Final: WFP received a donation of 310 metric tons of rice from USDA to benefit the current school-feeding project in the Dominican border area near Haiti. The donation helped WFP feed 96,332 pre-school and primary students during the 2002-2003 school year.

Midterm: USDA’s food assistance has helped play an important role in providing nutritional supplements to school children in areas of the Dominican Republic facing high levels of food insecurity and low school attendance rates. WFP uses USDA commodities to provide a morning snack and lunchtime meal to students attending schools in these regions. Over the last two years, enrollment in schools with existing programs has shown a modest increase of 1.74% for boys and 0.87% for girls. A somewhat higher increase was noted in schools with new feeding programs. In these programs, enrollment has been increasing by 1.74% for girls and 1.23% for boys. Perhaps even more important is the high level of parental participation in the WFP school-feeding program.

Final: In 2002, 310 metric tons of donated rice was distributed among 841 assisted schools. The donation provided enough cereal rations for two months out of the school year.

Midterm: WFP requested and received 310 metric tons of rice for the school feeding project. The rice arrived in November 2001.

Final: The number of children assisted during the 2002-2003 school year increased to 96,332. The increase stems from the Minister of Education’s decision to allow all children to enroll, with or without proof of citizenship. At the same time, the number of schools assisted decreased to 841 due to the consolidation of small schools located in mountainous areas.

Midterm: This project assists pre-school and primary school children on the border area and ensures that all children in the area, regardless of their national origin, are enrolled in schools and provided with meals. The project’s long-term objective is to support the government’s 10-year education plan for pre-school and basic education, as well as to increase beneficiaries’ consumption of micronutrients. The WFP project complements existing government programs that are progressively incorporating schools receiving WFP assistance. The project is expected to contribute to the stabilization of student attendance at the schools.

Within the project’s geographical area, the targeting of schools is based on the size of the school and road accessibility. Priority is given to schools with multi-grade classrooms (an indicator for very small and poor schools) and to schools that are located in difficult to reach areas, such as the mountainous Cordillera.

The immediate objectives of the WFP project are:

The expected results of the project during the five years are:

Activities are included to improve the knowledge and practice of health/nutrition principles through parent education, special courses for teachers, and educational summer camps.

All primary schools in the country have two sessions - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A snack made with corn-soy blend is given to children attending in the morning session before classes start at 8:00 a.m. The drink boosts student energy levels and improves their ability to concentrate. The morning classes receive the remaining commodities during the noontime lunch. The second shift of students eats lunch at 1:30 pm. Their classes start 30 minutes later and they receive their blended snack during an afternoon break.

The meal schedule targets the nutritional needs of children and reduces the number of people required to prepare each meal. Community parent associations prepare meals and handle other program aspects, such as providing gas for stoves and contributing local foods and spices. Parents are also responsible for the management and supervision of the WFP food. Most of the schools have been provided with kitchen utensils for food preparation, and the community contributes other foodstuffs, such as vegetables and condiments.

Final: Since 2001, the government has provided a daily milk ration to complement the WFP school meals at a cost of US $2.1 million. In addition to the 310 metric tons of rice provided under GFEI, the program also received commodities from USA multilateral funds, and independently from Denmark, Germany and Norway in 2001 and 2002.

Midterm: The Ministry of Education contributes $3,655,288 to support staff salaries, food receipt/transport/warehousing, non-food items, and training. The Inter-American Development Bank provides $52 million while the World Bank provides $37 million. Both allocations help support project activities related to training, de-worming, weight/height census, and other related areas.

Sustainability: The high level of community participation is an asset and helps to develop sustainable operations that will one day operate without WFP assistance. Government programs for de-worming, safe water, sanitary facilities, and health and nutrition education demonstrate a comprehensive approach that can provide the necessary foundation for a well-coordinated and independent national program.

Final: The WFP school feeding operation in the Dominican Republic served as a model during the government’s development of a national school feeding program (PAE-REAL). The Ministry of Education has also requested technical assistance to aid in the transition from WFP assistance to an independent nationally operated program. WFP is working closely with the Government to develop an effective phase-out plan that will ensure program continuity and sustainability. To date, more than 20 school feeding operations in the country have graduated from WFP assistance.

In 2001, WFP conducted a baseline survey in 250 primary schools in the country. Half of the surveys were completed in schools with existing school feeding operations and the other half contained new programs. Follow-up surveys are being completed this year to evaluate the program’s impact and the results will be available in 2004.

Midterm: Over the last 2 years, enrollment in schools with existing programs has shown a modest increase of 1.74% for boys and 0.87% for girls. In addition to maintaining the new students, the school feeding program continued to attract additional students during the same time period. The continuing increase in enrollment figures demonstrates the longer-term impact that a school-feeding program can have on a community. A somewhat higher increase was noted in schools with new feeding programs.

In schools with existing feeding programs, student-teacher ratios have remained constant at 38 students per teacher, just as they were in 1998. In schools with new programs, student-teacher ratios have increased from an average of 21 students per teacher to 32 students per teacher. Class size in schools with existing programs has decreased from 50 to 47 students per classroom since 1998.

One important impact of the project is the level of community participation in the schools. Primary schools with existing programs had an average of three teachers and 19 community members involved at each participating school. Schools with new feeding programs had significantly higher levels of involvement - an average of three teachers and 255 community members per school.

Food aid plays an important role in providing nutritional supplements to school children in the target areas, which are known to be among the most food insecure areas with the lowest school attendance rates. The school feeding program encourages families to keep their children in school. The program’s success and the community support encourage the government to make the national school feeding program one of its priorities.

Cercado Abajo is a small school with no windows and few doors situated in an inaccessible mountain area on the border with Haiti. There are 178 first through sixth grade students who attend the school. Most of them come to school barefoot.

One of the students from the sixth grade, 12-year-old Melvin Ogando, lives in Monte Mayor, Los Caños, some 20 kilometers from Cercado Abajo. Melvin lives with his father in a small house under very poor conditions. His mother lives in San Juan with a second husband and Melvin’s seven-year-old sister. Melvin’s ten-year-old sister lives in another village with an aunt. When he finishes the sixth grade, he wants to continue school in San Juan.

Every day, Melvin gets up at 6:00 in the morning to arrive at school on time crossing a river alone the way. During the rainy season when the water is high, he takes a donkey. On more than one occasion, he has fallen off the animal and arrived at school soaking wet. But wet or dry, Melvin shows up for class. He doesn’t want to miss a single day since the food he receives at school is likely to be the only food he will get during the day.

Melvin’s teacher explained that his enthusiasm for the program is shared by many of the school’s students. In the last school year, only four girls dropped-out to escape difficult family economic situations. They opted for early marriages or entered arrangements with relatives in other areas. Thanks to school feeding, he says, school absenteeism and youth migrations from the poor and remote community have been reduced.