Communauté Baptiste du Congo Nord ISP Buta Library Project

Background

CBCN operates in the province of Bas-Uélé in DR Congo. It is active in the social development in various ways in the educational sector, in the health sector as well as with other social development issues. CBCN has a strong link with the BUN. The project to restore and equip the ISP Library has received funding from NORAD through BUN. The ISP Buta library project (2014 – 2016) was initiated by CBCN and staff at l’Institut Supérieur Pédagogique (ISP), with the purpose of strengthening the quality of education in the Buta area by providing access to a well-equipped library to serve teachers, teacher students and the public.

Purpose/objective

The evaluation is a final evaluation with the main purpose of assessing the expected results of the project, but includes also some elements regarding sustainability. It is a learning evaluation, with the aim of contributing to capacity building of CBCN leaders and project staff. The evaluation is initiated by CBCN and commissioned by BUN.

Methodology

The evaluation was designed to use mixed data collection methods:

• Document review: project documents, annual plans, annual reports
• Group discussion with project beneficiaries; teachers and students at ISP
• Key informant group interview with the CBCN Project Manager and the ISP Management Committee who were responsible for planning and implementing the project
• Key informant interview with persons representing CBCN and with government representatives
• Direct observation at the ISP library
• Interaction with library staff

Key findings

ISP and CBCN operate in an environment that has many challenges. The province of Bas-Uélé and the city of Buta, where ISP is located, is very isolated, with weak infrastructure; roads, water, electricity. Despite this, the project has been well executed and has achieved its intended project outputs much thanks to dedicated educationalists both at ISP and CBCN. The library is known in Buta, and library attendance has increased each year as new books have been added and people discover the value of the library. The target groups have in general been reached.

One of the reasons for wanting to rebuild the library is to contribute to increasing the number of secondary school teachers, through strengthening the quality of teaching education. This is highly relevant, as there are not enough qualified secondary school teachers in Bas-Uélé province. There is also a lack of teaching material for secondary school teachers which means that having teaching skills and a good thematic knowledge is even more important for the teachers. The government focuses its resources on primary school education, so the need for other stakeholders to support secondary school education is great.

The books purchased for the library are relevant, but not enough. The library suffered great losses during the war and the conflicts in the past 20 years, so the need for re-equipping the library is still strong. There is a need for ISP to develop strategies for future development and maintenance of the library. The collaboration between CBCN and ISP has been good and fruitful, and can provide a platform for further advocacy and support to the education sector in Bas-Uélé.

Recommendations

1.  Library impact – learning for development It is a reasonable assumption that the existence of a well-equipped library will contribute to better quality in teaching at ISP, and at long term also contribute to better quality in the teaching at secondary schools. Monitoring the exam success rates at ISP and in the secondary school, as well as the computer skills of ISP students can provide a good basis for understanding the ISP library impact and surface insights on how the library should be developed in future. ISP is recommended to intentionally monitor the assumed effects of the library over a five-year period and to annually reflect on the results together with ISP teachers, students and CBCN in order to surface insights that can be used in further developing the library.
2. Strategy for continued library development ISP is recommended to develop a financial maintenance and development plan for the library so that damaged books can be replaced and so that the departments that still need new books can be replenished. The idea to use the income from the annual library membership fees is a good start to such a plan.
3. Promoting girls’ education – awareness raising ISP and CBCN have identified the need to increase the number of girls who are able to pursue further education. One recommendation is that ISP and CBCN initiate reflection on what is needed to make it possible for girls to pursue further education; and to include ISP students in this reflection. This could raise the awareness of different stakeholders about what can be done to promote girls’ further education.
4. Annual learning seminar/event - Quality of secondary school teachers and teacher training ISP and CBCN both have a commitment to improvement of the secondary schools in Bas-Uéle. ISP and CBCN could host an annual learning event for the public, the schools and the authorities to promote development of quality in secondary school teaching.