The National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL)
Johanna Ursin-Escobar, Development cooperation coordinator
Pauliina Paananen, Member of development cooperation advisory board (KENKKU)
Project planning trip report from Mozambique 15.1-28.1.2012
The development cooperation project planning trip of the National Union of University Students in Finland
(hereinafter SYL) was realized in 15.1-28.12012. The main aim of the trip was to plan further the project for
improving the writing and reading skills of pupils in Maputo area with the cooperation partner, association
AFORTALECER. During the planning trip we worked on many themes such as the objectives, activities,
results, stakeholders and budget of the project. Also sustainability and risk analysis were done. Because
AFORTALECER is a new cooperation partner for SYL, it was important to get to know better the association
and its members and for example clarify the rules of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (hereinafter
MFA) for the NGO development cooperation projects.
During the planning trip the representatives of SYL and AFORTALECER visited and had meetings with project
schools, municipal library, bookstores which deliver school books in Mozambique, the director of education
at the district level, country office of KEPA and Embassy of Finland. All planned activities and meetings were
held as planned in the application, there were only changes in timetable. Please see in the end of this
report the updated timetable. There were budgeted support for an interpreter but it was not necessary
because both representatives of SYL speak Spanish fluently and were able to follow discussions in
Portuguese. Also the partners and other people we met in Maputo understood Spanish and this way
everybody was able to communicate in Portuguese or Spanish without an interpreter.
The project planning process during the trip
Background and problem analysis
The planned development cooperation project aims to improve the writing and reading skills of the
children in Maputo, Mozambique. We started the background analysis by visiting planned project schools
(Escola Primaria Filipe Samuel Magaia, Escola Primaria 7 de Setembro and Escola Primaria Unidade 27),
municipality library and director of education in district level in order to get more information about the
situation. The visits were organized during the first week. After this AFORTALECER organized together with
SYL and the country office of KEPA a workshop where a participative problem analysis was done about the
current difficulties of the children to learn write and read. There was wide participation from the schools
(directors and teachers), other NGOs working in this field, district level officers and municipality library.
Also the advisor of the Embassy of the Finland, Sirkku Hellsten participated in the event for a while. In total,
there were total 23 persons in the workshop (see the participation list and the program in the appendix).
The day was very successful and many different problems were mapped and defined, e.g. the low quality of
teachers training in Mozambique, lack of school materials and especially books, low motivation to read,
parents who have weak knowledge about the importance of education of their children, to mention but a
few.
The basis for the project is to operate at public, state-supported schools on the first and second grade of
primary school where there are not enough teaching and learning materials and the pupils come from low
income families. During the stakeholder analysis and the visits to schools, we realized that one of the
beforehand chosen school (Escola Primaria Filipe Samuel Magaia) did not meet completely these criteria. It
was decided that this school will not participate in the project and that we would rather consider including
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the primary school of Unidade 27 to the project. In total, there will be six project schools, starting with two
schools in the first year and adding two new schools in each year. Two first schools are already chosen and
four other schools will be chosen during spring 2012 in cooperation with the school authorities of Maputo,
the schools and AFORTALECER.
Making a project plan
During the second week we worked further on the project plan, basing on the findings and ideas of the
workshop. In this phase, we also included the findings and ideas from the earlier pilot project, implemented
by AFORTALECER in 2009. The problematic of learning reading and writing was approached with a wide
perspective and taking into account all different reasons for difficulties in learning to write and read. With
the background information and problem analysis, together with AFORTALECER, we were able to define the
objectives, results and activities for the project.
The direct objective is: (At the end of the project) the writing and reading skills of pupils in six schools on
Maputo area have been improved.
The wanted results are the following:
Result 1: Adequate school materials have been procured
Result 2: The quality of teaching has been improved
Result 3: The attendance and participation of pupils in six project schools in Maputo area have
been increased
Result 4: Favorable reading and writing atmosphere has been established in six project schools
Result 5: The advocacy work and lobbying has been started to affect the quality of education in
Mozambique
Also concrete activities how to reach the results were defined and planned in detail. Among the activities
there are:
Baseline study - In the beginning of the project process, in each project school a baseline study will
be organized. In this baseline study, the level of reading and writing skills of the pupils and specific
needs of each school will be mapped
Procurement of school books and other teaching materials
Teacher trainings about teaching methods, librarian methods, communication with parents and the
motivations of pupils
Meetings with the parents of pupils
Homework and storytelling groups for pupils
Meetings with different actors in the educational sector in Mozambique and seminar on education
The total project budget will be ca 65 000 Euros /year. This will be calculated more in detail when we have
the total number of the pupils at the project schools.
Risk analysis
During the planning process the possible risks for the trip were mapped, too. Some examples of possible
risks are:
Procured school materials can be stolen or vandalized by other people because of the courses at
schools in the evenings
Teachers will not use the skills they have learned in the trainings in their classes
The content of the trainings do not meet the needs of the teachers
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We also analyzed how to prevent possible risks. For example the before mentioned risks can be avoided by
Informing people, who are using school facilities in the evenings, about the project so that they
would be responsible and take a good care of the books and training teachers about librarian
techniques
Assisting and supervising the teachers in the classrooms and by organizing follow-up meetings for
the teachers.
Defining clearly objectives and activities in the terms of reference when hiring consultants and
facilitators and during baseline study. Developing trainings’ according to teachers’ needs.
Sustainability and continuity
Discussions about the continuity and sustainability of the project were also held and both organizations
agreed on a continuation project would be a good idea. This is the reason why the sustainability of project
was included to the project activities part, instead of including them separately to the exit strategy. There
will be activities which support the organizational capacity building of AFORTALECER and this will also
sustain the activities at the schools after the project period. For example, we agreed on the cooperation
between KEPA and AFORTALECER in capacity building: together they will make a “Training and Advice Plan”
for AFORTALECER already for this year 2012. Also at project schools, there will be monitoring of activities
after teachers’ trainings to ensure that the trainings meet the needs of the schools.
AFORTALECER as an organization
AFORTALECER proved to be a small, but very well-operating NGO. AFORTALECER has a well-developed
organizational structure and clear rules on decision making and responsibilities. All employees of
AFORTALECER have higher, university level education and all central employees of this project have several
years of experience on education field (from primary school to university level as well as on adult
education). All employees seemed to be deeply compromised and motivated to work for the project with a
lot of enthusiasm and good ideas. AFORTALECER also has good contacts to Maputo’s Pedagogy University
(Universidade Pedagógica, UP, http://www.up.ac.mz/) because two members are also university teachers.
Development policy of Finland and the rules of MFA
SYL presented to AFORTALECER its activities and operation in Finland in general and more in detail the
development cooperation sector and its principles. We also discussed the Finnish development policy, its
emphasis and cross-cutting themes. We concentrated especially on the rules of Ministry for Foreign Affairs
for NGO development cooperation and explained how the financing system works in Finland. During the
visit to the Embassy of Finland we discussed the planned cooperation project but also the Finland’s budget
support to the education sector of Mozambique. The representatives of the Embassy of Finland mentioned
us the visit of the personnel of Department for Communications and Culture of MFA to Mozambique and
their interest to get to know the better the work made by local NGOs in the education sector. One idea was
to visit some of our future project schools and make interviews with them from the point of view of the
reality of the schools.
Conclusion
The project planning trip was very successful: the cooperation between SYL and AFORTALECER is now on a
solid basis because a clear, common understanding about project principles and objectives was created. SYL
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got a lot of important information about the society and working environment of the project. During the
trip we found that the project is truly necessary in the project area. We were also able to develop the
partnership and get to know each other better. In general, the project planning process is running well.
The program of the trip
Activities Persons present Date and place
Flights Helsinki – London – Johannesburg – Maputo SYL Sun 15.1.2012
Helsinki
Arrival to Maputo SYL and Mon 16.1.2012
AFORTALECER
Planning of the following weeks with the executive director of Maputo
AFORTALECER, Alice Cambula
Meeting at the primary school Escuela Primaria 7 de Setembro School Tue 17.1.2012
representatives,
Visit to a local bookstore, Minerva Central Maputo
SYL and
Discussions about the project with the personnel of AFORTALECER AFORTALECER
Meeting at the primary school Escuela Primaria Unidade 27 School Wed 18.1.2012
representatives,
Meeting with KEPA Maputo
SYL,
Meeting at the central municipal library of Maputo AFORTALECER,
Municipal library
Meeting with Ritva Parviainen from KEPA (only representatives of
representatives,
SYL).
KEPA
Meeting at the primary school Filipe Samuel Magaia School Thu 19.1.2012
representatives,
Meeting with Kampfumu’s District educational sector director Maputo
district director,
Meeting with AFORTALECER personnel (7 persons), representations SYL and
about AFORTALECER, SYL and MFA (regulations, politics) AFORTALECER
The problem analysis workshop (whole day), in total 23 persons See the Fri 20.1.2012
participation list
Maputo
in appendix 1
Free time Sat - Sun 21–22-
1.2012
Maputo
Problem tree analysis continued with AFORTALECER’s personnel SYL and Mon 23.1.2012
AFORTALECER
Analysis of project objectives, results and activities Maputo
Indicators
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Continuity of the project SYL, Tue 24.1.2012
AFORTALECER
Risks analysis Maputo
and KEPA
Indicators
Preliminary budget
Dinner with KEPA
Project timetable SYL and Wed 25.1.2012
AFORTALECER
Evaluation and monitoring Maputo
Preliminary budget
Cross-cutting themes SYL, Thu 26.1.2012
AFORTALECER
Meeting at the Embassy of Finland with Sirkku Hellsten and Lotta Maputo
and
Wilkman
representatives
Working on with project plan of the Embassy
Local launching of the project: first classroom library established in See the Fri 27.1.2012
one project school (director, teachers, children and parents participation list Maputo
present) in appendix 2,
Meeting with KEPA SYL,
AFORTALECER
Meeting with Finance Manager of AFORTALECER (Accounting
and KEPA
system of AFORTALECER and Accounting rules of MFA)
Revision of last two weeks and timetable for the spring 2012
KEPA compass for partners
Flights Maputo - Helsinki Sat 28.1.2012
Maputo
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The budget
Items Applied budget Realized budget
EUROS EUROS
Flights 3315.14 3315.14
Accommodation 910 851,43
Daily allowance 1316 1344
Visa 112 112
Local transportation costs 120 82,65
Interpreter 375 0
Total 6148,14 5705,22
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