Implementation Evaluation of the National School Nutrition Programme

The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) aims to improve the health and nutritional status of the poorest learners in South Africa. Its main objective is to enhance learning by providing a nutritious meal on time daily. The programme is of great strategic importance: it involves a large financial commitment from government (R5.3 billion), and reaches over 9 million learners. Given this, an implementation evaluation was commissioned by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and was conducted by JET Education Services.

The evaluation aimed to assess whether the NSNP is being implemented in a way that is likely to result in significant health and educational benefits for learners. The key evaluation questions to be answered were:
1. Is the programme being implemented as planned?
2. Are procedures effective for timely delivery?
3. Are learners receiving quality meals and services?
4. What are the variations in implementation?
5. Is the programme reaching intended beneficiaries?
6. Is there evidence that NSNP enhances learning behaviour (likely impact of the programme)?
7. Should it be upscaled? How can it be improved?
8. Are there other spinoffs of the NSNP?

The DBE made changes to the programme based on the evaluation findings.

The reports are available on the DPME website: Implementation Evaluation of the National School Nutrition Programme