Program of school food and its impact "nutritional"

University of the Republic.

Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences.

Subject: Problems of the educational reality.

5Th semester.

















Report

on November 1, 2002...

Responsible Ana Maria Castro Luca for the course:

Prof.Agda: Adriana Marrero.

Summary

" 1-Description of the report:" Program of school food and its impact



"nutritional"

1.1.-Form of the program, assessment, objectives and models used... page 1.

1.2 Study and models applied... page 2

1.3 Results of the assessment carried out... page 3.





2. Critical analysis of the report.

2.1. Document strengths... page 5.

2.2.- Debilidades...........................................................................................pág 9

3.-Conclusions

3.1.- Reflexión Final............................................................................................pág 11







4.- Bibliografía.....................................................................................................pág 16.

1.- Description of the school feeding programme of the

Uruguay and their nutritional impact.



1.1 The program mode.

The present report describes the study on the nutritional and educational impacts, level of targeting, the profile of the beneficiaries and the management of the programme's school feeding (PAE) of the ANEP/FAS, carried out on a representative sample statistically of the schools in the Department of Montevideo, in the years 1994 and 1997 by the ECLAC Social Development Division, with the development of the OAS, where a series of shortcomings in relation to different dimensions of the programme can be identified.

It has aspects from various perspectives, because it helps to identify the points of the programme to consolidate, which must modify.

It is the first research carried out to analyze with precision and scientific rigour the sense and the scope of their impacts as well as the virtues and weaknesses of the management.

The feeding programme provides services according to the needs defined for students: breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, or glass of milk since 1991 under centralized "Inspection of school feeding" depending on the CEP-ANEP, whose objectives appear in Act N ° 58 of the co.DI.CEN.

Evaluation : presents analysis units in three aspects:

q Characterization of the socio-economic profile of the beneficiaries (the service focus).

q Management study.

q Evaluation of the nutritional and educational impact of the program.



Its objective:

Þ Evaluate the nutritional and educational impact on the 1st and 4th year students.

Þ Focus If the PAE reaches all children who need it most.

Þ Quantifies r the nutritional and economic contribution to families and their degree of

Þ participation.

Þ Determines r efficiency in terms of costs and quality of services.

The model used for the evaluation is made up of 10 nutritionists, 10 technicians from the social area, psychologists, social workers and sociologists led by a supervisor in fieldwork (1994) and measurement (1996). And it was through of two complementary forms:

Ø The first was an analysis from the application of a model quasi-experimental .

Ø The second consisted in an analysis of comparison of measurements between schools with or without PAE, comparing the indicators of repetition and school attendance in the different strata in two years, households with NBI, type in quarter etc.

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Collection of information:



He is achieved through eight forms of different modality: service surveys, interviews with directors, data identification of each student and reports of educational history, surveys of households, creating a database with the following indicators:

ü Coverage and focus of the PAE in schools deprived.

ü Services provided by the program depending on needs.

ü Census of attending service.

ü Educational and index repetition performance.

ü Efficiency and management of the service.







1.2 Study and applied analysis model.

Carried out a study in 22 schools in Montevideo characterized by a profile of socio-educational school criticality.

Segments of universe is selected to study in children in 1st year and 4th year recipients of the PAE.

It analyzes the social profile of the existing students to the PAE, the level of targeting is very high, i.e. with a high NBI.

Shown in schools of high criticality, 8 of every 10 students who attend the program are poor, while in the schools of low criticality 7 of every 10 are in such a situation.

Item is to perform a census anthropometric (weight and height) where they built indicators, which are complemented by a number of variables for the description of children with nutritional contribution, from targeting of poor families, the service level of educational performance and health coverage. We used three sets of variables , units of analysis in every situation: nutrition, education, and family context.

Is done the focus of the socio-economic profile of the heads of family, economic importance that provides service, indicators of housing and subsistence, community participation through promotion Commission capacity.

He studied, management services, each school infrastructure, equipment and the staff available to schools to provide the service.

We analyze the intended ration costs , provide nutritional and lost by surpluses.

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1.3. Results of the evaluation:





§  The report shows that the program does not generate impacts nutritional and educational positive to not revert the situation of deficiency among children attending the service.

§  You can be seen that the initial gap has increased, high rate of repetition, dropout and over-age.

§  Not there is no impact nutrition in children with delayed recruited from the PAE size and weight. Belonging to the service does not guarantee an improvement and not placed the child in a different situation to living in their family context.

§  Serves children with educational problems, but they have but performance than non-beneficiaries. The likelihood of repeat is 2.5 times as high among those who do not belong to the programme. They have 3 times more absences per year.

Does not generate any educational impact.



§  There are no objective standards in the selection of beneficiaries of the PAE. Access which the master proposes and where managers have a favourable opinion on respect for that selection. Most have unmet basic needs, placing below the poverty line, from homes with risk.

§  The level of targeting of anthropometric indicators is virtually nil, since a significant population is not captured by the program and the majority of Diners does not have mild or chronic malnutrition levels. High criticality schools receive some 518.7 calories and the minimum for a correct nutrition in schoolchildren is 750 calories. It is in deficit in its Management and problems of efficiency , result of which is called Factor of Sobreaclaración. Centres that provide more calories and proteins are those who more sobredeclaran and which do not necessarily have a malnourished or critical students.

§  A number of children , which despite being in a similar situation , they do not receive this benefit.

§  Notes that management in the dining rooms presents deficit in different dimensions, basically concerning the choice of beneficiaries, administration of resources, high rates of surplus and marked rise in calorie input.

§  Service and equipment management in schools of high criticality under precarious conditions offer staffing and supervision is to regulate, the mode of management and low community participation full table in relation to the educational and nutritional impacts of school canteens in Montevideo.

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§  In relation to the coverage of the PAE and social indicators and quality of learning

Record significant data of school failure .

§  High criticality schools provide the service in a low position is associated with the type of quality ration and variety of diet, with a precarious furniture and staff shortages.

§  Half of the families does not make contributions to the dining room not being encouraging their children's attendance to the dining room.

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2. Critical analysis of the document.

2.1. Strengths of the document.

The current Administration to assume his command in 1995, proceeded to develop a diagnosis and a proposal for a five-year programme budget. It was collected by the national Parliament to adopt the law No. 16736 which sets salaries, expenses and investments for ANEP.

This proposal reflected the bases of educational reform in moments in which live intense and accelerated educational renewal purposes. Proposals which cause imbalances that often becomes a challenge for reflection and change.

From a personal perspective, it is important to highlight the purposes and main objectives to which this document points.,

q Consolidation of social equity.

q Training and teaching function dignifying.

q Improvement of the quality of education.

q Strengthening institutional management.

The Administration understood that to achieve these four objectives as guiding lines of educational reform, you should address them in an integrated manner.So they designed a series of specific strategies.

The theme of food becomes of utmost importance now that children in most schools of critical socio-cultural context, does not have to choose between eating at school or do it in the home.: breakfast, lunch and snack, are instances located within school hours. Lunch in these marginalized sectors is in many cases the only important meal of the day.

Initial studies of the ECLAC Office in Montevideo, "what learn and those who learn in the schools of the Uruguay?" they warned of significant differences in the ability of learners, but also showed significant association between low socio-cultural families, especially in the association between low levels of repetition in the lower school grades, primarily in the first year (status remaining incambiada) determining the need to revise the current model of the Public school.

The current phenomenon indicates the presence of a social category which for various reasons are marginalized from society, whose features are: unsatisfied basic needs in single-parent households, absence of children to school intermittently giving like result students who don't learn, fail and repeat.

As a result of the initial activity of this programme that we conducted a review of codes existing in the country and the analysis of the processes that occurred provided an overview of the evolution of education.

Faced with this situation the ANEP defines a series of strategies to reverse the situation. Through various strategies the education reform emphasizes three key aspects to strengthen primary education as the axis of social integration:

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• Extension of school time.


• Evaluation of education as social policy.


• Coordinated integration of other social such as food and health aspects.

“..."Looking for the lowest possible combination between quality and quantity of public spending, an assessment was made of nutritional, educational, and social impacts of the school food programme (PAE) for three years in which the incidence of food in the weight and height of a representative sample of students attending public schools in Montevideo was measured..."(1)



The findings of this study indicate that while the PAE is relatively focused on the analysis of some socio-economic indicators as NBI index and the poverty line, from the anthropometric viewpoint .is positive highlight of the report that despite joint efforts, not they met with the initial objectives.

Faced with this situation, against the picture can be seen in the results, ANEP faces another strategy: outsource the service, trying to find solutions through the modality of lunch on trays in order to overcome the nutritional 750 calories contribution so that we can achieve an impact.

It also increase the quality of food spending to improve quality and efficiency, providing two types of trays with different calories depending on the age.

This method applies to 119 schools covering the areas of high social deprivation. Schools with high level of criticality in all aspects: social, learning, households in overcrowded, low educational level of mothers, according to thrown UMRE tests.

The report details an extensive identification of the social needs of the beneficiaries of food through a rigorous survey of information and family social conditions and the income of the heads of family.

“..."In what refers to the costs of this program stands out that 100 calories in PAE mode have an average cost of U$ S 0,316 while that tray is in the form of a U$ S 0.212 (excl. VAT) the new system presents a savings and provides more calories..."(2)

It has alloweda variety of menus, under strict supervision of nutritionists, as well as thecontrolrigorous companies serving. Despite not obtaining a desired impact, ANEP continues in the search for possible explanatory factors or determinants to be able to further develop further investigative efforts both in the academic field as sociological education.

(1)-ANEP, "The Uruguayan education".Situation and perspectives II, year 1999.p.16

"(2).-Ob.Cit.""The Uruguayan education" p. 17

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The report reveals a reality that involves all actors: teachers, students, context and all axiológicos components defined by the related institutional and social.

The result shows that it serves not only to accumulate information, but with these data reformulate others new, supposed to be open to new schemes to continue the search for strategies to improve the situation of these disadvantaged social sectors.

All conclusions that comes to this report derive from results provided by interdisciplinary teams that provided multiple strategies

.International bodies, supported and funded because they understand that:



”..."Education gives people the opportunity to be more productive, escape poverty and improve the quality of life..."(3)





Is valued level ofparticipation of teachersin macro decisions educational, that were taken as valuable data provided by teachers.

“...One of the reasons why these kids learn less is poor diet. Poor nutrition decreases neuronal development... "()"4)







A proposal that failed the purposes, but that despite the failure was shorten distances to closer the equity gap, attempts were made to improve the quality and provide solidarity in those segments of the population with high levels of criticality. He pointed to perform a compensatory policy geared to the student of the quintile of Uruguayan households poorer and give them a chance.

Perhaps not been good result despite the impetus given to this program because as announces it the ECLAC:





“.."The high cost of the programs affect these are considered as alternatives validated short-term..."(5)











((3)-World Bank, created in July 1944 by the Breton Woods, along with the Monetary Fund agreements international are characterized by its neo-liberal matrix.

"(4).-Branch, G."Reform of education, a real alternative "Editorial printers partners / Photosystems, Montevideo, 1999.p33."

(5)-ECLAC, "education and knowledge: axis of the productive transformation with equity" Santiago Chile, 1992, p. 211.

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By way of reflection:

What it points the program strongly , is to seek resources policies oriented a:



ü Encourage for the children of lower socio-economic strata that allows

to support these sectors through compensating mechanisms of inequalities.

ü Prioritize education in certain sectors with intention of advancing towards the

achievement of principles such as equity and equality of opportunities.

ü Offset disadvantages with that entering school.

ü Improve levels of quality and efficiency of educational offerings.

ü Takes into account the processes and not only the results. Which means that it uses

instruments that give understanding to the dynamic processual and that not only goes to

performance data.

ü Gives voice to the participants, providing opinion through different techniques than the

actors are issued releasing views.

ü Uses various methods to reconstruct and analyze reality.

ü Is an evaluation in which there are no exclusive criterion of correct interpretation of the

reality.

ü Uses a simple language to make judgments.

ü Is a report that points to the quality and equity of education.

ü Outcomes, despite not achieve the expected impact are set out in the document.

The State of the infrastructure in this assessment allowed to observe the operation of the school subsystems according to deficit, building problems and see how they accumulate in subsystems of lower academic achievement where prevailing poverty of families.

The action of the PAE is justified, running you kind of program, is a relevant task as expresses it the UNICEF with a scientific argument, to say that the early school years are critical in the complete training of the individual.

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2.2. Weaknesses of the document.

Within the framework of educational policies as regards feeding programmes, takes relevance from the indicators used are that determine and end prescribing forms of action strategies do not always shared by all direct stakeholders of the situation.

Focus a project as the PME means specify objectives, define the population to which it is intended, select investment strategies and use appropriate tools to select recipients.

There is capacity for change in the institutional structure?

There is consistency between the social claim, the institutional structure do??

It emerges with strength the old theme of the educator, welfare, consolidated State which has failed in so many years to affect inequality.

Is concerned also the crisis facing our country for several decades that resulted in negative consequences. Among them, the reduction of public expenditure in the education sector, which brought a marked deterioration of the educational offerings of the public sector.

"The globalization of education policy guidelines are clearly sustained under the banner of a new conception of education that compels us to rethink ..." which and for what and the "how to learn trainees on the basis of a social and cultural diagnosis affecting them..." (6).



Criteria for implementation of these projects, the eagerness to measure impact, the decisions taken have accentuated a somewhat tax style, as for example the program: "all children can learn".

The report imposes rigidity, owing to the requirements at the time of control.

The presented numerical data, tables and graphs, emanating from the data obtained should be ratified.

Criteria for categorization have been arbitrary, clear and imprecise.The lack of indicators claiming the status of the environment, such as: those who are responsible for the student, unemployment, underemployment, remuneration, marginality or type of work, housing type of construction, availability of services, household equipment, rate of overcrowding, number of members and kinship. Care of health, drug addiction, alcoholism, violence, lack of documentation, absenteeism and dropout etc; You can enable other sub-systems of primary education to achieve exactly locate needy, reach particularistic care and support areas, obtain better distribution of allocations and achieve a prioritization of the material and human resources.



(6)Technical cooperation OPP / IDB, "towards a social policy for children, Montevideo, Uruguay, 1994, p.1"

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Another point is temporality. The onset of action is a staple in the light of which corresponds the reality and desire. The real-time of prominent development of actions for the determination of some achievements of the experiences of this type of projects not always accompanies times the desire to achieve the same by planners to achieve impact.

Can be assessed in such a short period and observe positive changes?

It is an essential point because it brings into play many players involved. Time to work, time to achieve, time to show the products obtained.

This program is included in the category in the short term, and must at that time try and determine the transformations. Transformations that failed because that is impossible to reverse this situation of chronic poverty affecting some students of very high NBI.

The criteria of austerity within the framework of the education sector, help mediate and rationalize the quality of educational provision. The nutritional and educational impact led by ECLAC, OAS, ANEP, CODICEN claim a cost for the necessary calories. Costs were measured and streamlined in a way that had not been taken into account the characteristics of the population that is directed.

The same CODICEN not clearly explains how distributed resources in relationship: cost-benefit. International agencies have established the need for minimum resources of 7% of GDP that it is today less than 3%, which is why this data confirms that the impacts are not secure to obtain, even if the projects are clear-cut.

The crisis in education basically reflects the managerial inability of States to ensure efficient management of social services.

Becomes the subject important food that the child does not have to choose between eating at school or do it at home.For many of them, this staple means in many cases the only important meal of the day.This system implemented by the programme: "all children can learn" was qualified by the A: t:d of 1999 as thoughtless, of poor quality and expensive.

“..."We note that the food provided by the system mostly is: devoid of raw vegetables, with presence of preservatives, pre-congelada, which implies loss of nutrients, rupture of the cold chain essential to keep your food to consume free of organisms..." (7)





“..."As for the amount of food, the portion for the four-year-old boy is the same as a child of 12 years, proving insufficient to these latest. This is aggravated because the repetitions are restricted..." (8)



(7) - A permanent table.T. D mayo 2001Im. Workshops graphics of Gega srl.Montevideo, Uruguay, p.15

(8).-Ob. Cit. p. 15

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3 Conclusions.

3.1 Final reflection.

In recent years, the Latin American countries embarked on a policy of rapid educational change, as one of the most promising forms of structural change.The role of educationwhose objective is to strengthen democracy is recognized in most Governments. In the Uruguay our public education is not a specialized system of education. It is the main institution that works for the welfare of our citizens.The education sector, not is a simple scenario of technical processes, but rather a complex of spaces crossed by power relations and differentiated interest groups.

“..."The school has social functions, because the school is a key instance of socialization of the individual..." (9)

In this regard the search for appropriate ways to achieve mastery of that knowledge and discussion of more suitable alternatives for its equitable distribution are a topic in each country.

Globalization and the rearrangement have placed in educational systems the responsibility to generate and disseminate knowledge in the society, which is why these are as decisive instances for the development of the future potential of society.No doubt, beyond approaches each reader to make of this report, not varies nothing the current situation in that live.

Whole of society, community, family, want a better education for their children. As demand manifest, this requires quantity and quality...The amount relates to the possibilities that the State has to meet the school-age group. And by quality, focuses on the delivery of the best to those who have trusted in public school.

Management, is when it verifies the proposed objectives and effective is efficient when the results expected at the lowest possible cost are.



"Management is the critical role of the execution of the project.""It is to coordinate the use of media in order to reach the goals set..." (10)

Note that this report, which assesses the impact of the PAE, possesses a strategic as a producer of information value systemic about the learning achieved by students and educational behaviour as a whole.

Depends on the proper use of this information more than not have reached its objectives, to be taken into account when making decisions reheridas generation of strategies to continue to improve the services., and as a gap open to improve the quality of services, as to produce compensatory actions that modify the detected results.

The empirical basis of the problems defined in the evaluation of the impact of the PAE comes from surveys to some sectors of different context in the framework of World Bank funding.

(9)-Pedagogical notebooks, "Sociology in times of reform", N ° 190, March 1991, p .p 7-10

(10)-Magnen, A., "the education projects: preparation, funding and management", UNESCO / OREALC, Santiago

of Chile, 1992.

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Responsibility and control in the field of decision-making is concentrated on the cusp and observed a limited delegation of power, which has as a result some counter-productive rigidity.

Evaluate this project is difficult task, given the complexity of the task. And not enough with detailing to provide results the why of failures. The PAE must position itself against these results and commit themselves to discover new concepts that underpin the research for possible solutions.

“..."In this sense, the research must commit itself to conflict to transform the reality..." (11).



The project of food and the impact it may cause, may in a few years, it origine changes in these segments of the population and serves as a tool to provide educational opportunities.

Facing poverty, with all the consequences of diseases, malnutrition, unemployment, personal impoverishment and social discouragement, economic and cultural is a huge challenge.

Educating these children with a high NBI is one even bigger challenge. Challenges to share with the State and not only with government policies.

It is about serious sequelae including crawling on the socio-economic agenda of these marginalized sectors or programmes such as the PAE could guarantee.

Official speeches have renewed their repertoire. Education depends on those who are not dedicated education.

Apply this type of compensatory policies that take account of at least some of the needs of these stripes of the population should refer to each culture universe.

The challenge is to solve how to produce an inclusion in society, combining the implementation of policies of equity and social justice and not just the policy offer some service without even securing the permanence of it.

The workshop of the UNESCO recommends: "...""Find an articulation mechanism in each country, between governmental and non-governmental institutions working in the area of the child, to add experiences, avoid the dispersion of resources and enable a rapid advance in the coverage of care to children..." (12)



There is a naive vision that aims to solve these problems from the education itself. It is not a place where students can only access the possibility of obtaining a breakfast or snack. It is not jurisdiction become a space where the shortcomings of students, but of the political sectors that return to our society what is needed, they sustain social rights, containing the basic demands of the population today translates as apathy, loss of interest and expectations are resolved. Because for them to go to school not legitimate a better future, it will not extend employment opportunities or economic improvements.

"In this sense, an investigation at the national level must commit itself to conflict to transform this reality..."



(11)-Encyclopedia of education, volume II, Ed. Ocean, 1999, Spain, 705-708 p.p

(12).Follari, R, do school twilight?, Ed. Magisterium of the river of the silver, Argentina, p.43.-







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