China. FP education at the grassroots level

In order to reach the grassroots level with family planning information, the Publicity and Education Department of State Family Planning Commission (SFPC) established a network of FP and communication centers in 29 provinces to undertake FP publicity and disseminate educational materials. However, these mechanisms were not far-reaching enough to cover the rural and more remote areas of the counties where information was most needed and have direct access to grassroot FP service providers, fieldworkers, and end-users. Thus, the SFPC decided to further set up 180 pilot county stations under the project CPR/90/P17 (Strengthening Rural Grassroots Family Planning Publicity and Education). These pilot county stations provided training and guided village/township FP workers and service providers on how to communicate FP to the target groups effectively. They also strengthened the existing 29 Provincial Publicity and Education Sub-Centers through training programs, production and distribution of appropriate IEC materials. The project was recently evaluated with the assistance of UNESCO CST Population Communication Adviser, who reported a number of weaknesses as well as successes in the implementation of the project. Based on the findings, the evaluation report recommended the improvement of the training in various aspects to suit the Chinese culture. It proposed that the training curriculum should be "need-based" and developed through participatory approach, with specific behavioral objectives, using participatory training methodologies and competency-based evaluation. It also recommended that the content of future IEC materials should be updated on a regular basis, using survey findings in the local area where possible in response to the finding that most IEC materials had taken on urban, mass-media bias. It further added that the materials should include new messages on how to combat rumors and misconceptions on various FP methods, on responsible sexual behavior, on teenage pregnancy and prevention and on reproductive health needs of adolescents.