SAS 700 Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports

Social Audit Standard (SAS) 700
Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports
(SAS 700 should be read in conjunction with the “Preface to the Social Audit Standards” and “Framework
for the Social Audit Standards”, issued by the ICAI)

SECTION I – INTRODUCTION

Objective and Scope

1.10 This Social Audit Standard relates to the thematic area of “Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports”. The Standard aims to provide the Social Auditor with the necessary guidance in relation to independent impact assessment engagement of Social Enterprises engaged in – Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports; and the audit steps and procedures that should be applied while conducting the social impact assessment. The Standard sets out the minimum requirements to be followed while conducting impact assessment. Laws or regulations may establish additional requirements which should be followed as applicable.

SECTION II – PROCESS OF SOCIAL AUDIT

Data Collection

1.20 The stakeholders that may be approached for obtaining data may include:

• Direct stakeholders e.g., Non-profit entities, Implementing partners.
• Target population/ beneficiaries of the direct stakeholders
• Indirect stakeholders e.g., Funding entities, Government and related institutions, media agencies, academic institutions, professional groups (Village level bodies i.e., Self Help Group (SHG) Cluster’s, Village Development Committees, local opinion maker etc.),
• Monitoring Agency
• Staff (full time/part time employees, consultants, etc.)
• Board of advisors/trustees/directors
• Key officials of the reporting entity

The overall activity of conducting a survey and collecting sample data should be reviewed in terms of the following factors to assess relevance and reliability:

> designed by an in-house team or external specialized agency

> conducted by an in-house team or external specialized agency

> coverage: number and types of non-profit entities served

Desk Review

1.30 The Social Auditor should conduct a desk review of existing documents to gain further insight into the evaluation procedure and impact assessment. Such documents, in relation to – Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympics sports and Olympic sports, may include the following:

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)/Contract between the reporting entity and the non-profit entities
• Project Proposal, Timeline and Key Deliverables for the implementation
• Selection criteria for enrolment of beneficiaries
• Achievements and Outcomes
• Knowledge materials (reports, articles, videos, case studies, case lets, etc.) shared with non­profit entities
• Feedback (testimonials, ratings, recommendations, etc.) provided by non-profit entities and other relevant stakeholders
• Enrolment data for training/workshops and/or convening programmes designed for non-profit entities
• Advertisement – leaflets/newspaper/social media
• Photographs of project activities
• Periodic progress reports (if any)
• Review of grant utilization against achievement of Key Deliverables

Inspection and Personal Interviews

1.40 Besides desk review, the social auditor should also consider conducting physical inspection and personal interviews to get a first hand assessment of impact.

Evaluation Questions

1.50 The social auditor should review the evaluation questions addressed through Questionnaires, In-depth interviews and Focused Group Discussions to assess the responses received from various stakeholders and to understand what has changed. This would help the Social Auditor in forming his views on the following aspects, in relation to initiatives which promotes rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympics sports and Olympic sports.

• What are your views on the existing situation of Sports in India?
• Has there been an increase in access to sports development platforms for young sporting talents?
• Has there been an access to adequate resources for pursuing Sports as a career in India?
• Do you think Sports is undervalued compared to other professions in India? If yes, what are the reasons for it?
• Do you think within the sports arena, there is hegemony of one nationally recognized sport (For e.g. Cricket) over various other sports which should be recognized and valued equally in India? If yes? Explain.
• What are the changes that you have witnessed over the last 2 decades in Sports development in the country?
• What are the different government initiatives and resources available from the government (both State and Centre) to support sports development in the country?
• Has the program challenged or changed attitudes on the rights of differently abled people in Paralympic sports?
• Has there been adequate number of Sports Coaches and Trainers to train young talents for national and international sports competitions?
• What are the existing capacities of Sports Coaches and Trainers for training young talents? Are they certified trainers to train for international/Olympic /Paralympic sports competitions?
• Critically comment on Indian Government’s and society’s attitude towards sports and sportspersons. In your opinion, what needs to change and why?
• What factors and strategies of the program helped to foster positive changes toward Sports Development?
• What are some of the positive reforms in the Sports Management Institutions working towards sports development?
• What constrained the achievement of Paralympic sports professionals in the country?
• Were there some program components where Girls/Women had access to participation in Sports?
• Do you think there has been change in school education system for considering sports as one of the major subjects in academics? If yes, explain
• What more changes are required in the Indian education system to promote sports as an equally important subject in the academia?
• Are positive changes in Sports Development likely to be sustained? What factors will contribute to this and what is likely to undermine the sustainability of positive changes?
• Do you think there is a need to have a sports counsellor?

Key Metrics for Evaluation of Project / Program

1.60 The Social Auditor should review the project/program documents to frame the evaluation criteria for assessing impact. The Social Auditor may identify the combination of quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria against which the impact has to be assessed.

• The baseline measurement to establish the starting point of project/program, which is then used to measure what actually changed due to the intervention of the entity.
• Assess the past performance trend of the entity.
• Assess the highlights and key achievements during the reporting period.
• Demography
• Socio-economic profile of the target group
• Resource mapping of the target group
• Assessment of Impact Map
• Change in human capital, economic empowerment of sports professionals at District, State and National level, rights of Paralympics sport professionals, Access to jobs in sports industry?
• Demography, Educational and Social Background of the beneficiaries – e.g. Age wise distribution, Marital status, Education qualification (e.g. Primary, Secondary, Senior Secondary, Diploma, Graduation, Post-Graduation), social category wise distribution (e.g. General, SC, ST, OBC, PWD, EWS, BPL Card Holders etc.),
• Relevance & usefulness of project activities
• Quality of the delivery mechanism

Other factors

• Organisation and Programme Strategy
• Resource mobilization
• Leveraging technology
• Attracting, retaining, and nurturing talent
• Service delivery
• Communications
• Forming partnerships
• Financial and impact reporting practices
• Convergence and collaborations with Government agencies and Corporates

Socio-economic factors

• Socio-economic improvement due to program intervention
• Socio-Economic factors can be divided into following to have better understanding:

1 Social Conditions

• Improved facilities at home
• Better access to healthcare facilities
• Access to education opportunities

2 Social Acceptance

• Psychosocial
• Better Decision making
• Enhance self-confidence
• Self-respect and Dignity

3 Economic

• Creation of more livelihood opportunities
• Increase in Income
• Increase in Purchasing power
• Earning avenues
• Changes in socio-economic factors – acceptance / respect in the village / society, economic condition, health condition, confidence level, purchasing power, earning avenues

Assessment of Evaluation Criteria (Illustrative Key Performance Indicators)

1.70 The Social Auditor should identify the quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria or the key performance indicators against which the impact has to be assessed. The impact should be assessed in terms of:

Evaluation Criteria

Quantitative  

• Ratio of female to male in nationally recognized sports?
• Ratio of female to male in Olympics?
• Number of sports management institutions available in the country?
• Number of sports wise training institutes available in each state?
• Percentage of sports training institutes and Sports clubs in rural areas from total sports training institutes in urban areas/cities?
• Number of national sporting competitions/events conducted for different sports?
• Number of sports professionals representing India in Olympics?
• Number of sports professionals representing India in Paralympics?
• Number of Government schemes and initiatives available for promoting sports in India?
• Number of policies made for sports development in India – Both state and centre?
• Percentage of elected paralympic sports professionals/women professionals in key government positions?
• Income levels of sports professionals compared to average income of corporate professionals/other white collar professions?
• Percentage of Government budget (Centre and State) for sports development in total annual budget?
• Sports utilities and resources available in Government and Private educational institutions (Government & Private schools and colleges)
• Sports colleges in the geographies in which the project is being implemented?
• Ratio of Nationally qualified Coaches (SAI approved) versus number of athletes in the particular event?
• Percentage increase in regional participation?
• Percentage increase in enrolment of sports athletes as coaches and school teachers?
• Percentage of athletes getting employment opportunities via sports quota.

Qualitative

• Extent of inequalities and discrimination faced by People with Disability (PWDs), Women and youths from rural areas in Sports?
• Within sports beneficiaries, specific groups of beneficiaries covered e.g. persons with disabilities in Paralympic sports, representation of women/girls in sports, representation of sports professionals from Rural areas and marginalized communities

SECTION III – ASSESSMENT OF CHALLENGES, AND LIMITATIONS

Challenges / Areas for improvement

1.80 The Social Auditor should identify the challenges faced by the stakeholders and the areas for improvement based on the suggestions and feedback received from them, which might have an influence on the impact assessment. Some of the examples of commonly faced issues in relation to – Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports may include the following:

• Inadequate Government Budget for Sports Development.
• Lack of international level Coaches and Sports trainers at all levels
• Biases towards paralympic sports/women sports
• Social attitudes towards sports as a viable career option
• Lack of sports as an academic subject in comparison to other subjects
• Lack of adequate sports training institutes in all the states
• Lack of sports training institutes and sports clubs in rural areas
• Lack of adequate sports infrastructure in educational institutions (e.g. schools and colleges)
• Lack of mentorship
• Affordability and accessibility to training on sports
• Societal expectations regarding gender roles (e.g. household work/childcare)
• Cultural mindsets and stereotypes.

Any significant issues observed during the assessment, that may influence the user of the impact assessment in decision making, should be highlighted by the social Auditor in the social audit report.

Limitations of the Assessment

1.90 The Social Auditor should identify the inherent limitations of the evaluation process which might have an influence on the impact assessment. Some of the examples may include the following:

• Cases of no-response in case the questionnaire is not administered in person
• Some of the questions being skipped by the respondents and remaining unanswered
• Non-availability of respondents due to re-location to other places after completion of the course
• Change in contact details of respondents due to which they could not be contacted

Any significant limitations observed during the assessment, that may influence the user of the Impact assessment in decision making, should be highlighted by the Social Auditor in the social audit report.

SECTION IV – APPENDIX

Taxonomic classification of areas and sub-areas for social objectives

(relating to Training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic sports and Olympic sports)

*****

To Read Related post Social Audit Standard