Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation and Sustainability of Community Development Projects in Public Day Schools in Gicumbi District, Rwanda

Bitunguhari Theoneste, Naomi Njoroge and Michael Waweru
Mount Kenya University
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8949-5241
Email: theoneste.bi16@gmail.com

Abstract: Community development projects in Rwanda’s public day schools often struggle to maintain their continuity and stakeholder engagement once external assistance diminishes or ends. This study examined the influence of participatory monitoring and evaluation on the sustainability of community development projects in public day schools offering Twelve-Year Basic Education in Gicumbi District, Rwanda. Specifically, it assessed stakeholder involvement in monitoring and evaluation, M&E capacity building, and stakeholder ownership. Stakeholder Theory and the Theory of Change guided the study. The study targeted 139 public day schools, sampled 103 schools, and obtained 99 complete questionnaires, representing a response rate of 96.1%. Questionnaire data were examined using Pearson correlation and multiple regression. The combined model was significant, F(3, 95) = 258.59, p < .001, explaining 89.1% of sustainability variation (R² = .891; adjusted R² = .887). M&E capacity building was the strongest positive predictor (β = .803, p < .001), followed by stakeholder ownership (β = .325, p < .001), while stakeholder involvement had a significant negative adjusted coefficient (β = −.169, p = .007). Because variance inflation factor and tolerance values were within acceptable limits, this sign reversal was interpreted as a suppression effect and not as a collinearity problem and. The study recommends continuous M&E capacity-building programmes, stronger stakeholder ownership, and maintenance plans for community development projects in public day schools.