Key Phases of MRR Implementation
FUEL is a values-drive organisation that seeks to co-create key processes with departmental NSNP officials and embed these in their day-to-day operations for sustained impact
Where FUEL Works
FUEL partners with all nine provincial NSNP teams as well as the National NSNP Directorate to support improved programme performance.