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Inequality and Economic Inclusion

Monday, 14 November 2011

A qualitative evaluation of the Community Work Programme - Umthwalume CWP October 2011 by Thutong Training and Development

  • Year: 2011
  • Organisation: Thutong Training and Development
  • Countries and Regions: South Africa

The findings clearly answer the question of how beneficiaries have been impacted by CWP. The findings show that the beneficiaries are pleased with the quality of services that are provided through the CWP programme such as home based care, cleaning of cre?ches and teachers assistants etc. It becomes evident that CWP has impacted and assisted beneficiaries, such as unemployed community members, sick patients, children and families, on an individual level.

The impact of the CWP programme has also taken place on an institutional level through improvements of cre?ches and schools. The benefits can lastly be seen on community level in terms of improved infrastructure, decreased unemployment and crime, cleaner environment, improved education and provision of social support services. The conclusion is therefore that the findings paint a picture where the community has been uplifted as a whole by the CWP. The findings also include answers to the question of how CWP can be developed and improved according to it's beneficiaries. Some answers are specific for the particular group of beneficiaries
such as creating access to a garden for home based care patients. Other suggestions are represented among various beneficiaries such as skills development, training and creating further opportunities to excel for those who provide services in the community through CWP

Highlighted need for improvements in terms of the working conditions within CWP related to HR matters for the people who provide services in the community are also prominent among various beneficiaries. The beneficiaries refer to HR matters such as stipends and job descriptions. Some suggested developments would impact a particular group of beneficiaries or would improve a particular project within CWP such as suggestions made by beneficiaries of increasing the working hours for teachers assistants and home based carers. The beneficiaries also identified improvements that refer to the way CWP is structured and implemented in the
community, such as improved communication between the CWP co-ordinators and the work place of the people providing services in the community and community members highlighting the need to evaluate and assess the size and the efficiency of the CWP management structures. 

The interviewees from the school and the interviewees who provide services in the community highlighted investments that could be made by CWP to ensure a long term impact such as providing bursaries, training and job opportunities for the beneficiaries who work through CWP.